All Things Holland

Ahhh May 4th, Tulip Time Festival in Holland, Michigan, what can I say about you?  Thankfully this year the Tulip Time Festival did indeed have tulips, unlike last year's StemFest.  However; in my humble opinion Tulip Time was pretty bad.  Imagine a strange assortment of vendors selling their quilted nascar blankets, overcrowded streets and restaurants, and mock indian encampments.  No modern furnature, gouda, dutch bicycles, dutch vendor food like those little pancake thingys or herrings to be found.   Surely the walk to Tulip island where the only true Dutch windmill in America resides must have been amazing?    ( de zwaan was pretty cool, but.... ) First you must pay a hefty chunk of change to enter the island after walking a couple of miles in the blazing sun.  Once there you gaze upon two rows of tulips, followed by a short jaunt to the tourist mill where you see a mildewy replica of Amsterdam and are tempted to buy a button that says "Kiss m...

With the approaching Tulip Time Festival (May 4-11) in Holland, Michigan,  I have decided to once again write about " t ulipa gesneriana" and specifically the period of time in the Netherlands called "tulipomania".  As you can probably guess tulipomania was a time when Holland was obsessed with tulips.  This period in the 1600's saw the beautifying of Holland, which up until this time was quite muddy and dull looking, and also the strengthening of the Dutch market.   The tulip, originally cultivated in Turkey found its way to Europe in the 1500's.  In fact the name tulip comes from the Turkish word for turban.  One theory for why it became so popular in the Netherlands is because of bleakness of the Dutch landscape.  Another reason they were popular was because of  their rarity.  In the tulip bulb their are little 'offsets' which is how new bulbs are grown. The tulip rave in the Netherlands began with master gardener Carol...