I have two Tulipa batalinii Bronze Charm in bloom. They are survivors from ones that bloomed for several decades until their area was completely shaded by an expanding hedge of Pieris. Last year I pruned the Pieris severely to reclaim the flower bed, and planted lots of new woodland plants in the ground that used to grow T. batalinii in the 1970s, 1980s and part of the 1990s. The two tulips blooming today have survived all that. Apeldoorn, one of the Darwin Hybrid tulips, often sold in giant bags in supermarkets along with an orange one, a yellow one, and sometimes ones with a mixture of colours, not only persists forever but increases. My father's property now has thousands, and the intense colour on his hillside can knock your eyes a block away - maybe even from a low-flying plane. This year he has fire (a botrytis), and is appalled at the prospect of digging them all out, so I will gather some muscle among his grandchildren and help out. -- Diane Whitehead Victoria, British Columbia, Canada maritime zone 8 cool mediterranean climate (dry summer, rainy winter - 68 cm annually) sandy soil