There was a time when a tulip was worth more than a house.
Not because it was botanically exceptional.
It became a trend.
Fashion met the market and speculation emerged.
In 17th-century Holland, bulbs were sold for the price of entire fortunes.
When the fascination faded, the value disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
This story is not about tulips.
It is about a mechanism.
The value of plants rarely comes solely from their nature.
More often, it comes from the taste of an era and the narratives built around them.
That is why one plant is desired, while another is called a “weed.”
All it takes is a shift in aesthetics and the roles are reversed.
So who really influences plant selection, the market, fashion, or us?
