Our most famous flower bulb is the tulip. ‘Tulip’ comes from the Latin word Tulipa, meaning the flower that resembles a turban. A strange name? Not if you know that tulips were already being grown and traded in Turkey during the Middle Ages, when the men there wore turbans – hence the name! It is rather charming to know that our tulips are descended from those in Turkey.

Around 1550, Turkey was a powerful country where the wealthy sultan Suleiman lived. His palace gardens were filled with the most beautiful tulips. After all, he was rich, and rich people paid a great deal for luxury items – including tulips, which were held in high esteem. It is almost unimaginable, but a human life was then considered less valuable than a single tulip!