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Clinton News-Record, 1984-05-09, Page 37Page 12 Tulips mean beauty in Clinton, but business in Holland By Wendy Somerville With spring here and Klompen Feest just around the corner, many Dutch im- migrants and Canadian natives will be admiring brightly colored Selmer Augustus or tulips in flower beds planted by the Clinton Horticultural Society. In Holland, a thousand different flowers bloom in every color, all year round. The Dutch hold floral parades • and festivals and they buy more flowers, per family, per week, than any other people in the world. They also have a daily flower auction that is the world's largest, from which cut flowers are flown all over the world. Apart from the usual foliage grown, the. Dutch have a deep affection for those famous fields of tulips around Haarlem and Leiden in Holland. The fields cover the earth with a patchwork quilt of color in the spring. In Canada too, tulips are a popular spring flower. This year three million tulips will herald spring in Ottawa. Queen Juliana of the Netherlands lived in Ottawa during World II and presented the bulbs as a gift in ap- preciation of the hospitality she receiv- ed. At one time bulbs were an extremely expensive token of appreciation: Few people know that tulips came to Holland from Asia Minor, via Constantinople and Germany, at the end of the 16th century. Many other people love flowers but it was only the Dutch who used, to speculate in tulip bulbs, just as others speculate in shares. In the mid- dle of the 17th century a single bulb vvyyas sold for -13,000 guilders, about $5,200. Later the slump in tulip bulbs caused an economic disaster, similar to the New York crash of 1929. The flowers have branched stems bearing one to nine, usually . showy flowers. The leaves range from a long and narrow to an oval shape. The flowers that may be erect or nodding, are urn to saucer shaped. There are six stamens and the fruit is a three chambered capsule with a_..great number of flattened seeds. Today, the tulip is an important hor- ticultural crop to the Netherlands. Many are raised commercially in Belgium, England the Northeastern United States and British Columbia. The bulb is Holland's second most im- portant export commodity. The bulb, not the flower is the most important part of .the plant. When the flowers are ripe, so so speak, they are cut off, leav- ing only the green stalks. The Dutch children play with the discarded blooms, threading them into garlands which they sell to passing motorists or make floral mosaics with them. Tulips are a tradition in Holland. They have lent beauty to the coun- tryside, provided a strong economic base and were even used as food to feed the starvingduring World War II. In celebrating Hound and the Dutch culture, the tulip becomes an important part of Clinton's Klompen Feest celebration. During the Klompen Feest, make it a point, to drop into THE DUTCH STORE 55 ALBERT ST., CLINTON 482-7302 LARGE SELECTION OF KLOMPEN FEEST SOUVENIRS * Klompen (wooden shoes). imported from Holland * Klompen Feest T -Shirts * Klompen Feest Teaspoons * Dolls in authentic Dutch costume — great for the collector. *Keyholders and Broaches *Smaller Delft Blue Items AT THE DUTCH STORE IT'S KLOMPEN FEEST YEAR-ROUND! WITH A HUGE SELECTION OF DUTCH PRODUCTS IN.STOCK AT ALL TIMES INCLUDING - * Dutch Styfe Meats * Yarns * Dutch Chocolates, * Delft Blue Ceramics and Original Gouda and Edam Pottery cheeses, imported licorice, * Copperware and delicatessen items. * Gift Ware YOUR VISIT TO KLOMPEN FEEST ISNOT COMPLETE WITHOUT A VISIT TO THE DUTCH STORE J