The Truth about Tulips

Hi everybody! I am looking out my window at today's version of the biblical rainstorms and it seemed like a good time to write something about tulips--since their season is fast approaching. We all love tulips--they give us brilliant color when our eyes are desperate to see it. They come in such an array of forms and shapes, heights and colors. Want over the top baroque? Tulips can give it to you. Ruffled and girly--no problem. Simple and tailored? Exotic and mysterious? Yep. Ever since the Turkish ambassador made a gift of bulbs to Flemish botanist Charles de l'Ecluse in 1530, these wonderful bulbs have filled the world with their color and magical beauty.
There is a fair amount of mystery about tulip culture--and that's what got me thinking about this. I am doing a bit of research into this and will make a post in the Spiffy tips about that---but what I want to talk about here is how tulips fit into history. Most people have heard of the "Tulip Mania" that supposedly siezed Holland in the 1600's and ultimately destroyed the economy--but the fact of the matter is, things didn't really happen that way. Thanks to Wikipedia I have a better idea of what Tulip Mania really was.
After Charles (okay--Chuckie the Botanist) grew the bulbs and they were seen to thrive in their new home in Holland, they became an object of fascination and a status symbol in that country. Classed by color, the broken colored varieties especially the pink and white and purple and white combinations were highly sought after. It takes 7 to 10 years for tulips to bloom from seed, and several years for new clone bulbs that form on the parent bulb to reach maturity, so its easy to see that the supply was limited for these plants. Add to that the fact that when tulips achieve maturity and do bloom, the main bulb disappears, and clone bulbs form in their place--meaning that the plantings of the tulips were not entirely permanent.
Now you have a sought after plant, and a limited supply. Prices go up.
As this began to happen, people began to begin to grow tulips as a source of income. The traditional school of thought is that people of all economic levels from Millionaires to paupers began dabbling in tulips--but research has found evidence of tulip culture for money only in the middle class or higher echelons. People began to purchase futures of tulip crops--and the speculation began. A lot of religious institutions looked upon this practice as a form of gambling and wrote some highly sensational pamphlets about the evils of tulip "mania". These pamphlets formed the basis for the historical perception that all of Holland was staggering around in a tulip induced haze, arresting people for accidentally eating tulip bulbs, trading their estates and lands for a single bulb etc.
What really happened was interesting, but not nearly so cataclysmic. People traded futures and some small fortunes were made or lost. Something quite similar happened when Hyacinths first hit the market. However, when the bottom dropped out of the Tulip market, it really crashed and burned in a way that Hyacinth values did not. Some of what happened was related to the ending of the Thirty Years War, and an uptick in available money in circulation because of that; some of it was related to a legal change in the futures contracts for the tulips. The contracts at first were legally binding--if you agreed to buy 100 bulbs at 5 bucks apiece and when they were ready to go they were only selling for 1.00 apiece--tough toenails for you. Pay up and enjoy your stupidly expensive bulbs. But the florists guild got parliment to change the way the contracts were administered--and they all became option contracts. This meant if you agreed to pay 5 bucks and they were only worth 1 at harvest, you could pay a penalty and the contract would be voided. Add to that the bubonic plague was flying all around and people were generally freaked out, and you have the recipe for a strange set of circumstances, and an even stranger set of reactions to the phenomenon.
So the "Tulip Mania" of old may not have been the first "speculative bubble" as many people have claimed, but it was a period of time when flowers went about doing that voodoo that they do do so well--and people spent some time being hypnotized by a plant. When Holland awoke from the trance, she had a bit of a hangover, and the psychological effects of the rise and fall in prices for a PLANT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD reverberated in their society for a long time. Fortunately for us, they have never lost their adoration for this beautiful genus, and the tulip growing business is alive and well in Holland. Now each winter we can open the pages of those glossy catalogs with their highly colored (and sometimes disingenously photoshopped) photos and dream of melting snow and brilliant colors fluttering in the warm sun. YES I SAID SUN!!!!!!!! THERE WILL BE SUN!!!!!!
Now go eat some pie and wait for the rain to stop!
Hail to the Dirt!

PROGRAM AT FERNWOOD FEATURING MICHAEL--but no pie :-(

Hey folks--this program will happen the Sunday before we get to see Michael at Bobbi's--sounds like it would be really interesting and educational!


Modern Plant Exploration: Boondoggles or Legitimate Science?
Dr. Michael Dosmann, a former Fernwood employee and present Curator of Living Collections at The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, will present a program at Fernwood on Sunday, May 1, at 1:00 pm. The connections between people and plants are some of the strongest bonds known. We eat plants, we use their fibers and wood, and we admire them in our gardens. Toward those ends, intrepid plant explorers have long searched the wilds for the rare, the unusual, and the magnificent. These adventurers have brought back exclusive 'new plants' as well as amazing stories. However, in this modern age when nature is dwindling and invasive plants are on the rise, many rightfully ask if the goals for plant collecting should change - or if the activity should even take place at all. Dr. Michael Dosmann returns to Fernwood to share his own experiences as a plant collector and botanist. He will talk about how plant collecting might be different than it was in the time of Ernest Henry 'Chinese' Wilson 100 years ago, but it is no less important. In fact, efforts to explore and document biodiversity are more important now than ever before.
This lecture is free to Fernwood members - non-members are $20. Register by Saturday, April 30, by calling 269.695.6491. You must have a reservation to attend, so don't delay!

Gardens are for Giving

Hi folks--Great meeting last night! Many thanks to Kathy for giving us all a chance to meet Sara Stewart and learn about the phenomenal transformation that Unity Gardens is bringing about all around the area. More on this later--first the boring stuff (i.e. business meeting). We dispensed with the Secretary's report and Shirly only had one thing to report--that after some minor confusion she took care of business and got our district dues paid. We didn't realize we owed district dues--or we forgot--who knows. If it was anyone's fault it was probably mine--but thanks to Shirley's diligence its taken care of now. Thanks, Ms. Rynearson! In old business--Mary Ann reported back, and our lunch outing to Thyme of Grace will be on Friday May 6 at high noon. We will meet before this and get our menu choices finalized so Mary Ann can call them and give a heads up so they will be ready for us. This will not be a meeting--just a fun day. Plan to attend and enjoy a wonderful lunch. In state club news--Rosie and I will be going to the convention in Merrilville this Thursday. This is the day of the awards banquet. We will do a little recon to help with the "jobs" assignment that as a club we need to iron out. More on this in new business. From MHA--the spring kickoff luncheon was great--you can join MHA for free--just go online to http://www.michianahort.org/, I asked if people still want to try and make a trip to Lurie Gardens--I will get in touch with Ben and see if he wants to make the journey. (I know--is the sky blue???--come on!) With that, we dispensed with old business and went on to new. First off was picking a new date for the June meeting at Rosie's--we don't want to conflict with the other garden club she has coming, so we will meet on WEDNESDAY the 8th of June. Hopefully we can get organized and she can teach us all to make hypertufa planters. On to state convention news, Patrick was nice enough to make a beautiful beaded pin on behalf of all of us to present to Joyce Bulington, the state president. Joyce was a big help to us as we went about forming our club, and I wanted to give her a small momento of our group from all of us. Thanks so much, Patrick, for this beautiful and unique gift. And in more convention news, we all examined and discussed the list of available "jobs" for the club to choose from to help with the 2012 convention. There was some consternation and a lot of varying opinions as to what task would be appropriate for our small, inexperienced club. Rosie had a lot of good insight to contribute that helped us feel more informed. Shirley suggested that we ask for help in deciding and Sue suggested that we see if we can "pair up" with another club to share a task. Everyone felt that these were good ideas, and I will do my best to implement them at the meeting next Thursday with the planning committee. Be warned folks, I am entirely out of my element here--but I will try to get the right thing done. Thankfully Rosie will be there too--and I know her help will be invaluable. With that, we dispensed with new business, and there were a few announcements: "Indiana Gardening" magazine is a terrific new publication available. http://www.indianagardeningmag.com/ or phone them at 1-888-265-3600. Prairie Pride Folk Art Show is April 16-17 from 10-5 Laporte time. Address is 3883 E. 700 N. in Rolling Prairie. Sue had some print material from Rockford regarding public gardens and a shuttle tour. Dave bought some fish emulsion that is putting the evil asian carp to good use. Who remembers "BASSOMATIC" from Saturday night live?? River Street Flowerland is having twig furniture classes. You can visit their website http://www.riverstreetflowerland.com/ Unity Gardens opening day is Sat. April 9 from 12-2 at the LaSalle Square Unity Garden 3701 Prast Blvd. Website is http://www.theunitygardens.blogspot.com/ Which brings us (finally) to our speaker, Sara Stewart, the driving force behind and creator of Unity Gardens. This amazing idea which arose from Sara's experiences as a public health nurse has quickly gained momentum to become a real community wide phenomenon. The simple concept of healthy food grown by a community for a community has taken hold and rapidly become a real force for good in St. Joe County. Along with nutritious produce that is lovingly grown and freely given to anyone, came education about healthy food preparation and meal planning, learning the art and science of gardens for many age groups, as well as opening doors for people both socially and economically. Unity Gardens is a young endeavor, but already they have a legacy they can call their own that is manifest in the partnership of people from diverse backgrounds who come together to create a common good. Sara is to be applauded and helped in this undertaking, and many groups both public and private have stepped up to grow this program. Anyone can create a Unity Garden--there are some criteria that need to be met; for information you can call 574-315-4361. Thanks again to Sara and her beautiful technical support personnel (daughter, Leigh) for an inspiring and informative presentation. We wish them every success, and hopefully we can be a contributing factor to that success either as individuals or as a group. With that, Patrick adjourned us and those of us that hadn't already glommed on to the terrific treats that Shirley provided (as always--thank you, GF) did so. Thanks again to Kathy for her friendship with Sara and providing us all with this chance to meet her.