A Picture is Worth a Thousand Tulips in Holland

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Tulip is a main symbol in Netherlands and is one of the major export products. This farm shown in the picture is probably used to export tulip bulbs for Mother’s Day and other occasions.

The article doesn’t say which location the picture was taken but I think it is somewhere near Keukenhof Gardens in Netherlands. I tried to see this location in Google Maps, but the picture seems to be old. If it is more recent, Google Maps can spot the colors from the sky.

Flowers from places like this Netherlands tulip farm represent $40 billion industry, according to Amy Stewart.

Stewart, in her book Flowering Confidential, reports the following about the flower industry:

• The famous Dutch flower auction at Aalsmeer handles 19 million flowers per day.
• About half the world’s cut flower supply travels through Holland to be sold at one of its large auction houses.
• Americans spend about $6.2 billion on cut flowers and purchase roughly 4 billion stems per year. Put another way: Americans buy about 10 million cut flowers per day.
• Americans spend $1.98 billion on flowers and plants for Mother’s Day.
• Anna Jarvis founded Mother’s Day in 1908 and encouraged people to send white carnations. Because it was so difficult to grow enough white carnations for the holiday, florists encouraged sons and daughters to honor their mothers by sending her favorite flower, whatever it might be.

Some of these tulips from Netherlands will end up making mothers very happy this weekend worldwide.