bulbs

Image of painting by Vincent Van Gogh via Wikimedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:VanGoghIrises2.jpg


as we inch into winter temperatures, and the outdoor plants wither and droop without memory of the promise of spring, i think about bulbs. Lilies and tulips. Irises and onions. Daffodils and amaryllis. They come back year after year, and they actually depend on a freeze or two to get into the mood to bloom come spring. Fall and early winter are thus good times to plant bulbs - like, now for instance!

Irises tend to show up early. There was an oak in central Texas along a rural road. Each spring, irises would shoot upward in a circle around the trunk. What a spark of cheer after a drab winter to see the deep purple petals swaying and waving above the fresh green stems.



Onion bulb.
Image
via Wikimedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Onion_growing_shoots.jpg