A Patriotic Tulip
Plant of the week for 01 May 2007
These tulips are named after the famous Dutch painter Rembrandt (1606 - 1669), who lived and worked in Holland at about the same time tulips first became enormously popular. The tulips were called "Rembrandts," stemming from the abundance of tulips in famous Dutch Master paintings during this era, known as the Golden Age of Dutch Painting. Curiously, tulips were not a prominent theme in Rembrandt's own work.
Buy Union Jack now!
We now know that the unusual markings and broken colours in Rembrandt tulips were actually caused by a virus, which eventually caused damage to the tulip bulbs. Because of this, the original Rembrandt tulips are no longer sold commercially. However, there are quite a few modern, virus-free, Rembrandt "look-alike" tulips available, such as Union Jack.
Worn by Christopher Blom during his interview with Alan Titchmarsh, Union Jack proved to be an extremely popular choice at last year's Chelsea Flower Show. It is classed as a May Flowering tulip and has extremely beautiful colouring. The rich raspberry red markings are on a ivory white ground and it has a cobalt blue centre.
Other modern "look-alike" Rembrandt tulips to look out for are Burning Heart, Helmar, Marilyn, Mona Lisa, Olympic Flame, Princess Irene, Shirley and Sorbet.
This year Bloms Bulbs were awarded their 57th Gold Medal at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show.
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