About

Bybloemen - a variety of broken tulip, white with purple or violet stripes

Bybloemen takes place during the height of tulip mania, an absurd chapter in Dutch history when houses were mortgaged for flowers, a virus almost capsized an entire economy, and at least one visiting Englishman was jailed for roasting and eating a tulip bulb he mistook for an onion (possibly). The story follows the adventures of the three largely unknown (and unwitting) architects of this historical incident: a young merchant named Gertrude, a lesser devil named Basil, and his gifted apprentice, Ludwig. Also, several morally bankrupt birds, a pair of fertilizer salesmen, and the residents of one very unfortunately-named tavern.

C.B. is an archaeologist who doodles in the margins of her field notes. Likes weird plants, weird birds, and horticultural history.