Thanks to Gardens by the Bay, Singaporeans are able to witness tulips blooming across the flower field at The Flower Dome. It has been a yearly affair for me to visit their annual Tulipmania in the months of April and May to catch a glimpse of these beautiful blooms.
But during each visit, I constantly found myself taking photos of the tulips without truly appreciating this spring-blooming flowers. There were signages planted throughout the flower field with a general description of the flower and scientific name printed on it. However, these descriptions did not really stuck with me or help me understand more about the plant. And I find that it is something that Gardens By The Bay should work on. Rather than just sprucing up the Flower Dome to create a beautiful backdrop for photos, it could be used as an educational playing field to make a visitor’s experience more meaningful.
Nonetheless, I decided to take it to my own accord to discover the true beauty of tulips. Here are probably 5 facts about Tulips which you did not know.
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1. Tulips did not originate from the Netherlands
We are often misconstrued to think that if a place has an abundance of a certain plant type, then the plant must originate from there. Interestingly, tulips are native to Central Asia. It wasn’t popular back then in Asia until it reached Europe. In 1634, the increasing popularly of tulips sparked off Tulip mania where the prices of tulips suddenly skyrocketed. They were so highly prized back then that they were treated as a form of currency. Unfortunately, the bubble bursted and the prices of tulips took a deep plunge in 1673.
2. Tulips, lilies and onions are all part of the same family
Tulips are a part of the Liliaceae family, which also includes lilies, onions, garlic and asparagus. I did not know about that before! The tulip bulbs do look like onions!
3. Tulips grow from bulbs
Don’t the shoots look like the green spring onion leaves? Like onion, tulips are from the same bulbous family of plants.
4. The Tulip is the national flower of Turkey
5. There’s a tulip variety which is named after Singapore
To commemorate 200 years since Sir Stamford Raffles founded Singapore, this red variety of tulip has been named Tulipa ‘Singapura’. You can find our national flag colours on this tulip too.
6. Tulips bloom during spring, usually for about 3 to 7 days
7. Tulips are edible!
Do you know that tulips can be used to make bread and wine? During WWII, the Dutch ate sugar beets and tulips to survive.
Tulipmania (幻梦郁金香) Floral Display
Date: Friday, 12 April 2019 – Monday, 20 May 2019
Time: 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Location: Flower Dome
Details: Admission charge to the conservatories applies.
European Fair
Date: Friday, 12 April 2019 – Sunday, 21 April 2019
Time: 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
Location: Flower Field Hall
Details: Free admission on weekdays, while admission charge to the conservatories applies on weekends.
