THE FOLKLORE OF PLANTS: Tulip

Lisa Karen Miller

          Nothing says spring like an elegant bed of tulips.  Even their foliage looks like a graceful garment.  In the language of flowers, the tulip says “Perfect Love, Elegance, Grace.” In astrology, it is the “herb of the moon.”  The flower comes from Persia, and the name is derived from thoulyban, their word for turban.

           An ancient Persian tale tells us a Prince Farhad was in love with a maiden called Shirin.  When he was told she had been killed (she hadn’t), he rode his horse over the edge of a cliff.  A scarlet tulip sprang from each drop of his blood. It is the symbol for martyrdom in present-day Iran.

          The 11^th anniversary flower, its black center represents the lover’s heart, darkened by the heat of passion. Feng Shui tells us to plant yellow tulips in front of the house to invite good luck to knock on the door.  White, however, is the perfect color for an apology bouquet. 

          Take note, gentlemen.

          Introduced to Europe in 1593 by a botanist named Carolus Clusius, who brought it from Constantinople (it supposedly traveled there with the Persians who laid siege to the city – though who brings flowers to a siege?), it quickly became popular with the house proud.

           In the Netherlands, a morally flexible entrepreneur broke into his neighbor’s garden and stole some bulbs; thus began the tulip trade. As they became widely known and admired, owning them became a fad among the rich, and, predictably, prices soared, creating “Tulipomania.” At the height of this frenzy, a single bulb could sell for as much as $1,250 in current U.S. money.  One exchange included a bed, a suit of clothes, and a thousand pounds of cheese. 

          A visiting sailor in one household mistook a bulb for an onion and ate it for breakfast.  (We have no historical record to show if he was ever invited back.) Then one day a Haarlem buyer failed to show up and pay for his bulb purchase, and the “Tulip Bubble” burst. This resulted in an economic depression, and actual hunger.  Countless farmers had planted tulips instead of food.

          Be aware that in this part of Kentucky, tulips are mainly annuals.  It doesn’t get cold enough anymore in Winter to force them to bloom in Spring.  And, I have discovered it is by far moles’ favorite food.

          Perhaps they mistake them for onions?

© Copyright 2023 Lisa Karen Miller