Christine DeSmet on Tulips, a Tornado, Lighthouses, & Napoleon’s Brother
Christine DeSmet is the author of the Fudge Shop series of cozy mysteries. You can find out more about her on her websitge, www.christinedesmet.com
Lighthouses have a special meaning for me. The cover of Hot-Fudge Frame-Up depicts the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, in Door County, Wisconsin, which I’ve toured.
With its 11 lighthouses open for tours June 7-9, 2024, “the Door” as we call it has the most of any county in the United States.
Tulips also have a special place in my heart and April/May festivals abound.
Tulips in Europe in the 1630s cost as much as an Amsterdam house. Tulips served as money for a short time.
Now through May 12 you can see 800 varieties of tulips from seven million bulbs at the Keukenhof in Lisse, Netherlands.
“Tulip” comes from “turban.” Holland imported tulips from Turkey in the 16th Century.
In Persian mythology the red tulip signifies undying love. Legend says a commoner wanted to marry the princess but the king refused. The commoner threw himself off a mountain and scarlet tulips sprang from the droplets of blood.
Tulips were important when I was in school in Barneveld, Wisconsin, west of Madison, population 420 then. In the 1970s Barneveld got a sister city—Barneveld, Holland, named for Johan van Oldenbarneveldt (1547-1619), a revolutionary politician who founded the Dutch East India Company.
Barneveld, Holland is the world’s largest manufacturer of egg-grading and packing machines. (The area developed Barnevelder chickens which lay up to 200 eggs per year.)
Napoleon’s brother Louis and Louis’s son (Napoleon Louis) ruled the Kingdom of Holland from 1806 to 1810.
It’s conceivable descendants of tulips grown around Louis Bonaparte’s home came to Barneveld, Wisconsin, where ladies planted thousands. The village had two bars, a Case tractor dealership, a hardware store, a grocery with creaky wood floors, a one-room library, a corner brick bank…and tulips. And a tulip festival for a while.
Forty years ago this June 8, 2024, at 1:00 a.m. an F5 tornado destroyed 90 percent of Barneveld, killing nine, injuring 200. A brother of mine was spared. My parents’ real estate office was destroyed but Mom saved an oil painting I’d done of our farmstead.
Barneveld is now 2,000 people strong. It’s raising funds to improve Memorial Park on this 40th tornado anniversary. I hope they plan for red-tulip beds.
I imagine generations of Napoleon’s brother’s tulips are still blooming in Barneveld, Holland, and perhaps they will be again, too, in Barneveld, Wisconsin.
Do you remember a tulip or flower festival that impressed you?
How do you feel when you find colorful blooms amid a tired landscape?
Do you bring such contrasts and history into your stories, novels, poems?
Christine DeSmet is the author of the Fudge Shop Mystery Series set in Door County, and the Mischief in Moonstone Series set in northwest Wisconsin. You can find out more about her on her website, christinedesmet.com, or follow her on Facebook.
Christine, I didn't know how you were going to pull together the four elements in your title, but you certainly did! So glad your brother survived that tornado. Thanks for the interesting story! Here in San Diego County, we have The Flower Fields: 55 acres of ranunculus, a 300 by 170-foot hillside American flag made out of petunias, a cymbidium orchid greenhouse, the artist gardens, bird aviaries, a sweet pea maze, and a 1500 square-foot greenhouse filled with world-famous Paul Ecke poinsettias on the property. Tractor wagon rides take visitors to the sites.
Well written, Christine! I LOVE tulips. They are a sign of spring and a promise of warm days ahead. In fact, I was chatting with a friend about them today. We were discussing how to make cut tulips last longer. She adds sugar to the water. I add 7:UP. Both work to make the most out of lovely blooms.
I remember the Barneveld tornado. Such a tragedy, but I also remember the sign someone posted afterward, "Barneveld Strong!" I think it must have been on a painted bedsheet or a piece of plywood, something like that. That was before 18-151 was four lanes, I think, and traffic stretched on for miles. I'm glad your family was spared. I have a special place in my heart for southwest Wisconsin. The area is gorgeous--Governor Dodge, the Blue Mounds, and the Wyoming Valley. A favorite place, for sure!