Bulbs, Corms and Tubers

Certain plants grow from bulbs rather than roots. These are mostly flowers, although onions are bulbs as well. But this page deals with flower bulbs. Corms and tubers work in a similar way to bulbs, so I am covering them all on this page.

I get my bulbs from Bloms. I put in the order late summer, and the bulbs arrive in the post when they are ready to be planted, early autumn. You can buy them from garden centres or even supermarkets, but a specialist grower like Bloms isn't that expensive (for the cheaper bulbs) and you get a good choice, and a hint as to the right time to plant.

When planting a bulb, make sure that you plant it deep enough. I think you're supposed to make the hole three times the height of the bulb, but if it's a big bulb, that's quite a deep hole! But make sure that it's at least twice the height.

Make sure you plant the bulb the right way up!

Different types of bulbs behave in different ways. The above picture shows a crocus (in my garden). The first leaves appear before Christmas. The flower buds appear around February. The petals need sun to open properly. There is usually a day or two when they are at their very best, although there's a good show of flowers over about a fortnight. The flowers then die, but the leaves carry on growing. Eventually the leaves die back and can be removed. At the end of the year, it all starts again. The plant doesn't get bigger, but it may create more bulbs.

Different types of bulbs flower at different times, so if you mix crocuses, snowdrops, daffodils and tulips, you will get a long period of flowering. Some bulbs even have leaves at one point of the year, and flowers (without leaves) at another - very disconcerting!

Bulbs are robust plants. They don't need much weeding, as their energy is stored in the bulbs, so they can grow through other plants. In fact it is possible to grow them in a lawn. There is one problem though. The leaves carry on growing after the plant has flowered. It's tempting to cut off these leaves; they can get quite messy! However, the plant is gathering energy through the leaves for next year, so it is best to leave them until the leaves die down naturally. This means that you can't cut the lawn round the bulbs until this happens!

Most bulbs last year after year, and may even increase in number. But some don't, and some seem only to last a year. That makes them more expensive as they need to be replaced.

If you get too many plants in the same place, you can dig the bulbs up, separate them, and replant them. Wait until the leaves have died down before doing this.

I've found that crocus bulbs tend to revert to a basic pale purple flower. They also seed, so I get crocuses appearing in weird places!