Fancy Frills

The sun shone brightly today and I was going to go for walk but got carried away with catching up on putting photos on Flickr, I took on my holiday to Europe in 2012. I am sure behind with them but in some ways it is like taking my holiday all over again.

Here is another beautiful tulip I have in my garden.

In the 20th century it was discovered that the frilly petals and dramatic flames that gave the flower its stunning look, infact were the symptoms of an infection by the mosaic virus. The healthy flower were supposed to be solid, smooth and monotone. The virus came to the tulip from a louse living on peaches and potatoes. These diseased varieties are no longer sold, what you can find is hybrids that look similar but are genetically stable.
For more information on Tulips.

Tulips
The talk of the town
Whispers of wild affairs
Tulips are silenced