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One of the best choices in gift for Mother’s Day has got to be a beautiful bunch of fresh, crisp tulips. Tulips represent the bountiful spring, and the vibrancy of the upcoming season and make the perfect gift for any occasion, especially Mother’s Day! Tulips have a very interesting history, and its origins are still not clearly known. Tulips are heavily associated with Holland, yet they are not a native to the land of the Dutch. Rather, there are speculations of its origins and who introduced this beautiful flower called the Tulip (which is a perfect to send for Mother’s Day) to Europe. The Tulip, or lale from Persian, is indigenous to Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey as well as other parts of Central Asia. According to the Persian Legend, the tulip originated from blood shed by a lover, and has been viewed as a symbol of avowed love through art and poetry for centuries. It remains unclear which of these civilizations introduced the Tulip to Europe; however, there is one circulating story about how the tulip became popularized. The most popular is that of Oghier Ghislain de Busbecq, Ambassador from Ferdinand I to Suleyman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century where he states in a letter, “an abundance of flowers everywhere; Narcissus, hyacinths, and those which in Turkish Lale, much to our astonishment, because it was almost midwinter, a season unfriendly to flowers”.

The Tulip was introduced to the Dutch while they were enjoying a Golden Age in the 17th century where Dutch trades, art, science, were amongst the most praised in the world. During this Golden Age, the introductory prices of tulips rose to extraordinarily high prices, and then, suddenly subsided. February of the year 1637 was the climax of ‘tulipmania’ where the prices of tulip contracts were sold off for more than 10 times the salary of a skilled craftsman at the time! Tulipmainia spread all around Europe, and even became a currency- many people stopped their livelihoods to become tulip farmers. Many people who invested in tulips were struck when the prices plummeted, and the Dutch economy witnessed an incredible shock. When there was no food available in times of famine, the Dutch and other societies would actaully eat cooked tulip bulbs for sustenance – but at 416-Florist we dont advise consuming tulips, but rather sending them to make the perfect gift for your Mother on Mother’s Day! Today, tulips remain a staple and national symbol in the Netherlands. Tulips flourish in mountainous regions that have long cool springs and warm summer and they require a period of cool dormancy.

Today, tulips represent the spring time, and make the perfect choice of gift to send for Mother’s Day. At 416-Florist, we have all your tulip needs, as all flowers are out specialty. We have many special arrangements with tulips that will make your mother smile on Mother’s Day. Order our Sunny Spring Tulips vase arrangement which is an elegant gift- and perfect for Mother’s Day- comes packed full of bright and cheery yellow tulips. Or why not check out our 10 Tulip Vase at 416-Florist? This vase arrangement consists of 10 beautiful, fresh and crisp tulips in one vibrant colour- this makes the perfect give to give to that special woman in your life- such as your mother, wife, grandmother, sister, aunt- for Mother’s Day, and they will be sure to appreciate the beauty of these exquisite spring flowers.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 5th, 2009 at 7:03 pm and is filed under Flowers, Mother’s Day, The Best of the Best. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Edit this entry.