Good morning from the garden!

While in the Netherlands last month, Mr. Q and I visited the Amsterdam Tulip Museum.

Since it wasn’t tulip season, I figured this was probably about as close as I was going to get to seeing any tulips while we were in Holland.

They did force some tulips to dress up the sidewalk …

but these are way out of season.  They also looked pretty sad.  It was an unseasonably warm day for Amsterdam, and I don’t think these tulips were enjoying the weather.  But I really appreciate that the museum went to the effort of providing blooming tulips for their guests.

The museum is fairly small and is located in a former canal house.  There are six rooms that explain the history of tulips starting with an exhibit on tulips in the wild.  Did you know that the tulip is not native to Holland?  It actually comes from the Himalaya Mountains in central Asia.

Room two explains that it was the sultans of the Ottoman Empire who first started collecting and displaying tulips in their palaces.

In the third room you’ll find out that tulips came to Holland around 1600.  During this period Dutch trade was flourishing and Holland was one of the richest countries in Europe.  Traders brought tulips back from their travels.

I’m rather fascinated by the story of Tulipmania that you can learn about in room 4.  In the mid-1600’s speculation drove the prices for tulips to ridiculous levels.  Supposedly at one point a rare tulip bulb sold for what would today be over 1 million dollars (check out this article at bbc.com to read more about it).

I was also interested to learn about broken tulips.  A broken tulip is one of the ones with a striped or flame-like coloration, like this …

That condition is actually caused by a virus infecting the bulb.  You can read more about broken tulips on the Tulip Museum website here.

Rooms 5 and 6 of the museum focus on commercial production of tulips and tulips today.  Did you know that tulip farmers cut the flowers off their tulips as soon as they are in full bloom?

They want to direct all of the plant’s energy into creating big, healthy bulbs.

I’m not sure I could do that job!

They had a fantastic selection of tulip bulbs on sale in the gift shop and it was fun to see the different varieties available.

They had the Green Mile tulip, which apparently is a fairly new introduction.

I’m not sure this one would be my cup of tea though.

However, the U.S. limits which bulbs can be brought back into the country.  So I couldn’t have purchased these bulbs and brought them home anyway.  They did have a small selection of bulbs that were approved to bring back to the U.S., but there were only 3 or 4 basic varieties.

But that’s OK, I had already placed an order for my fall bulbs from Longfield Gardens earlier this summer.  And in fact, they were delivered while I was in Amsterdam.

I’m just waiting for the first frost before getting them in the ground.

This year I ordered more of the Darwin Hybrid Pink Impression tulips that I planted last year.  Even though I had to battle the deer to keep them from dining on my tulips, these were so pretty last year that I wanted more.

I also purchased some Double Sherborne Narcissus.

The benefit of daffodils is that deer don’t like to eat them.  They also tend to multiply over time, while not all tulips will do so.

Finally, I also ordered a bulb that is totally new to me, Leucojum Gravetye Giant.

I’ve read that they look like a giant lily of the valley, and also that they are deer resistant.

They are also another bulb that naturalizes (or spreads) easily.  They will grow in sun to part shade, and zones 3 to 9, so they should be hardy enough for my zone 4b garden.  I’m really looking forward to seeing how these perform for me.

How about you?  Are you putting in any new bulbs this fall?  Leave a comment and let me know.