Turning On the Bulbs in the Summertime
While browsing in my local nursery this past week, I realized that there are many bulbs I have never grown. They are what some call “summer bulbs,” because they flower in summer instead of spring, and they are planted in the spring rather than in the fall. You will find boxes and bags filled with them at nurseries now.
Some are so spectacular in flower that I have always suspected they must be impossible to grow, so never tried. Not so, says Don E. Christensen of the Davids & Royston Bulb Co. He gardens in the Pasadena area and finds that some of these summer bulbs will even naturalize--gardener’s jargon for going wild--so easy are they to grow.
Perhaps the most spectacular is the Gloriosa lily, a vining plant that makes lily-like flowers colored a shocking red and yellow. It is, in fact, a lily (in the Liliaceae family) and is native to India and Africa. It grows from a boomerang-shaped tuber and, according to Christensen, both ends are growth tips, so plant this one horizontally, not up and down. Expect it to move a little each year because after each season, new boomerang-shaped tubers form, and where there was one plant there will be a second, not more than six inches away. Yes, this spectacular flower will naturalize, dying down each winter but coming back for summer.
Plant the tubers in a hole four inches deep, in good soil and full sun.
“One commercial grower in Pomona grows his where the temperatures reach 106 degrees, so it can take the heat,” Christensen says. It will climb up whatever is nearby, or you can let it clamber up a stake. It grows about 3 feet tall, so it won’t overwhelm its host.
Equally sensational, bordering on ostentatious, is the tiger flower, or tigridia, a true bulb native to Mexico. (The bulbs are commercially grown in Northern California.) This plant has big four-inch flowers in a startling variety of vivid colors; most are speckled or marked in the throat. The flowers last but a day, but “it throws them continually,” said Christensen, so it really lasts longer.
The plant grows to about 2 1/2 to 3 feet tall, and Christensen recommends planting the bulbs in a hole four inches deep to help support the tall stems. When it first sprouts, don’t weed it out by mistake--the new foliage looks like a sprouting palm seed (a common weed in some gardens). Again, good soil and full sun suit it. The bulbs go completely dormant for the winter.
If you want to see a planting of them in flower, visit Descanso Gardens in July or August. Director George Lewis notes that the first flowers in July should be cut off and then more will form and bloom in August. Make the cuts about six inches down the stem at a leaf joint or axil.
He also pointed out that other flowers can be grown on top of the bulb planting so there is color in between the flowerings of the tigridia. And, he said, once planted, “they will be with you for a lifetime.” How about that, another that naturalizes.
Well, if these two are so easy, surely the powerfully fragrant tuberoses are more difficult? Nope, these too can naturalize, though Southern California authority George Harmon Scott, in his book “Bulbs, How to Select, Grow and Enjoy” (HP Books), says they may skip blooming for a year to build up strength for the next time. They are grown here commercially, though most bulbs come from Arkansas and Florida.
Plant these odd-looking, elongated bulbs in holes about six inches deep, in good soil and full sun. Christensen says there’s a secret to growing tuberoses: Don’t let them dry out once the flower buds form. Expect them to bloom late in summer, in August. If you go on vacation, make sure someone waters these while you’re gone.
There are two kinds, one with simple, single flowers called Mexican Single and a double named The Pearl. Both are white, and the single-flowered form looks a lot like stephanotis, though it is even more fragrant.
The Peruvian daffodil or sea daffodil Hymenocallis is yet another summer bulb that will naturalize in Southern California. It does indeed look somewhat like a daffodil, but one that has been working out at the gym (both are in the amaryllis family). The flowers are much bigger, fragrant and either white or yellow in the variety Sulphur Queen, and they are borne on sturdy stems about 2 feet tall. The leaves, however, can be a little floppy.
Plant these bulbs in a hole about two inches deep so the very top of the neck is just out of the ground. Again, full sun and good soil suit it.
If it’s not flowers you seek but foliage--or, if you need something to grow in the shade--try one of the other summer bulbs, the caladiums, which are grown for their colorful leaves. The leaves look like elephant ears but are marked with green, red, pink and white. Plants grow to about 1 to 1 1/2 feet tall.
This one will not naturalize because our winters are too wet or cold, but the bulbs can be dug in the fall and stored until late spring. Christensen suggests getting the bulbs (actually round tubers) now, but waiting until May to plant. Keep them dry, cool and out of the sun in the garage in the meantime.
They grow best in partial sun but tolerate quite a bit of shade and will burn in full sun. They can be grown indoors, but need very bright light (but no direct sun); they are much easier outdoors, however. Plant the bulbs in holes two inches deep and make sure they go in right side up. The rounded end should be facing down. Don’t fertilize with too much nitrogen or you will lose some of the coloring in the leaves.
Commercially grown in bogs in Florida, these bulbs like lots of moisture. In fact, all of these summer bulbs need regular watering.
