Spring

Towards the end of winter, the layer of straw is removed. This is when you can start to see the first green shoots emerging from the soil. Day by day, temperatures rise. This triggers the plants to grow faster and faster. As soon as the flower bulbs produce flowers, the flowers are cut off (“topped”). What you see then are piles of flowers next to the fields.

What a waste of beautiful flowers you might think. But the grower has to do this. If he left the flowers on the stems, they would use up all the food that the plant would produce. Then, the flower bulbs would remain small, and he couldn’t sell small flower bulbs.

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Read more

• Where are flower bulbs cultivated?
• Growing flower bulbs
• Harvest
• How do you get a new tulip variety?
• Naming flower bulbs