Roses are red, violets are blue…

It is such a pretty day outside – spring is finally on its way! The flowers are getting ready to start blooming and I am going to share with you a tidbit of information about tulips.

Tulips have been one of the most desired flowers throughout history. The flowers came to Europe in the mid-16th century and became uber popular in the Netherlands where they were a luxury that showed status. In the early 17th century the Netherlands actually went through a period of economic boom and collapse called Tulip Mania. The cost of tulips and their bulbs skyrocketed (around $2,500 a bulb) and then crashed – almost taking the entire Dutch economy down with it and leaving the region in a deep depression. Out of all the tulip colors, the ones most prized were the multi-colored varieties. These were special tulips, but first, a little tulip science…

Tulips (from the genus Tulipa) are flowers from the family Liliaceae (the lily family). They are perennials; meaning they will grow and flower in the spring and summer, die off in the fall and winter, but live and repeat this cycle for at least 2 years. Some species are even able to grow in the snow. They start life a bulb (just a modified seed) and grow to be anywhere from 5-24 inches tall.

Tulips can come in almost any color you can think of, but like I said before, most people have always wanted the multi-colored varieties. Obviously these are the rarest and therefore can be the most expensive. Little did people know that these flames, bars, feathers and streaks of colors on the tulip are actually caused by a virus.

The virus was identified and named in the early 20th century: The Tulip Breaking Virus (TBV). TBV is a potyvirus (a virus that only affects plants) that was carried from tulip to tulip via tiny plant eating insects called aphids. Aphids were common little pests in European gardens. The virus would get transmitted into the tulip and inhabit every cell of the plant, however it would only manifest in the outer layers (epidermis) of the colored petals. The virus would cause breaking of the color pigments, allowing a lighter color to show through. Sometimes the virus would cause the color pigments to intensify, creating darker streaks of color. Despite being pretty, infected plants were smaller, weaker and did not live as long.

Luckily the virus has basically been eradicated and commercial tulip growers can now genetically modify and selectively breed the plants to get the same look.