Dear George,
Zoo Blooms is at its peak
at our Cincinnati Zoo. With over 100,000 tulips, it’s one of the largest
tulip displays in the Midwest. In addition, there are thousands of
daffodils, hyacinths, flowering trees, shrubs, and other spring bulbs.
Here are a few tulip facts to whet one’s appetite.
- There are over 3,000 varieties of tulips in the
world.
- The name “tulip” is believed to come from the
Persian word “delband" (turban), presumably because of the similarity
of the flower’s shape to a turban.
- During tulip mania, a period from 1634 to 1637 in
the Dutch Golden Age when tulip bulb prices reached extraordinarily high
levels, some single tulip bulbs sold for ten times the annual income of a
skilled craftsman. In one such transaction, a single Viceroy tulip
bulb was sold for two lasts of wheat, four lasts of rye, four oxen, eight
swine, 12 sheep, two hogsheads of wine, four casks of beer, two tons of
butter, one bed, one suit of clothes, and a silver drinking cup.
- A Turkish legend holds that a prince was so
grief-stricken by the death of his love that he rode his horse over a
cliff. A scarlet tulip sprang up from each drop of blood on his
corpse, giving the red tulip the meaning of “perfect love”.
- Tulips are edible, the petals having a mild-bean
like or lettuce-like taste. During World War II numerous Dutch
people were forced to eat tulips because there wasn’t any other food
available.
- Tuna stuffed tulips are a classic dish served in
Great Britain.
- The Dutch royal family sent 1,000,000 tulip bulbs
to Ottawa in 1945 as a thank you for sheltering Princess Juliana and her
daughters during the Nazi occupation. Juliana became queen in 1948
and continued to send thousands of tulip bulbs to Canada each year until
her abdication in 1980.
- Tulips reportedly can be used to treat high blood
pressure, anemia, circulatory problems, back pain, and a variety of other
disorders (just what we oldies need).
- Red tulips are a declaration of true love; yellow
tulips mean cheerful thoughts; white tulips express purity; purple tulips
symbolize royalty; and pink tulips mean affection and caring.
I went to the zoo with
Katja the other day to admire the beauties and capture images of the tulip
festival. Here are some tulip pics.
Love,
Dave
Jan
Reus Tulip
Red
Emperor Tulip
Golden
Apeldoorn Tulip
Banja
Luka Tulip
Inzel
Tulip
Apeldoorn
Tulip
Negrita
Tulip
Orange
Bouquet Tulip
Monsella
Tulip
Princess
Irene Tulip
Monte
Carlo Tulip
Merry
Go Round Tulip
Shirley
Tulip
Daydream
Tulip
Orange
Sun Tulip
Apeldoorn
Tulip
Pink
Impression Tulip
SOURCES: www.alloveralbany.com, “20 facts about tulips”; www.care2.com, “12 fascinating facts about tulips”; www.cincinnatizoo.org, “Zoo blooms”; www.flowers2013.blogspot.com, “Benefits of tulips”; www.livingartsoriginals.com, “Tulip symbol meanings”; www.medplants.net, “Tulip”; www.poshposey.net, “Tulips trivia”; www.spinfold.com, “Amazing facts about tulips”; www.teleflora.com, “10 weird facts about tulips”, “Meaning and symbolism
of tulip”; www.tulipsinholland.com, “11 fun facts about tulips”; www.wikipedia.org, “Tulip”, “Tulip mania”
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