In many parts of the world, April brings tulip season. And while many of us are missing the bright, beautiful signals of Spring while we’re sheltering at home, we have photos from around the world to remind us of nature’s unique beauty.

But even if you were to take a walk around your local park, it’s unlikely you’d find the rare Ice Cream Tulip. These bloom in late April/early May and are quite unique – for lots of reasons.

While a normal tulip has about 6 petals, these tulips give you a lot more bang for your buck.

Colorful petals surround the outside and the white “ice cream scoop” petals form a ruffly pattern inside. These are considered “double tulips” because of their unique growth pattern.

It doesn’t take too much imagination to figure out how they got their name.

And they even come in different “flavors,” although pink and white are the most common combo.

While tulips tend not to be long-lived, at least they don’t melt!

Ice Cream Tulips, which grow from 10″-16″ tall, are quite rare to see in gardens, but you can purchase bulbs.

However, not everyone has great luck growing them – but those who do end up with a gorgeous and unique Spring garden. (Of course, it’s too late to plant them now, so you’ll have to wait until the Fall to order yours.)

If you do plant Ice Cream Tulips of your own, keep in mind that they can be expensive garden addition – especially since they tend to bloom most voraciously in the first year and sometimes don’t even come back after that (whereas the majority of tulips are perennials).

But if you do get them to thrive, you’ll be hard-pressed to decide whether to let them stand outside for all to see or snip them for an indoor bouquet.

These flowers make wonderful cuttings and have a peony-like look.

(And if your tulips droop in the vase, a good trick is to put an old penny in the water. The coins made prior to 1981 have enough copper to not only help kill bacteria but also help keep the long stems from heading south!)

If you’re missing colorful springtime beauty this year because you’re stuck indoors, it might be the right time to learn a bit more about the fascinating (and sometimes deadly) history of tulips, which were once so valuable that they were actually traded as currency.

Originating in Turkey, they were imported to Holland in the 16th century where people went wild for them and started crossing different varieties to create fabulous new types of flowers.

The flowers were often stolen (they were basically money growing straight up from the ground!) and finally became worth so much that the market crashed, bankrupting people who had invested in them.

“Tulipomania,” as it was called, has been the subject of a few fascinating books that you can read while sitting next to an open window, getting some fresh air and knowledge while staying safe.

For example, Anna Pavord, who wrote The Tulip: The Story of a Flower That Has Made Men Mad, called tulips “a flower that has carried more political, social, economic, religious, intellectual and cultural baggage than any other on earth.”

Or you can take a gander at all of the beauty Ice Cream Tulips hashtagged on Instagram while enjoying a real ice cream cone!

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Source: Bored Panda, Cape Gazette, Smithsonian Magazine