TulipMania

The tulip has a notorious history! The Flemish diplomat De Busbecq - who was sent to Turkey as the Ambassador of Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria - was the first European to come across tulips. Through him, some seeds and bulbs came into the hands of Carolus Clusius, in the second half of the 16th century. This horticulturist of the botanical gardens of Leiden, Holland, only looked at the tulip bulbs from a scientific point of view and refused to sell or give them away. He had to pay dearly for this attitude as his whole collection was stolen and from then on the commercial victory tour of the tulip took off.

Any red tulip with blue pansies/violas as underplanting for spectacular display

In the beginning the tulip was a status symbol and even an investment object, which commotion reached its peak in the 1634-1637 period, called the ‘Foolish Tulip Trade’ or ‘Tulip Mania’. It is said that tulips were sold for 3,000 to 4,000 Dutch guilders a piece at that time. On the 3rd of February 1637 the tulip trade collapsed. For a short time the confusion and unrest ruled, however the tulip remained a very well liked garden plant.

Or you can be a bit more subtle!

At the beginning of the 18th century the trade revived, probably caused by the find of previously unknown tulips in northern Italy. The tulip industry received an extra boost when Russia conquered large areas of Asia and well-known tulip firms send tulip hunters on their way. They came back with several new species like the Tulipa kaufmanniana and T. fosteriana.

Since that time the tulip trade became bigger and bigger. Right now 10 billion bulbs a year are traded in the Netherlands. Only 1% stays in Holland, which still is more than 100 million bulbs!