Tulip Mania

Years ago, my husband and I visited Turkey for a springtime vacation. When we arrived in Istanbul, we were amazed to see masses of brightly colored tulips blooming everywhere. Like most people, we had previously only associated tulips with the Netherlands. I recall local Turks being very proud to tell us that they were the first to cultivated tulips back in the 10th century. That may be true, but tulips are not native to Turkey. They originated as wildflowers in the Tien Shan mountains in Central Asia.

The sultans knew beauty when they saw it

How this exotic plant arrived in Turkey is unclear. Nevertheless, history tells us that during the Ottoman Empire tulips were a status symbol of power and wealth. Back then, they were frequently showcased by the sultans at their sumptuous spring garden parties. The Turks even named the flower Tulipan, referring to its shape which resembled a turban. Today images of tulips can be found on everything in Turkey from pottery to prayer mats to tombstones.

Tulips take to the high seas

So how did tulips make their way to the Netherlands? History gives credit to De Busbecq, the late sixteen century Flemish ambassador to the Ottoman Empire under Suleiman the Magnificent. De Busbecg purportedly gifted Carolus Clusius, his fellow countryman and noted botanist, with the first offering of tulip bulbs outside of Turkey.  

Clusius, who headed the University of Leiden’s Botanical Gardens, assiduously studied the tulip plant cultivating his specimens under lock and key. It is said that Clusius’ tulips were so rare and exotic that other flower lovers repeatedly raided his private garden. Thanks to thievery, the news of the tulip’s unparalleled beauty spread throughout the country eventually causing a runaway sensation.  

Keeping up with the Joneses

As tulips were different from any other flower known to Europe in the 17th century, they were considered exceptional and thus highly valued. This was also a period of great prosperity for the Dutch who felt no shame in showing off their wealth. So, not only did noblemen and the super-rich gravitated towards the tulip as a vehicle to achieve status, but also the emerging middle-class with money to spend.  

Tulips became a major luxury trading commodity in Holland by the early 1630s. At the beginning, only a handful of scholars and botanists were commercially involved. However, soon the obsession spread to other levels of Dutch society.  Professional growers entered the scene, then middlemen who bought and sold bulbs at auction houses without even seeing a single bloom. Trading occurred with a futures contract—a piece of paper guaranteeing the right to bulbs which would flower in the following spring. The most coveted tulip at that time was the red and white flamed Semper Augustus, a variegated, or as they called it “broken” tulip.

Irrational exuberance

Eventually, everyone wanted to get in on the act. Speculators, called “florists,” joined the buying and selling frenzy. Many florists were middle-class farmers, artisans or tradesmen who would meet and conduct their business in taverns throughout the Dutch Republic. Think of a pyramid scheme where the primary goal was simply to get rich quickly.  These unregulated business dealings, often fueled by alcohol, drove the prices sky high eventually creating a wild market boom. At the peak of speculation, a single bulb of Semper Augustus cost more than a sumptuous house on Amsterdam’s grandest canal!

A popular business school case study

Tulip Mania, as it was called, peaked in the early winter of 1637 when the tulip market was already showing signs of strain. Then one day a florist at a tavern in Haarlem offered bulbs at a reasonable price but there were no takers. Even when he dropped the price a little, no one stepped forward. The crash had begun. Soon sellers far outnumbered buyers. By mid-February, the tulip trade was officially suspended and by June, courts were refusing to hear cases concerning flower speculations.

Historians claim that Tulip Mania was the first financial bubble in the history of capitalism. Luckily, thanks to the country’s massively successful Dutch East Indies Company plus its thriving textile and shipbuilding industries, its economy was basically unaffected. Nonetheless, many people lost a great deal of money not to mention having their reputations tarnished as foolhardy investors.

Global market dominance

Despite the crash, tulips eventually became an iconic and economic symbol for the nation. Today, tulips are a strong economic driver, anchoring the Netherlands' status as the "flower shop of the world."

Currently the Netherlands owns nearly 90% of the world's tulip farms (about 35,000 acres). It produces more than 4 billion tulip bulbs annually. Recent stats say that 77% of all flower bulbs, most of them tulips, originate in the Netherlands.  

In addition to the significant economic revenue generated by exporting bulbs, the country is also known for its Royal FloraHolland. Considered the “Wall Street for Flowers,” this floriculture marketplace and flower auction manages over half of the world’s flowers.  Trading millions of stems daily through a fast-paced electronic auction clock, FloralHolland moves flowers from grower to distributor and then on to the retail customer.

The main attraction

Additionally, tulips represent an enormous catalyst for tourism. From March to May tourists and professional buyers alike come to tour the Keukenhof Gardens and visit the commercial fields in the Bollenstreek region. Keukenhof is the most famous tulip garden in the Netherlands. It is noted for its 79-acre park where 50 gardeners plant 1,600 varieties of bulbs each fall, half of which are tulips.  Over a million visitors from all around the world flock here annually to admire the park’s 7.5 million blooms.

When I visited this past May, I was surprised to learn that Keukenhof is in fact a trade show where 100 bulb companies and 500 growers show off their products. In addition to being a venue for conducting business, the park also provides acres of beautifully landscaped plantings of tulips to admire plus several indoor pavilions showcasing orchids, roses, and daffodils.  

Fashion as inspiration

Every year Keukenhof redesigns its gardens taking much of its inspiration and new “look” from the fashion world.  Then, once the spring display season is over, the gardeners dig up the bulbs. This enables the cycle of autumn planting, spring flowering and summer harvesting to begin again.

However, Keukenhof is not just about flowers.  It also includes a wooden windmill, a petting zoo, and an intricate maze where it’s easy to get lost. But if you do find your way out, you eventually climb the steps of a tree house with a stunning, bird’s eye view overlooking vast tulip fields. To my eyes it looked as if a giant dressmaker had thrown endless spools of wide, rainbow-colored ribbons over the flat land. It was simply magical to see!

 And, if you’re hungry you can grab a paper cone of frightfully fattening but fabulously delicious frites at one of the park’s outdoor stands. Finally, as you head back to the parking lot, you are serenaded with music from an enormous street organ. When we were there, we were treated to familiar, hip swaying tunes such as Sgt. Peppers Loney Hearts Club Band. Can you tell I loved visiting Keukenhof Gardens? 

Soft flower power

Besides their financial and touristic impact, tulips play an important role in the country’s soft power abroad. For example, every year the Dutch consultant in California hosts an American tulip day in San Francisco. Its goal is to highlight the strong trade relationship between the American and Dutch floral industries. (Over 1 billion flower bulbs are exported from the Netherlands to the United States annually.)

Similarly, since 1986 the Netherlands has had the honor of decorating St. Peter’s Basilica at Easter. This tradition started following Pope John Paul II’s visit to the country in 1985.  Since then, the Vatican invites the Netherlands to oversee each year’s Easter floral display.

Tulips, an artistic expression

It’s a tossup which image is more iconic for the Netherlands: tulips or windmills? However, my vote goes to tulips. Since the 17th century tulips have graced the homes and gardens of the affluent Dutch, noble as well as middle-class. They’ve also figured prominently in the glorious still life paintings of the Dutch Golden Age Masters as society’s ultimate status symbol. And artistic prop.

Today, the popularity of tulips has not diminished. The flower adorns not only scarves, pillows, and coffee cups but also expensive, hand-painted pieces of blue and white Delft pottery. You can’t escape the flower’s presence. It’s even edible. Or was.   

Research shows that during the Dutch famine of 1944, people often had to resort to eating sugar beets and tulips. And during Tulip Mania, it’s recorded that a young sailor was sent to prison for mistaking a tulip bulb for an onion and eating it!

On a recent trip to Amsterdam, tulips appeared on our plates as dessert at Rijks, the Michelin-starred restaurant next to the Rijksmuseum. Well, perhaps not literally. That evening the pastry chef had created a stunning presentation starting with a puddle of sea-salted caramel sauce topped with a meringue shell filled with buttermilk ice cream.  The best part, however, was the dessert’s decorative topping: fried Bintje potato “petals” dusted with powdered sugar, then artistically arranged to resemble a tulip. 

A nation’s ultimate cultural icon

While the horticultural sector today represents only a small portion of the Netherland’s highly diversified modern economy, tulips remain its most visible driver in the international trade, tourism and cultural sectors.

Even if you’ve never been to the country, you can experience how historically important tulips are by viewing the 2017 Film, “Tulip Fever.”  I guarantee you’ll never look at a tulip the same way after viewing this entertaining portrayal of Tulip Mania, romance and sex.  Ironically, this was the last film Harvey Weinstein released before going to jail.  Just saying.  Check it out on Netflix.