“Tulip Mania” was the craze that gripped the Dutch in the early 1600’s when travelers from the Middle East brought the cup-shaped flowers to the Netherlands. The tulips of that time were so rare to the people of the Netherlands that prices for the rare bulbs reached unrealistic highs, stated Alice Young, Memorial Garden Chairman for the Great Bend Garden Club.
“Tulip bulbs rivaled gold as a medium of exchange in the Netherlands. Where one tulip bulb would bring as much as $20,000 in today’s currency,” Young said.
Then, when a plant virus invaded the tulips causing the blossoms to be striped or marbled, tulips became even more valuable to the Dutch, Alice noted.
Since that time, plant scientists have developed tulips that are so dark red they appear black. Tulips with fringed or ruffled petals, and a variety of sizes to please tulip fanciers everywhere, Young said. At the close of her program, the speaker gave every member present a bulb for a red tulip.
At the session, Delores Grose, Garden Memorials Chairman, state that names of deceased persons to be lettered on the memorial plaques should reach her at 620-792-4466 in order to be lettered by Christmas.