It’s spring, and that means it’s time for tulips! If you just can’t shake those winter blues, don’t despair! Blossom Flower has the perfect solution that’s guaranteed to chase away the fear that winter is never going to end. Tulips are members of the lily family, and so are onions. In fact, if you forget to buy onions and don’t realize you’ve forgotten them until you’re in the midst of cooking something, don’t panic. You can always use a tulip bulb in place of the onion!

Some Historical Insights on Tulips

The conquests of Suleman, I, turned the area that was known as Hungary, into part of the Ottoman Empire. That may explain how the tulip got to Turkey, since it probably originated in Hungary. The Turks saw the tulip as a symbol of fertility and life, so not surprisingly, it became a popular spring flower. The tulip is the national flower of Turkey and Iran.

Finally, the tulip arrived in Europe, and in 1562, it showed up in Antwerp. From there, tulips traveled through Europe, eventually appearing in The Netherlands in 1593. Botanist Carolus Clusius, the leader and founder of the Leden Botanical Garden, planted The Netherlands’ first tulips there in 1593. Holland went on to become one of the world’s dominant countries for growing and exporting tulips and tulip bulbs.

There are roughly 100 tulip species, and over 4,000 cultivated tulip varieties that belong to those species. All tulips have six petals. They range in height from 4-to-28-inches.

Growing Tulips

Our part of New York is ideal for growing tulips because we have cold winters. If you’re going to plant tulips, be sure to do it during fall. Check the Farmer’s Almanac or your local County Extension office to ask about the date of the first hard freeze. You want to get your tulip bulbs in the ground at least eight weeks before heavy frost. This gives bulbs the chance to set roots before winter so they can absorb soil nutrients during dormancy to prepare for spring blooming.

Tulips generally start blooming in the middle of April and continue flowering until the end of May. With over 100,000 blooming tulips every year, Albany New York is home to one of the nation’s largest tulip festivals.

Until tulips start blooming outside, we have a large selection of cut flowers from which you can choose.

A Tulip Pail

When you want to give yourself or someone special, a taste of springtime delight, give them A Tulip Pail. We pack this rustic-looking pail full of Dutch tulips in a variety of vibrant colors.

Tulips Together

Combine simplicity and elegance with our Tulips Together arrangement. We start with a rectangular vase and add three bunches of different colored tulips containing ten flowers each. We then tie each bunch with bear grass for a sophisticated look.