This story does not start in Holland, but it does end there. In simplest terms, tulips are from Central Asia. And daffodils are from Spain and Portugal. Certainly, few flowers have been more intensely “worked on” than these.
Many bulb flowers, now all developed, produced, and exported from Holland, are native to other far-flung corners of the earth. In fact, Holland is no bulb’s ancestral home. Wild dahlias come from Mexico. Amaryllis is native to South America. Freesias and Callas come from South Africa. And most of the species or “wild” lilies are from China, Japan, and North America. It’s important to understand that many of the original wild forms of these famous flowers look nothing like the garden flowers that mostly Dutch hybridizers have created from them. It’s a fascinating story, unknown by most wildflower enthusiasts. Most of the true “wild” forms of these bulbs are still available, but with all the clamor and glamour of the hybrids, the wild ones are sometimes hard to find.
And remember. . . "A house with daffodils in it is a house lit up, whether or not the sun be shining outside." A. A. Milne
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