Bulb Flowers

The most beneficial reward that nature gave to bulb flowers, and this is true for other bulb plants like onions, is the ability to store within the bulbs all the essentials requisites for growth and nourishment.

It’s kind of self-sufficiency. Bulbs play the role of retaining water and nourishment for the flowers during the dormant and dry periods. Even in the absence of soil or water, when it reaches their time for development, bulbs will start just sprout. However for effective growth and for them to really release their beautiful potential, they are better of planted out in the gardens at their most appropriate season.

Planting bulb flowers in your garden is great but first, you need to know their different types before you decide which ones to plant and maintain.

Bulb flowers are categorized into two groups;

1) Spring bulb flowers– they are usually planted in the fall. Typically, they are hardy bulbs and can survive the cold winter.

2) Summer bulb flowers– they are usually planted during spring. They are usually tender bulbs and can’t survive harsh conditions and thus during winter they need to be dug up and stored indoors.

Types of Bulb Flowers:

1) Dutch Bulbs

They derive the word ‘Dutch’ because the highest quality and the most popular bulb flowers especially tulips are grown in the Netherlands for sale worldwide.

Generally, Dutch bulbs are characterized by flowers whose bulb look like teardrops – they have a pointed top and a rounded bottom while the outer skin is usually hard and paper like. Baby bulbs usually grow attached to their mother and it’s vital to separate them so that there won’t be competition for resources.

They include: tulips, allium, lily, daffodils, grape hyacinth, hyacinth, amaryllis, iris and snowdrops.

2) Corms

Corms may appear similar to bulbs but on a closer look you will realize that their bulbs are shorter and more rounder than the common bulbs, and have a concave bottom.

At the top, they are usually flat. Their gardening growth is also the same as normal bulbs. However, the baby bulbs grow on top of the mother. The mother withers away a season later after living being an offspring.

They include; crocus, elephant’s ear, freesia and gladiolus.

3) Rhizomes/ Tubers

Plants which have stems that resemble the roots are usually called rhizomes. The stem is usually propagated by divided tubers which have an eye each. There are some flowers which possess such characteristics such as lily of the valley, some irises, Canna and Caladium.

Tuberous Roots Flowers

These possess similar characteristics to rhizomes. However, there roots are real and not stems.

They include Clivia, Dahlia, Begonia and DayLily