Tulips are flowers popular in Europe, however, they originated in Asia. They were brought to the Old Continent towards the end of the 16th century on boards of merchant ships through the port in Antwerp. Europeans, especially the Dutch, were soon captivated by these flowers and they became one of the distinctive features of that country. In the 17th century people living in the Low Countries were fascinated by tulips, rich merchants and city dwellers craved for having the most beautiful specimen, and they were ready to pay the equivalent of the bulb’s weight in gold. The most expensive Semper Augustus bulb in history was sold during an auction in 1637 for 13 thousand guilders, which was the equivalence of several tenement houses in Amsterdam! Despite the fact that the flowers of that variety became extinct, we may still admire over 100 thousand varieties of tulips. Some of them are still quite expensive, however, they are incomparably cheaper than their “ancestors” and everyone may afford his own bulb.
