Posted by Cindy M. on 2/9/2002, 5:41 pm Bulbs (and cousins) need several months of cool temperature (45 degrees) to go dormant and store their food supply. They should be planted at their proper planting time, Spring for fall-blooming flowers and Fall for spring blooming flowers, at the depth of twice the height of the bulb. Planted too deep and the bulb will not grow. Once in the soil, the bulb will begin feeding on the nutrients of the soil as well as releasing the stored food within and begin the growth process of the stem and flower. After the flower has died, it is important to NOT cut back the foliage because the bulb uses the nurtients from the foliage to create and store food for the next season. When the foliage is dead, it may be removed. Once the flower and foliage are spent, the bulb slowly begins to "relax" for the cold season (dormant season) only to start the process all over again.
Well, basically a bulb - and its cousins: corms, tubers, and rhizomes - stores everything it needs to produce an entire plant, within its tight little package. True bulbs, such as daffodils and tulips, have a flower "built-in". this flower is surrounded by layers of food supply. Gladiolus is a corm, which is basically a mass of stored food; the flower buds form at the top of the corm. Tubers are a food-storing part of stem, where the flower forms within it. An Iris is a rhizome, which is similiar to a tuber but is longer in shape.
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