A to Z challenge 2023 – Q is for . . .

 

A to Zchallenge 2023 – Q is for . . .

My theme for this challenge is Nature in all much of her wonderful diversity. My posts will reflect the fact that I am resident in the south of England.

All photographs in this post are the property of the writer.

Q is for Queen of the Night

Queen of the Night is a deep purple, almost black tulip.

Purple dye was once very expensive and a luxury that only the richest in the land could afford. Dressing in purple indicated that the wearer was high-born. Elizabeth I (1533-1603) who reigned England and Ireland from 1558-1603, banned the wearing of purple by people other than members of the royal family.

Thus, purple tulips signify royalty and elegance.

Tulips were originally wild flowers growing in Persia and were cultivated in Turkey from about 1000 AD. The flower derives its name from the Turkish ‘dulband’ meaning turban, which the flower is said to resemble. The tulip was considered a charm against evil.

In 1593, tulips were imported from the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) to the Netherlands, where they became the national flower, associated with good fortune, love and rebirth.

 So popular were they and the demand for them so great that the price of the flowers rocketed. The so-called ‘tulip mania’ lasted from 1634 to 1637 and at its peak, the flowers were more valuable than diamonds.

Today, tulips remain one of the most popular flowers in the world. The Netherlands is the world’s major producer of tulips, growing around 3 billion bulbs annually.

Tulip festivals take place annually in the Netherlands, in Spalding in England, and in North America. There is also a permanent display of tulips in Keukenhof, near Amsterdam, from mid-March to mid-May.

Tulips have gained popularity in Australia, which holds its own festivals in September and October.

There are several legends concerning the origins of the tulip. One Turkish version declares that there was once a princess, called Shirin, who fell in love with a lowly stonemason, whose name was Farhad.

Shirin’s father disapproved of the relationship and sent Farhad on a very difficult mission. While he was attempting to complete the task, Shirin’s father sent a message to him saying that the princess was dead. Overcome, Farhad killed himself. On hearing of his death, Shirin hurried to his side and then killed herself. Her blood merged with Farhad’s to form the tulip.

So tulips also symbolise true, perfect love.

Tulip flower buds are perfectly symmetrical and the petals are edible; they can be used to replace onions or can be used to make wine. However, the bulbs are toxic to humans, though not to domestic animals.

April A-Z blogging challenge 2012 G is for Glory

G brings us to the seventh of 26 short stories – 250 words or fewer - about Alice’s life and times.

G is for Glory

The first months of the war were surprisingly quiet and became known as the Phoney War. People relaxed and stopped carrying their gas masks everywhere. In the spring of 1940 they were made to think again when the Netherlands and Belgium were invaded and the battle for France began. Suddenly the enemy seemed uncomfortably close.

Letters home calmed the anxieties of Alice’s family but they had little idea where the brothers were. They dreaded seeing the telegram boy and sighed with relief when he passed by. One day in 1941 he stopped at the house. Edward was missing in action, presumed killed. He was just eighteen. His parents wept and Ruth and Alice did their best to comfort them though they could hardly stop their own tears from falling.

Three years later another telegram arrived reporting Charles’ death. His ship had been torpedoed in the Atlantic in early January. 

When VE day came in 1945 there were ecstatic celebrations for those who welcomed home their loved ones. There was proud reference to the sacrifices of ‘our glorious dead’ but the bereaved could not see it and could not rejoice.

Finally, Daniel returned. He’d left his legs behind on a battlefield but at least he had survived. Alice watched Ruth as she got ready to visit him in hospital.  She was trembling. Alice recognised her fear and hoped somehow Daniel would be the same as he had ever been.

She was thirteen - half her life had been lived in wartime.