Gives great perspective on sometimes maligned bulb because it's not the easiest to grow. After seeing it's natural "home" I can see why it wants specific criteria.

The Van Gogh painting looks like a contemporary of the his Sunflowers in a vase.

Never knew Crown Imperial came from Persia. F. persica kind of obvious by name but not F. imperialis.

Photo with sea of red flowers on plain is stunning.

Very cool, indeed. :)

But, they sure do smell bad, that wierd, skunky-chemical smell. I can only imagine what a whole field of them would be like on a sunny, calm day.

I remember there used to be someone who would post pictures each spring of their naturalized patch. I think they were in Utah or Idaho or somewhere similar to a sorta-desert climate which the bulbs apparently loved. You could tell the bulbs weren't just hanging on but thriving.

2 years ago in Late November I traveled to rural Turkey to visit the ancient greek cities of Miletus and Priene. While we were walking the hills I realized that they were carpeted in tulip leaves. They were narrow, so I didn't recognize them at first. The leaves were much like the species Tulip Linifolia I have. I can only imagine what it was like when they were blooming.