Tulips from Amsterdam usually turn out to be a complete bad investment in their own garden: only one percent of the tulip bulbs purchased at the famous Amsterdam flower market are in bloom, according to a survey commissioned by the city administration. And in the pack are fewer onions than stated.
"This research shows that customers are constantly being cheated," said the Royal Association of Flower Bulb Producers. "Millions of tourists and day trippers are being ripped off."
Also on the so-called flower bulb Boulevard in the city of Lisse south of Amsterdam, many flower bulbs are sold, which never produce a flower - here, the quota is two percent.
Association leader René le Clercq said that tulips are "our national symbol" and that cultivation is an important branch of the Dutch economy. "Fraud with tulip bulbs is a problem that has existed for 20 years."
The victims are mostly tourists, said director André Hoogendijk on Dutch radio - "and a tourist who buys a bad bulb, probably will not come back". Sellers on the market told the station that there were actually stalls selling "garbage". That was a disadvantage for everyone.
The famous flower market has been around since 1862 in Amsterdam. At that time, the flower vendors sailed up the Amstel and sold their goods there. Even the popular Schlager sings the "tulips from Amsterdam". "A thousand red, a thousand yellow, all wish you the same," it says. All sorts of flowers are offered at the flower market.