Istanbul Lalesi

Flower Bulbs /

Istanbul Tulip returns to its birthplace

It was a privilege and honor to see the original Istanbul Tulip being planted after almost 300 years in its place of birth, together with mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and Dutch Consul General Arjen Uijterlinde . This specific tulip was cultivated by the Ottoman gardeners untill the 18th century. Based on our historical research in the works of French botanist Redouté and the British Botanical register we found references to the tulipa acuminata, which was imported directly from Istanbul in the early 19th century and bloomed in the royal gardens in France and UK. Since then cultivation continued on a very small scale in the Netherlands until present day. We look forward to the blooms next Spring! Thanks for the contributions of Gül Yavuzer Irepoglu, Arie Dwarswaard and many others. İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ankara and Consulate General in Istanbul

Our research can be found here:

Media, Projects /

Return of the Istanbul tulip

In cooperation with the World Tulip Society, the Consulate of the Netherlands in Istanbul, and many others, we returned the original Istanbul tulip to its birthplace.

On May 6 Consul General Bart van Bolhuis presented the tulip to mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who greatly appreciated the gift. The typical Istanbul tulip with its almond shape and pointy daggers, was cultivated in the 17th-18th century in the Ottoman gardens, and were described extensively in the Tulip Album of 1725. The earliest documented record in Europe of this tulip was in 1811, where the tulip arrived from the Orient and were planted in the royal gardens in Paris. Soon after it appeared in other places in Europe and was registered as tulipa cornuata and later acuminata. The acuminata is still grown on a very small scale by a specialised grower in the Netherlands, and its history was only known within a small community of garden and tulip connaisseurs. The event gained national attention in the media across Turkey.

Mr. Ibo Gülsen of IGMPR lead the project and worked closely with tulip specialists in Europe and Turkey to unravel the history of the Istanbul Tulip. Beautiful pictures of the tulip in the royal gardens were made with the support of Paleis Het Loo.