Adopting & caringfor your bulbs

Hi Bulb Buddies! • Thanks for agreeing to help me with the Spring

Bulbs Investigation! I have sent each of you a daffodil bulb, crocus bulb and a plant pot.

• Before you can plant your baby bulbs you must:

– Learn how to care for your bulb.

– Adopt it.

– & Make a label for your pot.

A letter from Professor Plant

Adopting your baby bulbs

• A bulb is like a baby plant. It needs your help to grow.

• If you don’t look after your bulb it may not grow or make flowers in the spring.

• Here is some information about your bulbs…

Your daffodil

‘Tenby’ Daffodil (narcissus obvallaris)

•The largest of your bulbs is the Daffodil bulb.

•It is the second native daffodil to the British Isles.

•Today it is rare.

•It is bright golden in colour and perfectly formed.

•Height: 30-40cm.

•Flowers: Feb/March/April.

The Tenby daffodil was common, unsurprisingly, in the fields surrounding Tenby. It is rare today because it’s natural countryside is disappearing to make room for new houses and roads. The Victorians, nearly wiped them out from Wales. They loved them so much that they sent them by the train-load to be sold in London.

Your crocus • The smallest of your bulbs is the Crocus bulb. • One of the first crocuses to bloom in the year.

• Originally from eastern Europe.

• Purple in colour with orange anther and stigma.

• Height: up to 10 cm

• Flowers: Jan/Feb.

The Purple Crocus Crocus

tommasinianus

It is named after the famous botanist Muzio G. Spirito de Tommasini (1794-1879),

Bulbs, spare bulbs and mystery bulbs

Each school is given:

1 daffodil bulb, crocus bulb and pot / per pupil.

4 spare daffodil bulbs, crocus bulbs & pots. 5 mystery bulbs & 1 pot.

How to use your spare pots

Put all five mystery bulbs into one pot and label it with a question mark. As soon as your mystery bulbs flower - report it through the ‘bulb-blog’ and let us know what you think they are www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/1714/

Use the spare bulbs as you please. Go to the ‘documents and downloads’ section of the Spring Bulb website for ‘ideas and experiments for using your spare bulbs’.

Send your stories and pictures to our bulb-blog and follow Professor Plant on Twitter! www.twitter.com/Professor_Plant

How to care for your bulbs

Can you name some things that a bulb or a plant need?

Things a plant needs to be healthy

• Room to grow • Light• Water• Warmth• Nutrients• Air• Time to grow

• Plants need water to survive! Water carries nutrients to the different parts of the plant. If a plant gets too much or too little water then it will die.

• Water every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

• Soil should be moist but not water logged.

• Discuss: How you will get water to your plants?

Give your bulbs water

Discuss where to put your plants in your school…

Choose an area that is:

Outside

Sunny

Easy to water

Safe from vandals and children playing.

Adopt your baby bulb.

Name your baby bulbs

and sign your bulb adoption certificate!

You can get a blank certificate from the website: www.museumwales.ac.uk/scan/bulbs

Make a label for your bulbs.

• Use the template from

the website or make your own!

Congratulations on completing this task!

You are now ready

to plant your bulbs!

Bye Bulb Buddies!