This population of T. schrenkii was photographed near Lake Korgalzhyn, to the west of Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan. Such broad color variation is seldom seen in the wild. It may help to explain the development of such colorful old Dutch hybrids as the Duc van Tol tulips, which date to the late 16th century, and the Mendel tulips of the 1920s. There may well be some T. schrenkii in the tulips you plant in your garden today.