WHAT IS FLOWER BULBS AND TYPES

A flower bulb is really an underground storehouse and flower factory. 

Within the flower bulb is just about everything the plant will need to sprout and flower at the appropriate time. Split a flower bulb in half and you will see this clearly. In the basal centre portion of the flower bulb are the leaves cradling a baby bud. In many species, this bud already has the appearance of a flower while still in the flower bulb! Surrounding the bud is a white, meaty substance called the scales. In true flower bulbs, it is these scales which contain all the food the flower bulb will need to flower and thrive. 

Not all flower bulbs are flower bulbs Technically speaking, many popular "bulb" flowers are not produced from true flower bulbs at all. Crocuses and gladioli, for example, are really corms, while such favourites as dahlias and begonias are really tubers. The main distinguishing trait is the method of storing food. In corms, most of the food is stored in an enlarged basal plate rather than the meaty scales, which in corms are much smaller.   

TYPES

One flower bulb flowers every year on new, the other is not. This is because flower bulbs are divided into three different groups. 

- for annual plantings - for perennialised flowering - for naturalised plantings Flower bulbs can be used in many different ways depending on the ultimate objective. For annual plantings This is usually the case when flower bulbs are used for a massive colour display. Good examples are flowerbeds planted with crocuses and tulips that flower successively, a sea of grape hyacinths, or long ribbon plantings of large-cupped daffodils. Flower bulbs with bright colours such as red, yellow and blue are particularly suited for this purpose. 

For perennialised flowering Spring-flowering bulbs are allowed to remain undisturbed in the ground after they have finished flowering. This gives their foliage the time to wither back and provide the bulbs with nutrients to prepare them for the next growing season. Spring-flowering bulbs used this way are actually following the same cycle as perennial plants. Usually, spring-flowering bulbs planted for this purpose are included in an existing border consisting of perennials, shrubs or roses. Spring-flowering bulbs that can be used for multiple-year flowering include certain daffodil, tulip and hyacinth cultivars and a group of specialty flower bulbs. In this situation, it is essential to coordinate not only the colours of the flower bulbs among themselves but also the colours of the flower bulbs with the surrounding perennial plants. 

For naturalised plantings Flower bulbs suitable for naturalising have just a little more to offer than the ones for multiple-year flowering. Like them, bulbs for naturalising also remain undisturbed after flowering and will come back again every year, but their added benefit is that their numbers will continue to increase as long as they have been planted under ideal conditions (light and air). Naturalised flower bulbs can function as independent plantings – snowdrops and crocuses in lawns and grass-covered verges – but they can also be included in existing plantings such as in planting beds with groundcover plants beneath trees and shrubs. In these more natural-looking situations, glaring colours would be out of place; better here would be the more muted tones of pastel yellows, light blues and white. 

Narcissi, scillas and leucojums are examples of flower bulbs that will naturalise and look just right here.