Bulbs a Popping at the Atlanta Botanical Garden

There’s just about a 30-percent chance of rain on Saturday, as well as into the night, but overall the next four days should bring mostly sunny skies and spring-like temperatures.

Just might be the perfect time to experience the floral beauty on display at the .

Springtime explodes in a kaleidoscopic extravaganza of hundreds of thousands of tulips and other bulbs when Atlanta Blooms: 300,000 Watts of Flower Power pops at the Atlanta Botanical Garden through April.

The Garden has tripled its number of spring-blooming bulbs – tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, crocus, to name a few – for a Dutch spectacle unlike any other in the Southeast. Last fall, nearly 100,000 additional new bulbs, including 50,000 tulips, were planted, enhancing existing displays to create electrified meadows of color. Call it Tulipmania, Southern style!

“This is going to be the most dazzling spring spectacle that Atlanta has ever seen,” said Mary Pat Matheson, the Garden’s executive director said in a news release. “We have taken an already amazing display of bulbs and increased it by another 100,000!”

By selecting bulbs based on when the variety blooms – early, mid- or late spring – the Garden is able to stagger their performances for a show spanning the entire season.

Throughout the Garden, perennial bulbs continue to be added by the thousands – more than 41,000 last fall alone. The Cascades Garden and Storza Woods have been planted with thousands of perennial bulbs; 10 different daffodils will add a flurry of color around the Cascades pools, while the woodlands will shine in shades of yellow and purple.

Between March and April, 2,000 shocking pink ‘The Cure’ tulips will greet visitors at Piedmont Avenue – a prelude to the 45,000 to 50,000 other new tulips planted in the fall and winter. Oranges and purples play a big role at both the Hardin Visitor Center and Levy Parterre.

Lavender, yellow, and pink guide the way to the Great Lawn flanked with deep red ‘Jan Rues’ and golden-yellow ‘Mrs. John Scheepers’ on one side and ‘Red Impression’ mingling with yellow and red-flamed ‘La Courtine’ on the other. In the Edible Garden, deep pink ‘Albert Heijn’ and ‘Purple Prince’ complement ‘Mammoth Red Rock’ cabbages among the row crops. The showstopper will certainly be a rainbow field of tulips between the Southern Seasons Garden and Metrofresh in the Garden café.

The bulbs join swaths of existing perennial bulbs, pansies, phlox, daphne, spring wildflowers, native azaleas, and deciduous magnolias in blanketing the Garden in a technicolor rainbow – all aimed at welcoming spring with a bang of glory for years to come.

The mission of the Atlanta Botanical Garden is to develop and maintain plant collections for display, education, research, conservation and enjoyment. The Garden is located at 1345 Piedmont Ave. and is open through March from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. And then from April through October , it will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday (until 10 p.m. Thursdays).

Admission is $18.95 adults, $12.95 children 3-12, free to children under 3 and Garden members. For information, visit atlantabotanicalgarden.org or phone 404-876-5859.

- The Atlanta Botanical Garden contributed to this story