So grateful were the people of Holland for the food generously supplied them during World War Two by the people of the United States, Canada, England, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Irish Free State and Switzerland that a public collection was taken with which to buy tulip bulbs to send abroad as a gesture of gratitude.
A national committee called "Flowers Interpret Netherlands Gratitude" was formed under the patronage of H.
R.
H.
Prince Bernhard, the President of the Royal Horticultural Society, and the mayors of the five largest cities.
The spontaneous enthusiasm of the people resulted in the collection of $750,000 in cash from practically every man, woman and child in Holland.
With this money 2,000,000 bulbs were purchased and distributed to the benefactor countries.
A fitting touch was added when the bulbs were packed in the same boxes that had carried the much-needed food to Holland after the Nazis surrendered.
More than 300,000 tulip bulbs were presented to the City of Washington alone.
These were planted in and around the Capitol Building, in Arlington National Cemetery, at the White House, the State Department, and the Supreme Court Building.
Few Americans who saw these bright bombs of beauty bursting last spring were aware that they were the gift of the grateful people of Holland, who were rejoicing in their newly found freedom from Nazi rule.
In New York City the Dutch tulips made exciting patches of color along Park Avenue, in Central Park, Van Cortlandt Park, and in other prominent locations.
Notable was an outdoor display at the New York Botanical Garden of 18,000 tulips, and 6,000 in the greenhouses.
National cemeteries at Baltimore, Maryland, and Farmingdale, Long Island, also received generous gifts of tulips.
The people of Canada also enjoyed 300,000 gift tulip blooms in Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal.
Most of the forty-five varieties sent to Canada were new to Canadian gardeners.
Tulips, however, fine as they are, are only one of many beautiful flowers that grow from bulbs.
Bailey's Cyclopedia of Horticulture lists 119 species of bulbous plants that are procurable, while dormant, from dealers.
Of these only thirty-five species are listed as tardy, the others being tender or semi-hardy.
Bulbs are broken down into several groups-true bulbs, such as the tulip; corms, such as the crocus and gladiolus; tubers, such as the dahlia and potato; pips, such as lily of the valley; rhizomes, such as the bearded iris; and various other fleshy roots, including the peony.
Most of the bulbs we plant in the fall for spring or summer flowering are true bulbs or corms.