Back Start Next Native of the High Steppes Close your eyes and let's go back nearly two thousand years. The earliest tulips grew wild then — without any help from humans. They were native to the high steppes (grasslands) and mountains of Asia. Their annual life cycle today reflects how they survived conditions where they developed thousands of years ago. Imagine you are a bulb of one of those tulip plants. The summers are very hot and dry and the winters are harsh and cold. How might you survive? What challenges would you face?   Photo: Shahram Razavi