Wild tulips grew on the hillsides of Turkey long before anyone planted them in gardens. The Ottomans - the rulers of Turkey hundreds of years ago - loved tulips so much that they grew them in palace gardens and painted them onto plates, tiles and clothes. The word 'tulip' even comes from the Turkish word 't眉lbent', which means 'turban', because the flower looks a bit like one.
About 400 years ago, a few tulip bulbs were sent from Turkey to the Netherlands as a gift. The Dutch loved them. They started growing them everywhere. People got so excited that for a short time tulip bulbs were the most expensive thing in the country - one bulb could cost as much as a whole house. (We now call this 'tulip mania'.)
Today the Netherlands is the world's biggest tulip grower. But back in Turkey, tulips are still loved. Every year, Istanbul holds a giant tulip festival in spring. Around 30 million tulip bulbs are planted in the parks. The whole city is striped with red, pink, yellow and purple flowers for a few weeks.
So a flower most kids in Europe think of as Dutch began its journey in the mountains of Turkey. It is a great reminder that lots of things we think of as belonging to one place actually travelled around the world to get there.