Tulips

[callmemadam]

It may be freezing cold but you can buy a cheerful bunch of a dozen tulips for £3.00. It'll be ages before they're out in the garden, if they survive at all, so spoil yourself, I say. For a wonderful read about the history of tulips, all the gorgeous varieties and how to grow them, try The Tulip, by Dorset's own Anna Pavord.



It's extremely well researched and well written and what's more, Mrs Pavord is a very nice person. Deborah Moggach's novel Tulip Fever was also published in 2000, another example of authors randomly (?) working on similar subjects at the same time. I didn't finish this one, finding the non fiction story far more enthralling.



The ethics of the cut flower trade is a hot topic just at the moment and I plan on reading Amy Stewart's Flower Confidential as soon as I can afford to buy it.

Comments

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

I don't mind them doing that; it's quite a nice effect in itself. A show tip to keep them straight is to wrap the stems tightly in newspaper, put some elastic bands round them and then plunge the lot up to their necks in water overnight. Or not.