Dutch Tulipmania - Is there a Black Tulip?

I've read that in spite of the best efforts of Dutch horticulturists they still have failed to develop the elusive truly black tulip. I wonder if this is really true - anyone know for sure?

A BIT ABOUT DUTCH TULIPMANIA
The Dutch have long had a fascination with the tulip, which came to Holland from Turkey via Vienna. A 16th-century Austrian ambassador to the Ottoman Empire brough back to Vienna some tulip bulbs from turkey and gave them to a friend, Carolus Clusius, the curator of the Austrian Emperor's medicinal garden.
Clusius later became the director of the University of Leiden's Botanical Gardens and brought some of the bulbs with him to Leiden and, in the fall of 1593, planted them in some nearby sandy fields that, being sheltered by the massive North Sea sand dunes, he speculated would then provide ideal tulip-growing conditions. When the bulbs sprouted the next spring to produce flowers, tulips were on their way to becoming an overnight sensation; aristorcrats clamored after the bulbs, whose possession was a sign of prestige. The Tulipmania that struck in the 1630s pushed the cost of buls to dizzying heights, with single bulbs of some rare varieties being sold to eager speculators for huge sums of money. In one publicized case, a single Semper Augustus bulb sold for $2,250 (a fortune at the time) plus a horse and carriage! A futures market in bulbs sprouted up to buy crops not even planted yet. In 1637, the tulip-bulb market crashed, wiping out the fortunes of many. Though bulb prices wilted, the national infatuation with the tulip did not, and the Dutch have ever since planted them in droves.
The tulip even helped save the lives of many Dutch during WWII as, after the German Army had requisitioned much of the Dutch farm harvest, the Dutch, during the "Hunger Winter" had to resort to eating tulip (and other flower) bulbs, which though bitteer made a nourishing soup
The tulip's lure and popularity was not confined to the Dutch and the flower's popularity spread far and wide. Holland's ideal bulb-growing conditions, added to the Dutch penchant for mercantilism, led to the development of many bulb farms and a domination of the international market, not only in tulips but in many other bulbs such as gladioluses and irises. Holland exports 6.5 billion bulbs annually, including 280 million to the States. bubls are produced by cutting the flowers off as soon as they indicate their color and are ascertained to be disease-free, leaving just the bald stem, a process that make bigger bulbs. Dutch flower researchers are constantly adding new and improved variites. the long awaited breakthrough to produce a black ulip is as yet, however, elusive and the search goes on.
The word tulip is derived from the Turkish word "tulebend" ("turban") as the tulip bloom was thought to look like a Turkish turban.
(This is from an article i wrote years ago and now would like to know the status of the black tulip - i've heard to some claim to have done it - please say what you know. Thanks!)

10 Replies | Jump to last reply

10 Replies |Back to top

Recent Activity

| Add a Reply Flag this topic

FainaAgain on Apr 14, 06 at 12:16 PM

I either heard it on TV or read somewhere - there is no such thing as a truly black tulip.

I love white tulips, so gorgeous!

I will try to get on a river cruise of Holland next spring...
Underhill on Apr 14, 06 at 12:31 PM

The Queen of the Night tulip is the closest--very dark maroon, nearly black.
PalQ on Apr 14, 06 at 02:12 PM

Seems no true black tulip - now i wondering are there any truly black flowers or is this simply not possible?
Underhill on Apr 14, 06 at 04:56 PM

Well, I don't know of any, but I'm sure the botanists are stil working on it. Remember how long it took for the white marigold to be developed? Or the blue rose?
Underhill on Apr 14, 06 at 04:58 PM

Have you read the novel "Tulip Fever"?
cigalechanta on Apr 14, 06 at 04:58 PM

I have seen them in Vogue a few years ago when there was a trend for black. I'll see if I find anything.
cigalechanta on Apr 14, 06 at 05:01 PM

Nope, they called it black but not quite, look.

http://www.gardeningexpress.co.uk/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=60001
PalQ on Apr 19, 06 at 12:51 PM

Underhill - thanks for Tulip Fever reference - i'll check my library as this intrigues me though i'm not sure what the book is about - the 1600s Tulip Mania or man's love of tulips but it sounds like a good read.
Underhill on Apr 19, 06 at 12:55 PM

I lent the book to a friend before reading it, but as I remember it's about "tulip fever" and theft of prized bulbs. Fiction based on actual happenings.

enzian on Apr 19, 06 at 01:04 PM

"Black" in flowers is approximated by breeding for the deepest shade of violet or purple. The truest black flower I know is the black pansy, which really looks a velvety black in most light. They are beautiful in combination with other colors. A few years ago the City of Victoria had a black-and-white bed of pansies along the Inner Harbour.

I believe the seeds for the black pansy are available in many seed catalogues. As noted, a true "black" has been more elusive in tulips.

Select a Forum

Book Your Next Trip

Hotels

Flights

Packages

Cars

Dutch Tulipmania - Is there a Black Tulip?

10 Replies | Jump to last reply

10 Replies |Back to top

Recent Activity