Featured Activity

'Force' paperwhites
Forced paperwhites with different levels of alcohol controlling height

Paperwhites (Narcissus tazetta) are a great introduction to bulbs because they are easy to observe and don't require chilling to grow and flower. You can use them for a simple science fair project to make them grow shorter (and less likely to fall over) while still flowering abundantly.

Bulb Picture

Chad Miller with calla lilies

Grad student Chad Miller researches calla lilies and other bulbs. Read More

Bulb Quote

I grow daffodils, and they're beautiful!

-- Captain Hook in the climactic scene of Shrek the Third
More Quotes

Welcome to the Bulb Project

Activities: Creative plans for educators.

Growing Bulbs: How-to information.

Resources: Additional information to help you plan and execute your bulb activities.

Retail partners: Information for bulb project collaborators.

Share ideas: Read how others have used these activities, and contribute your own ideas.

Inspired by Bulbs!

The Bulb Project has awarded grants of $250-worth of bulbs to projects around the country to engage children and youth in a variety of exciting and innovative activities.

Read more about the projects.

This site features creative projects to help educators share the joys of growing flower bulbs with children and youth, and use bulbs to help teach science, art, history and other subjects.

The activities can be used in many settings, including the classroom, after-school programs, home schooling, 4-H, community projects and other formal in informal educational settings.

We also include resources to help you forge partnerships with local retailers and garden centers who can share their expertise and serve as a source of flower bulbs for you project. (There are also resources to help retail partners publicize their collaborations.)

We also invite you to share your experiences with these activities and contribute new ideas for how to use bulbs in various educational settings through the site's blog, and read how others have used the activities. Click on the Interact link for each activity and resource to read more.

Tuber Talk

Daffodils featured on ‘Year of the Tiger’ stamp
02/14/2010
To celebrate today’s dawn of the Chinese New Year — the Year of the Tiger — the U.S. Postal Service has issued a stamp featuring ...
Bulb quilt planted at Myers Elementary
12/06/2009
Inspired by Bulbs grant recipients, Myers Elementary School Junior Master Gardeners, Gainesville, Ga., planted their ‘Learning Quilt’ in ...
Colchicums: In person and in scans
10/25/2009
Colchicums are fast becoming one of my favorite flower bulbs. Like most bulbs, they push up their foliage in spring and then die back. But they ...
Web roundup - St. Basil’s bulb mosaic
10/25/2009
St. Basil’s in bulbs - His Excellency Mr K.G. Gevorgian, Russian ambassador to the Netherlands, joined forces with staff at Keukenhof, the ...
Bulb ‘naturalizing’ tips (videos and articles)
10/04/2009
Sally Ferguson provides tips for choosing and planting ‘naturalizing bulbs’ — “… those that accommodate themselves ...