买回郁金香是两周前的事情，当时其花苞都还紧包在绿叶中，小得像一个个灯芯。虽然小，但仍可见其花色为粉玫色。 

昨天郁金香花开了。我凑上鼻子去闻，心中一阵惊喜。那花香是甜淡的水果味，似玫瑰，带着种不经意的诱人媚惑。这种发现就像几年前我发现康乃馨带香一样，惊喜过后，只当是偶然发现，想其事物原本就是这样的。

今早，我再次欣赏郁金香。它的花瓣更加打开，花形更似玫瑰。 我就想：这花不仅是色，而且形都像玫瑰。这难道只是一种巧合吗？会不会这是种和玫瑰嫁接后，培育出的一个新品种？如何是这样，就可以解释它花香似玫瑰的原因了。

我在网上搜索着，一篇“郁金香的芬芳”的文章让我如获至宝！ 我如饥似渴地读着，想着若我当时身处作者的境地，我定会做和她同样的事情。原来郁金香的品种众多，但带花香的郁金香品种并不多。她把发现带香味的郁金香这件事用一个词SERENDIPITY来表示，意指没有准备地，意外发现了美好的事物，这代表着一种好运。我想到了小时候爱看的动画片《花仙子》，难道这花是花仙子送来给我，是来为我带来好运的？

我把这个发现告诉了家人。他们也说不知道有带香的郁金香花。说这花长得粗状，强健。我说了我的另外一个发现： 美国的茉莉和中国的茉莉花形和色彩都像，差别只在大小。美国的大，中国的小。这情况和百合花LILY一样，美国的百合很多长得高到1米，花冠直径可达15-20CM；而中国的东方百合ORIENTAL LILY株身则矮很多，花冠也小. 人有人种，花有花种，说到底，对于造物主来说，人与花并没区别。

There’s a word for the happy and all-too-rare phenomenon of unexpectedly finding something delightful: serendipity. It applies perfectly to a discovery I made one sunny May morning a few years back. I was on my knees in the garden, reveling in the delight of digging in the loamy earth after a long Vermont winter. As I was puttering around, I noticed a wonderfully subtle, fruity fragrance. Its source was a mystery, but the scent was so enticing I determined to track it down. Finally I found it in, of all places, the open bloom of a tulip. I never knew there was any such thing as a sweet-smelling tulip, but the proof was right under my nose. Not only was the flower seductively fragrant, its peachy-pink color was outstanding and its form simply exquisite. Serendipity indeed.

That’s how I found ‘Apricot Beauty’, my “first” fragrant tulip. That discovery marked the beginning of an ongoing, delightful search that has led me to a score or so of sweetly scented tulips.

A few fragrant favorites

As a gardener by both profession and passion, I plant about 10,000 tulips a year, so I’ve experimented with all kinds of species and hybrids. There are thousands of varieties, with an almost infinite array of colors, but very few are fragrant. Of the 100 or so cultivars I plant each spring, only 5 or 6 have any scent at all. Tulips range from the small, hardy species tulips often used in rock gardens, to the tall, majestic Darwin Hybrids that are the backbone of the perennial border in spring. But of all the tulip’s wonderful qualities, the most special one, to me, is fragrance. And though there are a few fragrant species tulips, I’ve concentrated on seeking out sweet-smelling hybrids and cultivars.

‘Apricot Beauty’ can perfume a whole room. It excels in the garden or in a vase, and is easy to force for indoor blooms.

I’ve planted new ‘Apricot Beauty’ bulbs every fall since I first discovered them. This cultivar excels in the garden and makes a superb cut flower. One vase of ‘Apricot Beauty’ will perfume a whole room. For winter blooms, I also pot a few bulbs up every year for indoor forcing.

Like most fragrant tulips, ‘Generaal de Wet’ is an early-blooming variety. And—also like most fragrant tulips—its petals are quite tasty and can be used in salads.

Like ‘Apricot Beauty’, most fragrant tulip cultivars are early-blooming varieties. I guess they are Mother Nature’s way of tempting sleepy bees to wake from winter’s sleep. These early, fragrant tulips include both single- and double-flowered types. Some of my favorite singles include ‘Generaal de Wet’, a wonderful, softly blushed orange tulip; ‘Prinses Irene’ (often sold as ‘Princess Irene’), another sweet-smelling orange flower; and ‘Couleur Cardinal’, a beautiful, dark-red flower with a violet blush and a light, sweet scent.

Some of the early, double-flowered tulips are not only fragrant, but also boast flowers as fulsome as any peony. Of these, I like the yellow ‘Mr. van der Hoef’; ‘Electra’, a pinkish-red beauty; and ‘Schoonoord’, a lovely pure white.

I’ve also discovered a few fragrant tulips that appear a little later in the season—a few mid-season Darwin Hybrid tulips caught my attention this past year, when I discovered two new varieties to add to my list of fragrant favorites. ‘Silverstream’ is a pale, cream color with a fine, sweet scent and leaves edged with pink. ‘Holland’s Glory’ is another standout—it sports huge, orange-red blossoms on strong, 2-foot-tall stems. Darwin Hybrids are the tulips that are most likely to return for several years to bloom again in your garden.