DBWI: Tulip Mania

So I was reading an alternate history humor book, and one thing stood out to me. The Dutch ended up creating a speculative bubble in producing flowers, in particular the tulip. To think that stolid, industrious Dutchmen would give up their jobs to plant flower gardens somehow made me chuckle. I'm here to ask: could this have ever happened? The idea of flowers as a major cash crop for a country, let alone the Netherlands, seems hilarious.
 
So I was reading an alternate history humor book, and one thing stood out to me. The Dutch ended up creating a speculative bubble in producing flowers, in particular the tulip. To think that stolid, industrious Dutchmen would give up their jobs to plant flower gardens somehow made me chuckle. I'm here to ask: could this have ever happened? The idea of flowers as a major cash crop for a country, let alone the Netherlands, seems hilarious.

I don't think it's impossible. You may or may not remember this, but back in the early 1900s there was a huge cannabis craze amongst younger people in the Commonwealth of Columbia(especially in New Essex & East Florida), which happened to fall right after the end of slavery in that country; of course, it drove the ex-planters nuts given the fact that it ended up really hurting their tobacco sales, but it didn't stop hemp & cannabis from becoming two of the premiere cash crops for a while, at least until restrictions were put in place on the latter, mainly to save the tobacco companies(hemp just fell out of favor with the development of artificial fibres in the '30s and '40s). They weren't outright dominant, but they could have been.

This is probably harder to do with tulips, though, as although they're pretty, smoking them doesn't have the chance of giving you a high. :cool:

OOC: Columbia is the OTL U.S. *Southeast and Upper South plus Ark. south of the Ark. River and OTL Louisiana north of 32'24*N.....New Essex is the aforementioned state west of the river.
 
And don't forget that the Dutch popularised the blue (actually purple) carrot in honour of ruling Nassau-Wittelsbachs instead of the normal red/orange/yellow

OOC: OTL the Orange Carrot was popularised due to the Princes of Orange ;)
 
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