Dutch Tulips
Annually, Netherlands produces an approximate nine billion flower bulbs. In April and May, the flower fields in west Holland bloom at their best.
The beginning of the cultivation of flower bulbs for the purposes of commerce was 400 years ago in Haarlem and nearby areas. ‘De bollenstreek’ or the bulb district, lays between Haarlem and Leiden, with a large percentage of the population earning their living from bulbs in the forms of nurseries, industries that supply the sector or in exporting the flowers. The center of the bulb-growing area was the town of Lisse, where there is still held a famous flower exhibition called ‘de Keukenhof’.
Tulip ownership became a major status symbol among middle and upper class Dutch families by the early 1630s. Lower classes traded bulbs at local taverns to meet the skyrocketing demand. They sold tulips simply to make money. Single bulbs fetched exorbitant prices. The tulip craze got out of control by 1636; buyers started exchanging huge amounts of cash and goods to obtain a single bulb.
February 1637 heralded the dramatic crash of the Dutch tulip market and a major crisis followed. Prices had soared to such high levels that the smaller tulip buyers and traders found it hard to purchase bulbs. Gradually, the prices rose so high that many buyers either could not or did not want to purchase them, leading to a 90% crash in tulip bulbs. Tulip traders and buyers found themselves in a financial dilemma, and the Dutch courts refused to honor tulip contracts. All contracts created before November 1636 were declared null and void by the Amsterdam authorities.
No species of tulip is native to Holland, although it is usually associated with these stunning flowers that are today available at reasonable prices. Flowers bulbs in the Netherlands are a source of pride and passion as well as a product.
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