Denise Brady, age 11, of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, for her question:

WHY IS HOLLAND SO FAMOUS FOR TULIPS?

 Beautiful tulips are grown in most parts of the world. They grow from bulbs and bloom in the spring. The flowers can be either single or double and of almost any color. The flower came to Vienna in Europe from Constantinople in the 1500s. It then became a popular garden flower all across Europe and especially in England and Holland. Interest in the flower actually developed into a craze in Holland between 1634 and 1637, called tulipomania. Individual bulbs sold for huge prices and many people invested all their money in bulbs. Many fortunes were actually lost in the tulip market and the government was finally forced to regulate the trade in bulbs. As a result of the tremendous interest, Holland became the world's Number One tulip garden.