Tulips from Turkey

The most famous Dutch flower bulb is the tulip. “Tulip” comes from the word Tulipa which is Latin meaning “the flower that looks like a turban”. This might seem like a strange name but not when you know that tulips were already being grown and traded during the Middle Ages in Turkey where men wore a turban back then. So now you know! And here’s something else: our tulips are descendants of the tulips that grew in Turkey.

Turkey was a powerful country around 1550 when its ruler was a rich sultan: Suleiman the Magnificent. His palace gardens were bursting with the most beautiful tulips. After all, he was wealthy, and wealthy people can afford luxurious things. These things included tulips since tulips were highly regarded. It’s hard to believe now, but in those days, a single tulip was worth more than the life of a human being!

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