Broken Tulips

The most exquisite tulips of all

I have five or six broken tulips in my front garden at the moment, each one a work of art. Tulips are described as ‘broken’ when their original colourings are disturbed and distorted, displaying interesting stripes, feathers and flames. These are the tulips that helped fuel the notorious 17th-century Tulipmania in Holland, when bulbs were traded for exorbitant prices and many fortunes were made and lost. What people didn’t realise at the time was that these prized blooms were infected with a virus now known as TBV (Tulip Breaking Virus) which is transmitted by aphids. The virus interferes with the production and distribution of anthocyanins, which are the pigments that create red, blue and purple colourings in many flowers, including tulips. In a healthy tulip, anthocyanin pigments are produced in the cells at the base of the petals and then migrate up into the cells that make up the rest of the petals. It is thought that in tulips affected by TBV the virus disrupts this upward process and causes the pigments to become unevenly distributed within the petals, resulting in the streaks and flames of contrasting colours.