The botanical tulips are, in fact, the ancestors of all the beautiful tulips you usually see in gardens. Because botanical tulips had to evolve to survive in natural situations that may, at times, be less than ideal, they are often tougher and easier to grow than hybrids.

It?s not that hybrid tulips are all that difficult, but the striking blooms you see on your hybrids have been encouraged through years of specialized cultivation. After the "big bang" of prime blooms, you may re-flower them if you are lucky, but the blooms will be smaller, fewer and less reliable.

Botanical tulips, on the other hand, require no special arts to encourage their very best blooms. If conditions are favourable, they will settle down happily, bloom every year and produce predictably attractive little flowers.