As you travel around
Kampochora in the springtime, all the olive and the almo
nd
groves are carpeted in red, as far as the eye can see, due to the
flowering tulips. The spectacle is breathtaking. Thanks to Nature the
dark red flowers are all around. They surprise and impress visitors
who don’t know that wild tulips are growing in Chios and that
you can find six of the eleven existing species.
In Chios tulips are called "lalades"
(which comes from the Turkish "lale") and according to the species they are
either called "Turkolades" or "Frangolalades" or "laladakia
politika" or “ tulipes kimatofilles."
According to tradition it is said
that when Dutch sailors passed by Chios they took tulip corms back to their
country; cultivated them and made Holland famous as the country of tulips.
Currently the Municipality of
Kampochora in cooperation with the Department of Environment of the Aegean
University, and the Aegean Ministry, are carrying out a programme regarding
the reclamation of the tulip. A greenhouse and a plantation have been
created (colonizing of Ververato), where the possibility of lengthening the
flowering time of the plant (March and April) is examined.
Hopefully soon Chios will be known
not just for the "mastiche" (masticgum), but the native tulips as well.
