Tulips

In my memory, the tulips were grown in the Byzantine Empire, and later introduced to Occidental Europe. I checked the history of tulips on Wikipedia, and this is what is written in the introduction: 

Tulips were cultivated in Byzantine Constantinople as early as 1055 but they did not come to the attention of Northern Europeans until the sixteenth century, when Northern European diplomats to the Ottoman court observed and reported on them.They were rapidly introduced into Northern Europe and became a much-sought-after commodity during tulip mania. Tulips were frequently depicted in Dutch Golden Age paintings, and have become associated with the Netherlands, the major producer for world markets, ever since.

(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip)

And in fact tulips grow in Lebanon. This is the map where tulips grow. In red, the parts where the tulips are native. In yellow, the parts where tulips were introduced to!

(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip#/media/File:Genus_tulipa_distribution.svg)

So the tulips are native to Lebanon.

This is a zoom on the map, indicating the Netherlands and Lebanon. As Lebanon is a really small country, a lot of people don't know where it is on a map.

And in fact, to answer to the comment of one of our most faithful readers, the winters here are cold.

On the coast the average temperature during the coldest months range between 8°C and 16°C.

But do not forget we have high mountains that reach to 3100 meters.

At 1500 meters height, the average temperatures in winter are between 0°C and 7°C, going as low as -6°C during snowstorms, which is as cold as the Netherlands. There from 1500 meters on, there are ski slopes that are covered with enough snow to ski for three or four months per year.

At 3088 meters height, the highest peaks, temperatures can reach as low as -15°C during the winter. Snow does not melt there, not even in the summer. Even in August / September, there still is some ice.

And, for instance Apple and Cherry trees do not grow on the coast where the climate is Mediterranean. But from 700 meters on, there are apple and cherry orchards. So even if some varieties of tulips prefer a colder weather, they have all the mountains to grow on.

And this is an aerial picture of Ehden, a village in Mount Lebanon, covered by snow in the winter. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Lebanon)