Pamela, I am indeed very proud of Ivo and he has more bulbs in bloom than just a couple of upside down ones. Shows that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks, (sorry for that old Ivo but there's the English language for you).
Leni, the flower takes all nourishment from the bulb and therefore can do without roots. In the process the bulb shrivels almost to nothing, gets totally eaten up and in the end falls almost through the opening and into the vase. So you start with the biggest size bulb in a vase that has a narrow opening.
In old catalogues this, and other tricks, were advertised to get children interested (still works as you can see) and the parents having to buy all that was necessary of course!!
Patricia