Situated in the quiet village of Limmen in the north of Holland is an extraordinary jewel of a garden, where thousands of ancient tulip bulbs, species and early cultivars grow alongside their descendants. The Hortus Bulborum is a living treasury of the tulip's astonishing history of over 400 years of cultivation, with just 150 species becoming a mesmerising 5,000-plus varieties.

Many of the tulips in the garden date back to the 16th century and include several stars of the period known as Tulip Mania (1634-1637), such as Tulipa semper augustus, reputedly the most expensive tulip of all time. The oldest cultivated bulb in the garden, the short yet vibrant 'Duc van Tol Red and Yellow' tulip dates back to 1595 and, with a new cultivar introduced every year, the collection is continuously expanding.

Holland, of course, is renowned for its tulips but the flower comes from the Middle East (the Turks reputedly cultivated tulips as early as AD 1000) and to a limited extent China. The word “tulip” derives from the New Latin word tulipa and the Turkish word for turban, and the similarly shaped silhouette of the flower decorates many of Turkey's historic hand-embroidered fabrics, as well as distinctive tiles and ceramics.

The tulip was introduced to Holland in 1593 by Carolus Clusius, the head of Leiden University's Botanical Garden. By the end of the 17th century, Holland was trading heavily with Turkey and the market for tulip bulbs expanded. They became prestigious commodities and sought-after status symbols, so much so that a single bulb could command enormous sums of money.

The mass plantings that can be seen today in palaces, parks and gardens developed as bulbs became more commonly available. The Dutch founded a vast international trade in the flower, breeding new and exciting cultivars in a rainbow of colours, with myriad patterns and petal formations. The First and the Second World War and the ensuing economic crises of both forced many bulb growers out of business, with crops and fields destroyed by battles and in 1944 a famine which actually led to desperate, starving Dutch farmers and their families eating their prized bulbs as if they were common onions. Incredibly, the Hortus Bulborum collection survived unscathed and 1960 saw the first Floriade, a horticultural exhibition celebrating Dutch excellence at which Hortus showed around 900 of its surviving historical bulbs.

Today, floral shows, festivals and parades are part of the fabric of the Dutch countryside, drawing in thousands of tourists and supporting a thriving commercial horticultural business. At Keukenhof in the bulb-growing area between Amsterdam and The Hague, the pinnacle of the season is the annual Flower Parade – a wonderful cavalcade of floats decked with flower heads, which travels the crowd-lined 40 km from Noordwijk to Haarlem.

You don't have to go to Holland to appreciate tulips. Do as the Dutch do with their particularly prized tulips and show them off in an elaborate Delft vase, designed so that each bloom can be clearly and individually showcased. However you decide to display your tulips, to get the most out of them re-cut the stems, bind them in paper and plunge the flowers into a bucket of cold water overnight before arranging.

WHERE TO SEE TULIPS
Hortus Bulborum Foundation, Zuidkerkenlaan 23a, NL-1906 AC Limmen, The Netherlands, (00 31) 251 231286. Open from early April to mid May.
Keukenhof, Stationsweg 166a, 2161 AM Lisse, The Netherlands, (00 31) 252 465555. Open from March to mid May.
Hortus Clusianus, Leiden Botanic Garden, Rapenburg 73, Leiden, The Netherlands, (00 31) 715 277249. Open from March to October.
Het Loo Palace, Koninklijk Park 1, 7315 JA Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, (00 31) 555 772400. Open throughout the year.
The Privy Garden at Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey, Surrey KT8 9AU, (020) 8781 9500. Open from March to October.

TO FIND OUT MORE
The Tulip by Anna Pavord (Bloomsbury, £8·99). Colourful and readable account of the story of the tulip.
Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach (Vintage, £7·50). A gripping novel set in 1630s Amsterdam.
Hortus Bulborum by Leslie Leijenhorst (Uitgeverij Noord-Holland, €22·50; order at lale.nl/hortus). A treasury of bulbs and a history of the Hortus Bulborum itself.

WORDS JACKY HOBBS
PHOTOGRAPHS MICHELLE GARRETT
MARCH 2006