Tulips in America
The first time I set out to photograph the tulip fields in Oregon’s Willamette Valley was a milestone for me. Captivated by the endless kaleidoscope of tulips, I decided that flower and nature photography would be my specialty. Since these tulip fields were so important to my artistic calling, I started to research the history of tulips in America and made several fascinating discoveries.
Tulips were first brought to America in 1624 by Dutch colonists, who settled in New Amsterdam (modern-day Manhattan). The flowers were so popular that by 1760, fifty different types of tulip bulbs were being sold in Boston. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were among the tulip fanciers. More Dutch immigrants arrived in the early nineteenth century, establishing communities in Michigan and Iowa. America soon grew into such a strong market that tulip growers in Holland sent traveling salesmen to the U.S. to take bulb orders. This was quite the marketing endeavor as the salesmen spent over two months sailing back and forth across the Atlantic and up to six more months traveling through the States to visit American nursery owners.
The spread of tulip popularity in early America was due largely in part to the mass plantings of tulips in public parks and gardens. A consortium of Dutch growers donated millions of bulbs to landscape parks in New York, San Francisco, and St. Louis. The Dutch were so successful with their sales efforts that by 1910, the U.S. was importing a million dollars in bulbs. While Holland still dominates the world tulip bulb market, America has grown to be the fourth largest bulb producer. The U.S bulb growers are located in the Pacific Northwest and some northeastern states, where there is a favorable climate for tulips.
Visiting one of these tulip fields makes it easy to see why tulips are the most popular bulbs in America. The flowers come in all colors of the rainbow and brighten everyone’s spirit. I named the photograph above “Tulip Paradise” because for me there is no place I’d rather be than surrounded by these cheerful and vibrant blooms.
Sources
Crockett, James Underwood. Bulbs, The Time-Life Encyclopedia of Gardening. Alexandria: Time-Life Books, 1978.
Pavord, Anna. The Tulip. New York: Bloomsbury, 1999.
Potter, Jennifer. Seven Flowers And How They Shaped Our World. New York: Overlook Press, 2014.
