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•
Sela's
birth flowers for July are the
Tulip
or Water Lily.
• Tulip:
 The
tulip is a wildflower said to originate from Persia. In the 1500s, tulips were
extensively cultivated in Turkey, and because of their resemblance to the "tulbend"
- a turban worn by Turkish men - were called tulipan.
In 1562, tulip bulbs from Constantinople reached Antwerp by ship. Before the
turn of the century, tulips had been such a rarity that only the wealthy in
Holland could afford them; consequently, tulips became a status symbol for the
rich. However, by the 1620s, buying and selling tulips became an activity for
merchants, and "tulip madness" ensued. Tulip trading crashed in 1637, throwing
Holland into financial ruin. After the Dutch government enforced strict laws
for cultivating and selling bulbs, the tulip became the national emblem of
Holland.
Sentiment & Symbolism
Oriental legend recounts that a Persian youth, named Ferhad, fell in love with
a maiden named Shirin. When Shirin did not accept Ferhad's feelings for her,
he went out into the desert to die from his broken heart. As he pined, each
tear that fell into the sand turned into a beautiful tulip.
Among the Persian people, the tulip is an offering a young man makes to his
beloved. By offering her a tulip, he says, "as the redness of this flower, I
am on fire with love." Shortly after World War II, the Dutch shipped hundreds
of thousands of tulip bulbs to Ottawa, the capital city of Canada. This
symbolic gesture showed their thanks, not only to Canadian soldiers for
freeing Holland from German occupation, but also for the Canadian government's
welcoming Queen Maria to reside in Ottawa while the war raged on. This
remarkable gesture continues to this day.
Color Messages
For the most part, tulips are a declaration of love; a gift from a "perfect
lover." Variegated tulips are for "beautiful eyes". Red tulips indicate an
irresistible love, while yellow tulips denote a hopeless love with no chance
of reconciliation.
• Water Lily:
 The
Water Lily is the botanical name of a family of flowering plants. The family
is also called the "water-lily family". The white water lily is the national
flower of Bangladesh. It is also the birth flower for July.
Water-lilies are rooted in soil in bodies of water, with leaves and flowers
floating on the water surface. The leaves are round, with a radial notch in
Nymphaea and Nuphar, but fully circular in Victoria.
Horticulturally, water-lilies are divided into two main categories: hardy and
tropical. Hardy water lilies bloom only during the day, but tropical water
lilies can bloom either day or night, and are the only group to contain blue-flowered
plants.
The viability of water lily seeds is exceptionally long, around 2000 years.
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