Blue Tulip

Happy Mothers Day!
I've had a lovely day. Our son brought us a complete Chinese meal made by the lady who owns a local restaurant, specially for us. Only the rice was on the menu. This is a bit of a joke between us, some people might say that I never order what's on the menu but always want a variation. He'd ordered this some days ago, and she had excelled herself, never ate a better Chinese meal, full of wonderful flavours. Felt very special.
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So not much time for a blip.
Back in the 1600's tulips were much prized and dealings in the bulbs made - and ultimately lost - fortunes. The flower was breath taking because of its colour - amongst all European flowers at the time, it was unique. It became coveted as a luxurious status symbol. Speculation was rife, people putting money into bulbs they never saw, and of course eventually the bubble burst. Prices had been escalating, with bulbs changing hands up to ten times a day, some of them costing three times the annual average wage for one bulb. But then one of the main markets in Haarlem, Holland, failed. It's said to have been due to bubonic plague hitting the town, so traders refused to go there. Whatever the reason, quite suddenly in 1637, the market collapsed. Many people lost everything.

I wonder what anyone would have paid for tulips of this hue? It is quite startling.