Where history springs

摘要

Tulips are inextricably linked with the Dutch, in whose country they grow in vast bulb fields that cover the landscape in swaths of colour each spring. Of course these much-loved spring bulbs are not native to the Netherlands. Brought back from Turkeyby ambassadors, botanists and travellers, they were first grown here in the mid-16th century, spreading swiftly to Britain and other European countries. People fell in love with this 'new' flower in all its guises, and tulip fever reigned for a few crazy years in the 1620s and 1630s when the bulbs became commodities, changing hands for ridiculous sums of money.