Bulb Encyclopedia

Complete Guide to 484 Flowering Bulbs, Corms, Tubers & Rhizomes — from beloved tulips, daffodils, and lilies to exotic crinums, gloriosas, and rain lilies — with expert planting guides, seasonal care, and botanical profiles.

🌷 True Bulbs

True bulbs are underground storage organs composed of concentric layers of modified leaves (scales) surrounding a central growing point. They contain all the nutrients needed to produce flowers and foliage. This group includes some of the most popular garden plants: tulips, daffodils, lilies, hyacinths, and alliums.

🌸 Corms

Corms are solid, swollen underground stems that store food for the plant. Unlike true bulbs, they are solid throughout and produce new corms on top of or beside the old one each growing season. Familiar corm-producing plants include crocuses, gladioli, freesias, and crocosmias.

🌻 Tubers

Tubers are thickened, fleshy underground stems or roots that serve as storage organs. They lack the layered structure of bulbs and the basal plate of corms, instead developing eyes or growing points across their surface. Dahlias, begonias, cyclamen, and anemones are among the best-known tuberous plants.

🌿 Rhizomes

Rhizomes are horizontal underground stems that grow laterally, producing roots below and shoots above at nodes along their length. They spread naturally to form expanding clumps over time. Bearded irises, cannas, clivias, and lily-of-the-valley grow from rhizomes.

Rose Encyclopedia

300 rose species & cultivars with expert growing guides and care calendars.

Fern Encyclopedia

800 fern species with detailed care guides and botanical information.