On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 23:33:28 -0400, Pelvis Popcan
wrote:

Frogleg wrote:

It also begs the questions - how are tulip bulbs produced for sale in
the first place?

Very good question. Hope someone knows the answer.

I actually caught the answer in the article I linked. The Dutch do it
with special machines in bulb sheds.

When I read this, I imagined some Frankenstein factory where clay,
straw, and dry ice were employed in a sort of dark, Rube Goldberg
process to manufacture "tulip" (hah!) bulbs. The real story is much
less exciting. :-(

Next question: where did tulips originate? The Himalayas? Ah hah! just
stumbled on:

"They originate from Asia, their prime genetic centre being in the
Tien-Shan and Pamir Alai mountain ranges, near modern Islamabad, close
to the border of Russia and China. Tulips spread from these areas to
other regions, including China and Mongolia and a secondary genetic
centre was developed in Azerbaijan and Armenia."


"Roozen explains that Holland's sandy soil, and the proven ability of
the Dutch to perform miracles of hydraulic engineering (meaning they
can get water to do just about anything they want), actually offer
some of the most excellent growing conditions for tulip bulbs on the
planet. To get the bulbs to not only return but to multiply (sort of a
prerequisite for supporting an ongoing industry) is a bit more
problematic.

'Professional Dutch growers subject their plant stock to an ingenious
series of heat and humidity treatments each summer before planting,'
explains Roozen. Developed over the past 400 years, this manipulation
of temperature and humidity levels allows growers today to perfectly
replicate the tulip's native habitat.

By the time the bulbs are tucked into the sandy Dutch soil for their
winter's sleep (and Mother Nature's 'cold treatment') the bulbs have
been fooled into thinking they've been through another summer drought
in the Himalayas!

This is why Dutch growers always have scads of tulip bulbs to sell
each fall, and the rest of us, left to our own climactic devices, have
dwindling stocks.

'Don't try this at home,' warns Roozen, 'the process for temperature-
treating bulbs is quite tricky, requiring years of experience and
expensive climate control systems such as the ones you see in Dutch
bulb sheds.'"