On a really basic level, you don't get them from your plant. If the parent bulb-based-flower is reproducing then it is already making smaller bulbs which will come up on their own usually. You would only dig them up to thin them or to reorganize them. You can buy bulbs online (www.brecks.com, www.whiteflowerfarm.com, www.vanengelen.com, are some of the sites I buy from) for things you don't already have, and in stores like Home Depot and Lowes in the fall as this is when most bulbs are planted. In zone 10 you may have issues getting your bulbs to come back as perennials unless you dig them up and chill them (that's a whole other conversation though). Hope this helps.

Uhh... So they come out the ground and sit there or just pop up a little?

both.

If you have ever eaten an onion you know what a bulb is. Almost all bulbs also make seeds, and like an onion they may be started from seeds or offsets. Al

You get the bulbs from exactly where you planted them - underground. The plant grows out of the bulb and above the ground. When the plant dies at the end of the season, a new bulb develops underground and will be the next year's tulip.

If your plant was healthy, there might be 2-3 bulbs instead of just one, and if it was unhealthy, you might only find a tiny bulb or no bulb at all the next year.

Some bulbs are planted underground. Daffodils, hyacinths and so forth.

They grow to a flowering size over a few years, then produce their flowers.
They also develop offsets or daughter bulbs which will usually have flowers just like their parent's. Once the little bulbs have grown 'big enough to leave home' they will easily part from the parent and you can plant them elsewhere - knowing it may take a few years more before they flower.

Some bulbs sit on or near the surface. Think Hippeastrum, Amaryllis, Nerine, Scadoxus, Vallota. They have big and meaty roots. They still produce offsets, just like the inground bulbs - and the same 'rules' apply: plant them shallow, treat them kindly, wait for a few years for them to flower.

Then there are the sneakier ones: some lilies produce mini-bulbs where the leaf joins the stems (the axils). You can pick these off and plant them up to make more of the lily you like.

If a favourite bulb is slow to multiply then there are ways to increase the numbers - but you might need to try on bulbs that don't matter to you so much because you have to cut them up to get them producing little bulbs.

And - some bulbs will make more simply from a leaf cutting.

Plus seeds - which is a bit of a gamble because they might not look anything like the original. Fun to do - and needs patience.

Some orchids also look like bulbs. Pleione seems to like sitting its greeny bulbs on the surface (it's a ground grower anyway). Some, like Bletilla, snuggle underground. Some, such as Cymbidium, can park themselves in/on trees and have their roots bare to the world so long as there is food and moisture going by. Orchids can be highly addictive and lead to vastly overcrowded glasshouses....:-)))

That was a great bit of information but I can I got a question too, do bulbs need freeze hours to bloom or even grow the following year

Devonfawn,

It might be best to start a new thread with any questions you have rather than piggybacking on this one.

do bulbs need freeze hours to bloom or even grow the following year
What bulbs do you mean? Spring blooming bulbs like daffodils, hyacinths, tulips?
"Some" bulbs require a 'chill period' but no bulb needs freeze hours. If is really impossible to answer your question without knowing exactly what bulbs you are talking about.

Sue

Freeze period:

Some bulbs need to be refrigerated to give the bulbs a winter rest so they know when to grow again. Tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, irises, alliums and lilies need to chill. They should NOT be frozen, but refrigerated.

However there are also tropical bulbs like amaryllis and clivia that you do NOT want to chill because their native habitats do not have winters. Freezing them will definitely kill them, and refrigerating them is a waste of time.

So whether you want to chill your bulbs depends on whether they are tropical or temperate species.