Celebrate the season of renewal during March and April at Atlanta Blooms, the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s spring bulb festival.

The annual floral showcase of kaleidoscopic color features hundreds of thousands of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and crocuses blanketing the 30-acre Midtown attraction.

Tucked among them are a particular type of tulip that -- while not as showy as the familiar brightly colored hybrids – is cherished because its blooms return year after year.

Many southern gardeners do not know that the bulbs, known as species tulips, are hardy unlike the others they plant in fall for blooming the next spring. Generally, species tulips are not as tall or large-flowered as the hybrids that get all the press. Often they grow only 6 to 12 inches tall, their flowers are only a couple inches wide, and they tend to bloom for up to four weeks.

Species tulips are elegantly beautiful in their own right, and many can be discovered in the Garden this spring along the Crape Myrtle Alee and in the Rock Garden and Conifer Garden. A few favorites include:

Tulipa ‘Lady Jane’: Bluish foliage and stem with coral and white flowers standing straight at easily 12 inches.

Tulipa clusiana var. chrysantha: With similar height and foliage color, it differs with a sunny yellow and orange flower.

Tulipa turkestanica: Unrelentingly cheerful at only 6 inches tall but with clear white flowers with bright yellow centers.

Tulipa whittallii: Flowers of various shades of orange, making it look like it’s on fire, at only 6 inches tall.

Tulipa bakeri ‘Lilac Wonder’: A small gem at about 4 inches tall but demands attention when in full bloom.

Species tulips make good choices for adding to the garden – best planted in fall like most spring bulbs -- and will not disappoint if given good drainage and either full sun or partial shade.

For updates on Atlanta Blooms times, visit atlantabg.org.