Celebrating Plant a Flower Day: The Tulip

March 12, Plant a Flower Day: The Tulip
Reading Time: 2 minutes

March 12, Plant a Flower Day: The Tulip. Image: Jamie D’Souza

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Celebrating Plant a Flower Day: The Tulip

March 12 is Plant a Flower Day to celebrate flowers’ beauty and encourage people to start gardening. There are over 400,000 different species of flowers, and among these are countless varieties and hybrids. Flowers are classified based on various criteria, including their botanical families, shapes, colors, and structures. Some well-known families of flowering plants include the Rosaceae (roses, apples), Asteraceae (daisies, sunflowers), Liliaceae (lilies, tulips), and Orchidaceae (orchids).

The spring flowers will begin to sprout soon, depending on where you live and the climate conditions. One spring flower that is common in many parts of the world is the tulip. The tulip originated in Central Asia and was first cultivated in Iran as early as the 10th century. As the tulip made its way around the world, it soon became an important flower in the Netherlands in the 17th century, where it became a rarity and was sold at an enormous price that only the wealthy could afford. It was said that tulips were worth more than gold during this time.

While the craze eventually died, the fascination with tulips grew into a huge commercial enterprise. The Netherlands is now known for its tulip fields and is a major exporter of tulip bulbs. They export over 3 billion bulbs a year. Keukenhof in Holland is one of the largest gardens in the world. It’s home to the largest tulip garden, where over 7 million tulips bloom in April and May. 

Ottawa, Canada, is another popular site for tulip viewing in the spring. This Canadian city has been hosting the Canadian Tulip Festival since 1953, which is now the largest of its kind in the world. The Netherlands sends Ottawa thousands of tulip bulbs each year as a thank-you for providing a home to Princess Juliana of the Netherlands and her two young daughters, Princess Beatrix, and Princess Irene, during the Nazi Invasion of the Netherlands.

Tulip blooms increase biodiversity, give pollinators a home, improve aesthetics, cut down on pollution, and encourage sustainability. They also come in a variety of colors, which add beauty to gardens and parks. Tulips can also provide habitat and food for various pollinators, such as bees and butterflies. What’s great about tulip bulbs is that you can replant them after they bloom in the spring for the next year. The Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa will dig up the bulbs when the festival is over and donate them to citizens to plant in their own gardens.

Tulips also have a range of symbolic meanings depending on their color. White tulips have a meaning of forgiveness, respect, purity, and honor. Yellow tulips represent cheerfulness and hope. Red tulips mean love and passion. Pink tulips represent affection and caring, and purple tulips represent royalty and elegance.

While tulip bulbs generally get planted in the fall and bloom in the spring, they can still be planted early enough as long as the ground is workable. If you aren’t specifically planting tulips today, there are other ways you can celebrate Plant a Flower Day, including:

  • Tending to your outdoor garden.
  • Hosting a plant and seed swap.
  • Visiting a botanical garden in your city.
  • Purchasing flower seeds or flowering plants at a local greenhouse.
  • Planting your seeds in pots, inside.
  • Getting involved in a community gardening project.

Planting flowers today and whenever the weather and ground conditions are right is a great opportunity to get outside and appreciate the beauty and joy flowers provide to us. It is also a perfect time to appreciate their ecological benefits to our biodiversity and natural environments.

Top 5 Newsletter

The Top 5 Happy Eco News stories delivered to your inbox - every Monday.

Sign up now!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Support Us.

Happy Eco News will always remain free for anyone who needs it. Help us spread the good news about the environment!