Something that always gives me great pleasure in the garden is bulbs, corms and tubers.
While I am over wishing I could have the spring display like they do in Europe or even Melbourne. I now appreciate the spring flowering bulbs that grow in my not so cold climate.
Bulbs, corms
and tubers are all sometimes erroneously referred to as bulbs. The technical
term for plants that form underground storage organs is geophyte.
All these types of plants cycle
through vegetative and reproductive growth stages; the bulb grows to flowering
size during the vegetative stage and the plant flowers during the reproductive
stage.
These plants need certain
conditions to trigger the transition from one stage to the next, such as the
shift from a cold winter to warm spring. Due to the bulb, corm or tuber being a
storage device these plants can also survive adverse
conditions such as cold, excessive heat, lack of light or drought.
The foliage of these plants
absorbs nutrients from the soil and energy from the sun for setting flowers for
the next year. After the foliage period
is completed, bulbs can be dug up for replanting elsewhere.
If we lived in Holland, autumn
is the time to plant daffodils and tulips, as they flower in spring, but here
these bulbs don’t grow that well or easily.
Don’t despair though we can still plant some beautiful bulbs, corms, and tubers at this time of year. Lucky for us we usually have a short winter too so our spring flowering bulbs, corms and tubers are usually up and flowering before other cities.
Freesias, hyacinths, ranunculi, babiana and iris’ are all available at Trevallan
Lifestyle Centre and now is the time to plant.
As you know
I’m a no fuss gardener. There is probably an exact art to planting these plants
but I find the easiest way is to make sure your soil is healthy and loose then plant
your bulb right way up (instructions are on the packets!) and cover with soil. Sun is necessary. I like to put a little bit
of Organic Link fertilizer on top of the soil at this stage. Water the area
like a normal garden – making sure it’s wet but not a bog. Once the leaf or
flower starts to appear I use Triple Boost liquid fertiliser weekly. After
flowering I give it a little more Organic Link to give it some nutrients to
store for next season.
Some people
lift, dig up, their bulbs each year and store them until the next season. I
don’t as I find I can’t store them very well and they end up dying, so I leave
mine in the ground. Sometimes I dig them
up and break up the clumps so I can get more but then I usually replant them
straight away.
Because
bulbs and the like die down and then reappear I like them planted in amongst
other plants so each year I get little flowering surprises in my garden.
Give your
garden a little surprise this spring and plant some bulbs today.
