My name is Cara Ewald, Floral Designer and owner of Blooms Florist, in downtown Bridgeport.  I founded Blooms in 2007, and I have studied floral design in London, England, as well as throughout the U. S.  With the first sunshine of spring this week, I thought it fitting to start my blog, which will consist of tips and tricks about floral arranging, growing, history, care, etc.  For those who love not only the smell of flowers, but also the beauty, and want to learn more about different types and varieties -- well then -- you are reading the right blog.  

In this first post, we will discuss our favorite spring flower, the tulip.  Tulips, with their long curvy stems can be elegant -- unless you use your favorite wide-mouthed container.  There are about 75 different varieties of tulips.  Tulips are spring-blooming bulbs that can range between 4 and 24 inches in height.  Tulip cultivation began in Persia around the 10th century with hybridization of wild flowers from different parts of the region.  Persians favored tulips over other flowers for their size and their vigorous growth.  

 

These days, tulips are mainly associated with the western Europe, specifically the Netherlands, where the world's largest permanent display of tulips can be found.   The tulips first Dutch flower was said to have grown in 1594, and "tulip mania" started around 1634 and has continued to present day.  In Europe, around 1637, tulips became so expensive that they were even used as a form of currency.  The first tulips in the United States were grown in Lynn and Salem, Massachusetts between 1847 and 1845.  One of Lynn's wealthiest Richard Sullivan Fay, Esq., imported tulips, as well as many other plants and trees, and planted them throughout the Fay Estate.

 

Presently, the sign of tulip growth in the U. S. is seen as the sign that spring has sprung, no matter what the date.  Although, a little late this year, that growth is seen as a promise that warmer days are here again.  Tulips for your first spring flower arrangement can be found at Kroger, Blooms, and other florists.  Happy Spring!