10 organic bulbs in a bag
THE NETHERLANDS

An assortment of Dutch-grown tulips that remind me of all the incredible still lifes I admired in the Netherlands, particularly at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. You do know about the tulip bubble? The economic disaster was considered to be modern man's first financial collapse, although that claim is disputed by many. One thing is for certain, at the time of the mania - the early 1600s - craftsmen were making 300 guilders a year and single bulbs of the more rare tulips were selling from 3,000 to 4,200 guilders. Do the math. Although currently we live in a time with greater and greater class divides, I cannot imagine someone paying 10 times my annual salary for a plant. Although I am certain these things do happen indeed. It is agreed upon that this wild tulip trade had extremely damaging effects on the morale of the population. The irony of tulip mania was that the most beautiful tulips - the striped varieties - were, in fact, the result of a virus. An interesting thing I recently discovered is tulip vases did not generally hold tulips, but an assortment of cut flowers with one or two divine tulip specimens on display. This delicate cut flower was so terribly expensive, you see. Searching for organic bulbs, we found out there are few organic bulb growers in the Netherlands and they all sell through one cooperative. According to the growers, buyers say - "I don't eat tulips! Why do they need to be organic?" One second, how about the earth the sprayed tulips are growing in? All those perfect flowers require loads of pesticide! Please plant quickly or store in a cool space or vegetable drawer in the fridge until the early spring. Plant shallower if you plant in the early spring.