Grow the tulips that sparked Tulipmania!
Most people have never even seen a brown tulip, let alone grown one. Now is your chance to get your hands on this 18th-century heirloom! This heirloom group of tulips was the most desirable during the Tulipomania hysteria in Holland in the 17th century and commanded prices that are unimaginable today.
Tulipa 'Absalon' was introduced in 1780 and is characterized by its rich colors of burgundy-red and chocolate-brown with golden-yellow flames.
The tulip craze lead to a huge speculative market in tulips, one in which ordinary men clamored to participate because of the vast amounts of money being made. They sold their businesses, family houses, farm animals, home furnishings and dowries in order to buy bulbs that they had never seen.
Eventually, supply increased and the price of tulips plummeted. The “Tulip Crash” sent many people into bankruptcy. Others lost all of their savings. All because of the tulip. The Dutch government then introduced special trading restrictions in order to avoid further fits of uncontrollable plant lust on the part of its population.
You should be able to maintain these Historic Tulips for many years to come in your garden but here are some important tips:
• Remove spent flowers after flowering to avoid energy being put into seed production.
• Fertilize after flowering with bulb food or slow release fertilizer sprinkled on the surface of the soil.
• Allow the foliage to remain as long as the leaves are green to achieve maximum time for photosynthesis and for restoring the energy in the bulb. Only once the leaves have turned yellow should they be removed.
• Allow bulbs to rest in the soil over summer undisturbed and with not too much soil moisture.
💐 DETAILS
• Position: full sun
• Fragrant: no
• Type: heirloom
• Height at maturity: 40-50 cm
• Flowering time: April-May
• Soil: fertile, well-drained soil
• Rate of growth: average
• Hardiness: fully hardy
• Bulb size: 11/12
✔️ Suited for:
• Cut flowers and bouquets
• Pots, large containers
• Borders, cottage gardens
• Low maintenance gardens
🔗 See all of our fall-planting bulbs here.