A special tulip, designed to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday, has been unveiled by the National Capital Commission in Ottawa.
Commission C.E.O. Mark Kristmanson says they’ve been working with the Dutch Embassy for almost two years to cultivate the special flower. When the bulbs go on sale this fall, people will be able to plant them in their gardens so they will be in full bloom in time for the big birthday celebrations next year.
Canada’s association with Dutch tulips began in 1945 when the Dutch royal family sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa to thank Canadians for having sheltered Princess Juliana and her daughters during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, during the Second World War.