1.   Anything left over goes into the creation of daughter bulbs, the ones around the edge, while the main bulb usually splits in two.

2.   Because the daughter bulbs have fewer leaves, they take at least a couple of long-summered years to reach blooming size.

3.   After flowering, the mother bulb is exhausted, dies and gives up its food reserves to its daughter bulbs.

4.   By the time it flowers, the mother bulb is ready to die, giving whatever resources it has left to the daughter bulbs, but unequally.

5.   For bulbs, that means aborting flower production and concentrating on producing daughter bulbs, which takes less energy.

6.   The bulb uses its energy reserves to create daughter bulbs.

7.   The flower in the spring triggers a new growth bud that will form a daughter bulb or chip, in the next growing season.

8.   Without foliage exposed to the sun, there can be no photosynthesis, no food production and no healthy daughter bulbs for the next year.

9.   Within each tulip bulb are the beginnings of several daughter bulbs.