Native to Central Asia, the plants are 8-inches tall and bloom in late spring. For more images of rare wild tulips in their native habitats, visit www.tulipsinthewild.com.

Tulips can be divided into about 150 various species, but there are more than 3,000 naturally occurring and genetically cultivated varieties of the flower worldwide.

No law requires gardeners to dig up tulip bulbs each year, or at all. In fact, most bulbs prefer to stay in the ground, and, left in place, rebloom the following year. Gardeners only dig up tulip bulbs when the plants seem less vigorous and offer fewer flowers, which can indicate overcrowding.

Tulips. Behind the rose, the tulip is the country’s most popular cut flower. But unfortunately, tulips are toxic to cats. The bulbs are the most toxic part but any part of the plant can be harmful to your cat, so all tulips should be kept well away.

Tulips originate in Turkey and love cool (or cold) wet winters, as well as hot, dry summers. During a cool spring, with temperatures between 45-55 degrees Fahrenheit, tulips will bloom for 1-2 weeks but if the weather is warmer, each bloom will last for just a few days.

You may keep the bulbs in pots after flowering, but it is a good idea to introduce some new soil with all its nutrients and fertilize again. You may also remove the bulbs, let them air dry and put them in a paper bag in a location with the proper chilling requirements until you are ready to force them again.

Although tulips and daffodils are cold-tolerant, temperatures below 29 degrees Fahrenheit can damage their tender buds and flowers. An extended hard freeze can damage whole plants.

Before the buds open, both daffodils and tulips are fairly immune to the cold, but open flowers are more sensitive to frosts and freezes. Tulip flower buds are not harmed by snow, sleet, or overnight low temperatures, but once the flowers open, they can be damaged by round-the-clock freezes that last for several days.

Snow: Tulips can grow and bloom even if there is still snow on the ground. (Although they could be crushed by a heavy snowfall.) Some tulips (and tulip parts) can survive this and others are damaged (by freezing or drying out). But even a tulip with damaged leaves can go on to bloom, as long as the bud isn’t hurt.

Because they bloom early in the spring, tulips can handle short cold snaps with ease. As long as the temperatures go back within 48 hours, they won’t suffer any serious damage. A tulip’s shoots and buds are usually the most protected from the cold, as they have a natural barrier against the cold weather.

The bad news is… Heavy spring snows can make a mess of tulips and daffodils that have started flowering. Depending on how much snow you get, it can weigh down, smoosh or break your flowers, ending your pretty blooms for this year.

The ideal temperature to grow tulips is below 55 degrees Fahrenheit. But there is such a thing as too cold for tulips: The plant has a temperature tolerance limit of 29 degrees. A few degrees below this level will destroy the tulip buds and flowers.