Kazakhstan, the Homeland of Tulips: Wild Tulips, Sievers Apples and Charyn Canyon

Everyone knows Dutch tulips, but few remember that their ancestors still grow in the steppes and mountains of Central Asia. Kazakhstan is one of the countries where dozens of wild tulip species bloom in spring, and the foothills around Almaty are home to forests of wild apple, ancestor of garden varieties. Here is where to go to see them.

Tulips delivered: tulips and flower baskets.

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Wild tulips

Several dozen species of wild tulip have been recorded in Kazakhstan. Many became the ancestors of garden varieties later bred in the Netherlands.

• Greig’s tulip. Bright red with spotted leaves, the emblem of the Aksu-Zhabagly reserve.
• Schrenk’s tulip. It blooms on the steppe, colouring it white, pink and purple.
• Kaufmann’s tulip. When open it resembles a water lily; many low-growing garden varieties descend from it.
• Regel’s tulip. A rare species with unusual wavy leaves.

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Where to go

• Aksu-Zhabagly Nature Reserve. The oldest reserve in Central Asia (since 1926). In April and May its slopes fill with Greig’s and Kaufmann’s tulips.
• Altyn-Emel National Park. A singing dune, multicoloured mountains and spring steppe full of tulips.
• Apple forests of the Trans-Ili Alatau. Home to Malus sieversii, the wild ancestor of most cultivated apples, in blossom in April and May.
• Charyn Canyon. The red sandstone “Valley of Castles”, one of the country’s most photogenic places.

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Wild tulips are protected and must not be picked or dug up. Enjoy and photograph them, and choose garden varieties for your home; see tulip varieties and colours. For how tulips reached Europe, see Turkey in flower.

FAQ

When do wild tulips bloom in Kazakhstan?

From late March to May depending on altitude and weather: first on the steppe, then in the mountains.

Do apples really come from Kazakhstan?

Yes. The wild Sievers apple of the Tian Shan mountains is considered the main ancestor of the cultivated apple.

Author: Maria Svitlovir

Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.

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