Tulips with their unique flower shapes and vibrant colors often evoke a sense of beauty and enchantment. They are even referred to as the 'enchanted flower' by Europeans. The special beauty they have seems like magic, attracting lots of plant experts to passionately create new kinds. They’ve been around the world for ages and are even the national flower in places like the Netherlands and Turkey.

Do you also admire tulips? Let's discover some fascinating stories about tulips and find out why they're so loved by many people!

Unique flower shapes linked to magical lore

Tulips are really easy to recognize. Remember when you were little, wasn't it one of the first flowers you learned to draw? This might be because the tulip, characterized by its straight stem and distinctive 'crown-shaped' flower, possesses the unique trait of 'flower-leaf separation,' sprouting a few leaves from the base. The legendary and distinctive shape is said to be related to a highly admired woman.

Legend has it that in ancient Europe, a beautiful woman was courted by three handsome men. Each admirer offered precious treasures to win her affection: a brave knight pledged to protect her forever with a sword, a wealthy merchant presented gold as tokens of love, and a prince proposed with a crown. However, the woman found it difficult to reject any of them. Struggling with her decision, she sought help from the deity of flowers. The deity transformed her into a tulip — the sword became elongated leaves, the gold turned into a flower bulb, and the crown transformed into a flower bud. This way, she could receive everyone's affection. The tulip thus became an embodiment of love, symbolizing 'universal love' with one of its flower meanings.

🪄 💫 The flower deity transformed the maiden into a tulip: sword to leaves, gold to bulb, crown to bud, making the tulip a symbol of love.

Magical status unexpectedly births a new flower name

When tulips are mentioned, most people immediately think of the Netherlands. However, tulips were originally wildflowers that grew in the Asian steppes. In Persia, they were known as 'Laleh.' When Turkish people moved to Anatolia and the Balkans during the Ottoman Empire's growth, the flower kept its original name as 'Lale,' which sounded like 'Allah.' This made it really special and important to the people.

Because of its special meaning, the tulip became really liked by the Turks. There's a story that during the Ottoman Empire, it became popular to put tulips on headscarves. Once, a diplomat from Europe visited and saw lots of people with tulips on their heads. When he asked about them, the interpreter got confused and thought he meant the headscarves. So, the diplomat thought the flowers were called 'Tulbend,' which means 'headscarf.' He wrote it down, and over time, it changed into the word 'Tulip' that we use today.

However, there are other explanations for the tulip's name. One suggests that the tulip's shape resembles the shape of a Turkish headscarf. Another story says that the Turks thought the tulip looked as beautiful as a girl wearing a headscarf. But in both stories, it shows that the Turkish folks lovingly called it 'Tulbend.'

🌷The Turks likened the tulip's beauty to a 'girl wearing a headscarf,' affectionately calling it 'Tulbend,' which eventually evolved into 'Tulip'.

Magical high prices and the bubble economy

The uniquely beautiful tulip once drove the entire European continent into madness, sparking the world's earliest economic bubble known as the "Tulip Fever." Being a bulbous plant, tulips require considerable time to propagate, whether cultivated from seeds or nurtured from 2 to 3 offsets of the mother bulb. When tulips arrived in Europe in 1610, rich plant lovers got really interested because they couldn't be grown quickly in large numbers. This made everyone want them a lot. They became rare and precious commodities and fashionable playthings of high society.

In 1634, speculators entered the market, inflating prices to make enormous profits. There are stories of a single fancy tulip bulb being sold for as much as a super fancy house! People heard about tulips making lots of money fast, so regular folks started buying them too. Prices went up a lot, even for tulips that weren't super special and weren't interesting to serious plant collectors. By 1637, the tulip market became oversaturated, and prices plummeted, plunging the economy into chaos and misery.

Advancements in modern cultivation techniques and continuous breeding improvements have made tulips a common sight in many parts of the world. People have shifted away from pursuing wealth and now admire the enchanting tulips purely for their visual allure. When tulips bloom, you can go to these amazing fields filled with vibrant colors like pink, white, gold, purple, and lots more. It's really something to see!

Magical cuties in your pocket

It's February, all full of love, and the lovely tulip is one of the flowers that represents Valentine's Day. 'Plant Nanny' introduces a beautifully enchanting limited plant - the 'Sweet Tulip.' With this adorable plant, you can confess your feelings to your loved one, expressing your affection and inviting them to join in keeping hydrated. Try the 7-day or 14-day trial subscription by the end of February to unlock it immediately and embark on a new journey of water-loving together ❤️💦