Nederland - Sint Maartensvlotbrug, tulpen

A tulip bulb seems so ordinary, but if you look a little bit further you can see what's special about it. That special aspect is inside. A bulb has everything it needs to get a flower to bloom at the right time. If you cut the bulb in half, you will see the flower already. Around it are the skirts in which the food needed for the flower to grow is stored. Another special feature of flower bulbs is the fact that they are the first to bring colour to gardens and parks after a winter. When the flower bulbs bloom, spring has begun.

Small tulip bulbs are planted in the autumn. In the ground, the little bulbs make roots and then go into rest until after the winter. The tulip bulbs need this cold period in order to be able to flower in spring. When winter is over, a stem comes out of the bulb with leaves and the tulip starts to bloom.

It is often a big shock when the bulb grower enters the bulb fields with a machine to chop off the flowers (PiP4). A tulip grower doesn’t take care about the flowers. For him it is all about the bulbs. By chopping the flower in time, all the energy goes to the bulb. The bigger the flower bulb, the more money the farmer can make. A large bulb produces a solid flower in the garden and also produces small (new) bulbs, which serve as planting material for the next season. In June and July, the tulip bulbs are grubbed up, cleaned and sorted according to size. The large bulbs are then sold for floriculture or for gardens or parks.