Tracing the Turkish Origins of Tulips and Quinces

By Cathy Salter

In 2014 when the world was in a different place, I flew with a longtime friend to Istanbul. There is much about gardens that can be learned from a visit to Turkey. Why, one might ask, are tulips woven into a massive wool prayer rug in Istanbul’s Blue Mosque and so frequently depicted in handmade tiles sold in this historic city’s Grand Bazaar? What’s the source of the delicious quince marmalade served for breakfast at Istanbul’s elegant Pera Palace Hotel—built in 1892 for passengers arriving from Europe aboard the Orient Express Railway?

See more in this weeks Boone County Journal