Bulbs : They’ll Wait for the Rain to Fall
Squirrel-watchers, gardeners and other amateur weather forecasters are predicting a very rainy winter. But what if this is just wishful thinking? What if the drought continues? Should you start planting bulbs, spring annuals and other fall things now?
In a normal year, fall is the best time to plant just about anything because cooling weather and winter rains give plants a gentle, sure start. But last year it didn’t rain until the following March, and those who planted things in the fall had to keep them watered for almost five months before the rains came and finally helped out.
So this season--at least until we get a few good storms that signal the end of the drought--it might be wise to proceed with caution, even though reservoirs are reportedly filled to capacity with imported water.
However, if you plan to convert parts of your garden to more drought-resistant plants, now--not in spring--is the time to do so. In fact, any tree or shrub is best planted now. You will have to keep them watered before and in between rains, but it takes much less water to get a plant established now than it does in spring.
You can also plant spring-blooming annuals and winter vegetables now, but these will need regular irrigation between rains, so proceed with caution--don’t plant more than you can keep watered. Rationing is still in effect.
Bulbs, on the other hand, need very little water and if you want to be extra cautious, try any of the bulbs pictured here--they can survive on rainfall alone (providing it rains) and will just lie in the soil until it arrives.
These are the bulbs to plant in that part of the garden you are converting to a more Mediterranean, drought-resistant scheme, but they will also grow in garden beds that get regular irrigation, as long as the ground isn’t kept soggy all summer. Planting any of these bulbs is a safe way to get started with fall planting.
Not too surprisingly, these bulbs are native to a climate very similar to our own--the Cape Province of South Africa--where rainfall is light and comes only in winter.
Freesia, oxalis, sparaxis, tritonia and watsonia are only five of several hundred bulbs native to this plant-rich part of the world, but they are the easiest to find at nurseries because they are raised right here in California, in the Carlsbad area of San Diego County.
(If you want to learn more about this remarkable bulb flora, get in touch with the UC Irvine Botanic Garden, which specializes in South African plants, bulbs in particular. They have an annual open house when bulbs are blooming and a sale in late summer.)
Dan Davids of the Davids & Royston Bulb Co. calls these five bulbs “extremely easy” to grow. Dan’s grandfather, Arnold G. Davids, began the business more than 50 years ago on 22nd Street in Santa Monica by selling white freesias to florists back East. They have been growing Cape bulbs in California ever since.
Freesias are still a specialty and they provide retail nurseries with about 24 different varieties, all grown locally. There are now double-flowered forms and a multitude of separate colors. Freesias bloom early in the year (usually in February) and they smell as good as they look. For this reason, planting beside a path is a very good idea.
Tritonias are the latest addition to their line of Cape bulbs. Tritonias look like extra colorful, extra floriferous freesias. Trumpet flowers line the flowering stems, come later in spring and are not scented.
Sparaxis may be the easiest of all bulbs to grow. The common name, harlequin flower, suggests its character--the plants practically do handstands in their exuberance to grow, and the flowers are splashed with a great variety of colors reminding one of a clown’s suit. This fall, Davids & Royston is wholesaling an improved strain developed at the UCI garden.
Watsonias look like wild gladioli, growing in a similar, tall fashion, but they come in only a few colors and the flowers are simpler in shape. However, they make quite a show in the garden and are not subject to the problems that sometimes plague gladioli.
Oxalis sold as garden plants are related to the common weed and are nearly as easy to grow, but they shouldn’t be confused. The most common, the Grand Duchess strain of Oxalis purpurea , spreads quickly to fill in good-sized sections of a garden bed and they flower profusely in winter and spring, but they do not spread by setting seed and are easy to pull out of areas where they are not desired.
Oxalis make a handsome, if temporary, small-scale ground cover, and Dan Davids grows them under his roses, where they add a carpet of color when the roses are just leafing out, blooming from late January into May.
They are temporary because oxalis and the other Cape bulbs die to the ground as summer approaches. There they will lie, dormant, until rain or watering in autumn brings them back to life.
All the bulbs will persist in the garden for many years if they are kept reasonably dry in summer. Too much water will cause them to rot, which is true of most plants from Mediterranean climates, including our own.
Eventually, virus diseases prove their undoing. California soils are “pretty dirty,” in the words of Dan Davids, because we do not get the killing frosts that clean organisms out of cold climate soils. Bean mosaic is one common bulb disease; it causes a mottling of leaves--they look somewhat chlorotic. So every few years, it’s a good idea to start over with new bulbs.
Planting all but the watsonias is a piece of cake. You won’t even work up much of a sweat: Dig a shallow hole and simply cover them with about an inch of soil. Watsonias need to be covered with four inches of soil in clay, six inches in lighter, sandy soils.
Plant Cape bulbs in clusters of several, spacing the bulbs a couple of inches apart. Space the clusters here and there in the garden, wherever a touch of color is needed. Don’t plant them in rows, as you would tulips--they don’t make that kind of show.
You can water right away and then water when the soil dries, or wait for rain to bring them up. Either way, these bulbs are a water-thrifty, long-lasting way to brighten the spring garden, and you don’t have to wait for the rains to return to plant them.
