Is there really such a thing as a black tulip?

Technically, no. But you’ll find some lusciously dark varieties, such as the Queen of the Night, this weekend at the 60th Albany Tulip Festival in Washington Park, Albany, NY.

“The growers have never been able to breed a black tulip; [the Queen] is as dark as they can get. So depending on [the] light, it can be black or it can be a very rich deep burgundy,” says city gardener Judy Stacey, in the Schenectady Daily Gazette.

Stacey and her team have planted 208,000 tulips around the city. Other dark varieties include Café Noir and Black Parrot. The richer-hued tulips look great with white, pink, yellow or lavender tulips, Stacey says. To read the full story, click on: dailygazette.com/news/2008/may/08/0508_Tulips.

For more information about the tulip festival, go to: albanyevents.org/tulip_festival/index.cfm.

Flower Fact of the Day: Flowers use lots of tricks to attract pollinators. One that was new to scientists studying Welsh wildflowers known as sea campion is that flowers move in the breeze, in order to wave at insects. They probably wink too, but scientists have yet to document that coy move. ;) To read more, go to: news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7388689.stm.

Jacqueline - Editor

May 8, 2008

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Mary

208,000 tulips? Wow! Is that a record for a city?

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