My favorite is the tulip that is left when the bunnies are done, which is usually ... ... ... the daffodil! Kidding aside, I like the botanicals.

Yes the botanical tulips are beauties! Tulip marjolettii was one of my faves, vendors started selling bulbs that sort of looked like marjolettii but they weren't true botanical tulips. It disappeared from the market for years, now it is back and the sellers who claim they have real deal are charging $12.50 for five of these little bulbs! No thanks, I really like tulips but don't have a raging case of Tulipomania!!

Along my front walk are clumps of T. turkestanica, they are very sweet, reminding me of wildflowers. (Which they are!)

My second of 5 "wild type" Tulips to bloom this year is Tulip whittallii, really like this one, many subtle colors. Not red, kinda orange. Pointed petals like a drawing.

Most tulips are beautiful (but not worth it (imo) as annuals). Some of the botanical and a few groups (like greggii) can persist more.

Our tulips come back if they survive the bunnies, though finding a spot where the bunnies don't eat them is a challenge. They do also have color preference ... we had red and white ... then we had red and stubs one year, and then, we had all stubs the next year. We managed to keep some in a fenced garden for a while and they came back, so not annuals, but the bunnies fit through the new fence (which is primarily for deer).

My favorite is T. clusiana. Although it's only my favorite before they open fully. It’s so easy and obliging, returning each year in greater numbers.

But I'm also inordinately fond of Ollioules, whose silvery pink globes make me think of Easter eggs. Recently I found this photo of a tulip called Curly Sue, which I would guess would not actually bloom this color, purple shadings on ruby, and orange fringe. When I looked for photos on Google, other images lacked the orange fringe and the purple shading.

I might have to agree with noseometer. T clusiana is a favorite here as well, planted into the lawn it's surprisingly returned for at least 6 years... although the bunnies eat it and are slowly wiping it out...

I do have a lot of other favorites though. I love parrots in bud, and I love them cut, but in the garden it depends. Actually I've only ever had one tulip I didn't like. They were a measly multiflowering tulip in a dirty pale pink color that were part of a mix I planted. I actually pulled them out while flowering, they looked so sad between all the other beauties.

On its own your dirty pale pink tulip planted with the right colored flower would probably be charming! Flowers growing together

and their colors working or not working at all happens in my garden all of the time!

These are the Parrots grown in pots that haven;t been given away yet.

These flowers make me want to sit down and write some Haiku or something!

They look great opened as well. Someone will be very pleased to have a pot full of those!

I potted a few up as well hoping to give them away, but with travel restrictions I'm not sure which of my closer neighbors deserve them. I may just keep them all to myself!

Tulips are still a week or two from opening here.