郁金香养护 恋恋郁金香 Finding Tulip

恋恋郁金香 Finding Tulip  

I finally arrive in the tulip capital of the Netherlands
Leiden
a 15th century textile city where Rembrandt was born and learned how to paint. It's where Clusius planted the first tulips in Western Europe and it's where Holland's first university was founded
a reward granted by William of Orange for the city's bravery in battle against his Spanish Catholic oppressors. But I'm here to learn something about tulips
so I make my way to the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden University. Founded in 1590
it's the oldest botanical garden in the Netherlands and it's where the Dutch national flower-the tulip-was first cultivated.
Tulip means "turban" and that gives us a clue that the flower didn't originate in Holland but in the steppes of Central Asia where it still grows as a wild flower. The Persians named it after the Sikh headwear that it resembled. The Turks named it "tülbent"
and the French and Latin intervention corrupted the name to what we affectionately call it as: the tulip.
The Turks have been cultivating tulips since the 10th century
although it wasn't until Suleiman the Magnificent ruled a vast Ottoman Empire 600 years later that the flower was given importance
for Suleiman reigned during a golden age of Ottoman power and grandeur
a period in time called the Tulip Age.
土耳其人自十世纪就开始种植郁金香，但一直到六百年后苏莱曼大帝开始统治庞大的奥斯曼帝国，这种花卉才得到了重视。苏莱曼统治时期，正是奥斯曼帝国最强盛的时期，那个时期又被称为"郁金香时代"。
Carolus Clusius was the first director for this garden in the late 1500s. He was credited for cultivating the tulip in Western Europe when he got bulbs from his friend who was an ambassador for the Ottoman Empire. And thanks to the Dutch climate and its chalky sandy soil
the tulip flourished and thus an industry was born.
The tulip stock market crashed in 1637 because everyone
both rich and poor
was growing tulips and
of course
they lost their unique value. Dealers went bankrupt and the government was forced to send soldiers to control the supply.
But it's a love affair that has never gone away for Holland remains the world's biggest flower exporter
a thriving business which takes place in the Aalsmeer Flower Auction
where $800 million worth of plants are traded each year. The flower auction itself is like a Dutch version of Wall Street
albeit contested with great propriety by local growers and wholesalers bidding for buckets as they are trolleyed into view and shown off. Only 12% of flowers will be sold to Dutch flower shops. The rest are destined for export.