Nature’s Surprise Packages

Bulbs are nature’s most amazing package. While a seed contains all the coded instructions for giving life to a plant, a bulb contains the entire plant--its stems, leaves and a flower or two--compressed in its pulpy confines.

Unlike seeds, which can last several years, a bulb is a temporary storage vessel, designed to get a plant through a season of drought, for instance, or extreme cold.

This explains why some bulbs can flower sitting on the table with no dirt or water, and why those that prefer colder climates will bloom in our subtropical Southern California gardens. “Bulb” is a general term used by gardeners for plants that grow from corms, tubers, rhizomes and other natural encasements, including some that are actually bulbs, such as a daffodil. A sweet-smelling freesia is called a bulb even though it technically grows from a corm.

You’ll find the best selection of bulbs at nurseries right now. At a good-sized nursery, you’re going to find hundreds. Some are to be used only for a season--as if they were annuals or temporary bedding plants--then they are tossed out.

Others, once planted, will come back year after year in your garden, even multiply.

You’ll find that many of the bulbs used for temporary color make the biggest splash in the landscape, while bulbs that reliably return often have smaller, more subtle flowers.

Make sure you pick up a bulb planting chart that shows how deep to plant each kind. Most nurseries have them, and planting depth is important.

But remember: If you buy a bulb and forget to plant it, the bulb will be no good next fall.