Big News!
Sculpture of the Turkish Sultan amongst the Tulip Fly Away
Recent research has shown that the Turkish Sultan also suffered from tulip fingers.
Tulip fingers? You’re probably wondering what on earth that is. Among bulb growers, tulip fingers are a well-known phenomenon. Around 1 in 10 people develop itching and a rash on their hands if they handle tulip bulbs on a daily basis for long periods. In some cases, the skin around the cuticles can become sore and it can be very painful.
Don’t worry that you might get tulip fingers if you plant tulip bulbs; you really have to handle them for a very long time before it happens. It now turns out that even the Sultan was among the unlucky ones who suffer from it.
Corps de Ballet Tulip Mix
This historical fact was discovered by the renowned society of wise men who happened to stumble upon it by chance. I shall try to explain how this came about. Two members of this society also sit on the Frog’s-Head Soup committee. This Frog’s-Head Soup committee includes two people whose hobby is history. One of these two bought the Fluwel Tulip Mix Corps de Ballet and, whilst reading the description of this mix, began to wonder what sort of man the Turkish Sultan actually was. The Sultan intrigued him; one thing led to another, and after a long period of delving into historical facts, he came across a little jar which he can say with near certainty is a jar of ointment used to treat tulip fingers. I don’t know for certain, but I think it was some sort of ointment containing coconut oil, aloe vera and a great deal of Himalayan salt. The fact that this little jar stood on the bedside table in the Sultan’s bedroom leads us to suspect that he was the one who used it.
You can also make soup out of mushrooms. I don’t have a photo of frog’s legs.
A striking detail regarding the Frog’s Leg Soup Committee, which was set up quite recently by the Dutch government to monitor the thickness of frog’s leg soup, is that after a year of hard work they produced a completely inaccurate report; They had looked at the thickness of the buttocks instead of inspecting the thickness of the soup.
Turkish Tulips of Yesteryear
Behold, the Tulip Fingers provide a lovely bridge to explain which tulips the Turkish Sultan was so fond of. The Sultan loved slender tulips; the slimmer they were, the more they charmed him. Through cross-breeding and selection, these tulips became so slender that they were called ‘Needle Tulips’.
Unfortunately, these tulips have almost completely disappeared from cultivation, although a few tulip breeders are now working to redevelop this type of tulip. Next year, we hope to be able to offer the first tulips that bear some resemblance to the Needle Tulips of yesteryear.
However, there are tulips today that have the same ‘lily-like’ shape. A very well-known and commonly planted tulip is the Mariette. When you see this tulip, you’ll understand why the Sultan was so fond of it.
Marilyn is another stunningly beautiful tulip. Did you know, by the way, that Marilyn is a mutant of the Mariette? They have exactly the same flowering time, height and flower size. Planted together, they make for a real showstopper.
The Tulp Flames Mystery also has something of that mysterious, elegant flower shape about it. But do feel free to have a browse through our extensive range of tulips in the Fluwel online shop – there are so many beautiful varieties to discover.
Kind regards,
Carlos van der Veek
Tulipa Tinka, a slender miniature tulip with the same graceful flower shape.
