Istanbul’s Tulip Festival
Although it began on Friday (April 2, 2010), it’s not too late for Road Trips Gardeners to catch the 5th edition of the International Istanbul Tulip Festival organized by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (it doesn’t end until April 18, 2010).
The main exhibitions are at Taksim Square, Emirgan Woods, Hidiv Woods, Göztepe Rose Garden, Büyük Çaml?ca Woods, Sultanahmet Square, and Gülhane Park.
This year, 82 different varieties of tulips — 9,300,000 bulbs — have been planted from Silivri to Tuzla throughout ?stanbul. The tulip bulbs were mainly grown in Çumra, a town of Konya, but were also grown by villagers of Silivri, Çatalca, ?ile, Pamukova, and Geyve.
Turkey, of course, is where the 17th Century “tulip mania” began (and the tulip is the emblem of the country).
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by RoadTrips Gardener. RoadTrips Gardener said: If you're gonna garden with tulips, you really oughta go where tulip mania began! The Istanbul Tulip Festival is on now! http://ow.ly/1usBv […]