Tulips or Two Lips!
The connection between Tulips and Two Lips may be a matter of whimsy.
Notwithstanding this the tulip can lay claim to be among the most popular of garden flowers particularly at Easter time. The tulip is associated with Easter because in temperate countries the flower appears in early spring.
Horticulturalists of the # 1 Plant Shop in Sherriff Street Georgetown say that the tulip can be cultivated locally quite successfully.
The tulip (genus Tulipa) is any of a group of cultivated bulbous herbs in the family Liliaceae.
The genus itself consists of about 100 species that are native to Eurasia from Austria and Italy eastward to Japan, with two-thirds of them native to the eastern Mediterranean and the southeastern parts of the Soviet Union.
Some species can be found growing wild in Southern Europe, in Japan and in northern Africa.
The tulip produces two or three thick, bluish green leaves that are clustered at the base of the plant.
Its  flowers have three petals, are  bell shaped and solitary and  occur in a wide range of colors from purest white through all shades of yellow and red to brown and deepest purple to almost black- except true blue..
As a result of its popularity, almost 4,000 horticultural varieties have been developed.
Among the many thousands of tulip varieties, are the colourfully named Rising Sun, White Hawk, Couleur de Cardinal, Pride of Haarlem, and Prince of Austria.
There are several different classification schemes based on the plants’ time of bloom, flower shape, and plant size.
Among the tulips that appear earliest in spring are single-flowered and double-flowered early types. Tulip types that bloom in mid-season include Mendels and Darwins.
Late-blooming tulips are the largest class, with the widest range of growth habits and colors.
The popularity of the tulip plants and its flowers date back to 1551, when the Viennese Ambassador to Turkey, Augier Ghislain de Busbecq, saw the plants in Edirne, Turkey and later sent some seeds to Austria.
The arrival at Antwerp in 1562 of a cargo of tulip bulbs from Constantinople (now Istanbul) marked the beginning of the tulip horticultural industry in Europe.
The Netherlands soon took the lead in producing prized specimens
In the 1630s, a rage of tulip speculation, called tulipomania, gripped much of Holland and farmers, rich and poor, began speculating in the tulip trade. Single bulbs of prized varieties sold for as much as $1,000, one particular bulb for $4,000, a small fortune at the time.
But the tulip rage tapered off within a few years, leaving thousands of Dutchmen penniless. The economic scars of the tulipomania were felt in Holland for decades.
Still, the Dutch continued to raise their favorite flower. Today, the Netherlands remains the chief source of tulip bulbs for much of the world, with millions cultivated each year. The total value of Dutch horticulture approaches a quarter-billion dollars annually!.
.Most tulips are raised from the shoots of a parent plant, not from seed. A shoot will begin producing flowers of its own in about three years.
Horticulturalists at the # 1 Plant shop say that locally the tulip will flourish in any good soil but does best in well-drained loam.
If you plant tulips in your garden, you can expect most species to bear blossoms for several seasons.
Contact the # 1 Plant Shop in Sheriff Street (Telephone #227 8094)   for further information on how you can add this exceptional flowering  plant to your garden.