To learn more, click here for a unique book about the Hortus or visit www.hortus-bulborum.nl.

        The Hortus depends on the support of bulb-lovers world-wide. We’re helping them with historical research, with translating their website, with adding daffodils to their collection, and by annual donations. You can, too, by spreading the word, by buying their bulbs from us, and by donating at http://www.hortus-bulborum.nl/eng/donateur-eng.html.

        Richly patterned with flames and feathers of contrasting colors, broken or rectified tulips were the most prized tulips from the 1600s well into the 1800s. Please don’t confuse them with Rembrandt tulips which are crude 20th-century wanna-bes. Grow both and you’ll see there is no comparison!

Broken tulips in a detail from
Still Life with Fruit and Flowers,
Ambrosius Bosschaert, c. 1620-1621    

        Much as great wines and cheeses are shaped by micro-organisms, the exquisite patterning of broken tulips is caused by a benign virus that causes the colors to break or separate without harming the bulb. It’s spread by aphids and other sucking insects, so plant these tulips away from other tulips and especially lilies.

        There are three color groups. Bijbloemens (like our ‘Adonis’, ‘Beauty of Bath’, ‘Insulinde’, and ‘The Lizard’) are purple on white. Roses (like our ‘Bessie’ and ‘Mabel’) are red and pink on white. And Bizarres (like our ‘Absalon’ and ‘Lord Stanley’) are brown or reddish on yellow. (Every summer we offer even rarer broken tulips as web-only specials.)

        Every broken tulip can come in three forms, too: breeder, which is the original solid color; feather, which is lightly marked with the darker color; and flame, which is more richly marked.

        Broken tulips from England are known as English florist tulips, “florist” originally meaning a flower enthusiast. The Wakefield and North of England Tulip Society has been breeding and showing broken tulips in annual competitions since 1836. For a glimpse of their 2006 Annual Show, visit http://www.oldhousegardens.com/tulipshow.asp.

        To learn more, read an article by our friend John Snocken of the UK's National Collection of English Florist Tulips at http://www.nccpg.com/Default.Aspx?Page.Aspx?page=183 and visit the Wakefield Society's website at http://www.tulipsociety.co.uk/.