Beginner Gardening: Tulip Bulbs, 1 by rubia16

rubia16 wrote:
What about the people in more Nothern Climes? I am on the 3b/4a break and we get about a week of -40F.

I love tulips and I buy 100s of bulbs every year. Finally I started ordering the more perennial types (like the ones in the photo), including the small species varieties for this year. But sometimes the bulbs do not come up at all (too cold?) and sometimes they come back unexpectedly a second year. Sometimes they come back in a weakened state (smaller, paler).

People around here mostly treat them as annuals. Why is this? If they can survive one of our winters, why not more?

And is there a type that will come back reliably around here?

Thanks