Vodka drinking Tulips and heroic Snowdrops

Galanthus-and-Narcissus

Or how the bulb kept its secret in your garden all winter.

Unless, of course, the bulb in question is a corm, or a rhizome or a tuber (not the wind instrument, that’s a tuba). What is the difference? An extract from our new eBook “In Your Spring Garden” may help explain…

“A bit of botany about bulbs

Some of the flowers we think of as growing from bulbs are in fact from corms or tubers. Although these are fundamentally the same, in the sense of being a storage depot where the plant keeps it resources in order to flower the following year, there are differences. Bulbs and corms are stems, whereas just to confuse you, some tubers are stems, such as begonias, and others, dahlias for example, are roots.

Bulbs have a swollen compact stem with fleshy leaves attached to it; daffodils (narcissi) tulips and the onion family are all bulbs. New bulbs are formed from buds between the leaves of the parent bulb, which itself will last many years. These small bulbs can be separated from the parent and planted separately, its best to take ones with roots buds showing at the base to be sure of their growing on. Corms have a short swollen stem in which the food is stored; this is covered by old dead foliage. New corms are formed on top of the old one which will eventually wither away. Crocus and gladiolus are corms.

Stem tubers such as begonias and cyclamen, are long lived or perennial; although not all stem tubers are. Their tubers have developed from the ends of rhizomes, which are underground stems; hence stem tubers. Dahlias and some day lilies (Hemerocallis) are root tubers.”

Galanthus-plicatus-wendys-gold

Hopefully that’s clarified the main differences between bulbs, corms, tubers and rhizomes for you. As a side note, some plants, water lilies for example, only have rhizomes; that is they don’t have ‘true stems’ above ground. Or in the water lily’s case, above water. Seriously though, have a look at a water lily next time you get the chance, the only stems are under water, ie beneath the surface, all you see ‘above’ are foliage and flowers.

Snowdrops (Galanthus) and Tulips are both bulbous plants, as are Daffodils (Narcissus) and Hyacinths. All of these are well known spring flowering flowers. Hyacinths may be ‘forced’ that is specially prepared to flower for Christmas, but naturally they would flower outside in April and May. Snowdrops flower from January through to the end of March; Daffodils flower from February to April and Tulips from late March to late May. The dates do vary with where you are (local and regional weather and micro climate) and how long the bulbs have been in the ground (did you plant them late for example).

Galanthus-Robin-Hood

So what about those heroic Snowdrops I mentioned? Galanthus nivalis ‘Robin Hood’ is the snowdrop in question and I was busy admiring it again at the RHS Plant and Design Show in London this week. First mentioned as a snowdrop variety in 1891, Galanthus ‘Robin Hood’ has markings on the inner flower that look like crossed sabres, which is arguably a disappointment, I feel the markings should look like a bow and arrow. But I am fond of this particular snowdrop nonetheless.

The Horticultural Halls were full with many different plants, but I always see the Snowdrops and Daffodils as the undisputed stars of the show – they are at their prime. And it’s when you view snowdrops that are at table height that you begin to realise that not only are their flowers beautifully marked with green and yellow and cream, but that many also have a delicate scent that would be totally lost if you only planted in the flower borders in your garden.

Tulip ‘smirnoff’

And the vodka drinking tulip? An attractive white flower with fringed petals Tulip ‘smirnoff’; although I’m not sure that its cup shaped flowers would work as a shot glass, it is a very attractive plant.

Seasonal offer:
Our eBook “In Your Winter Garden with Plews Garden Design” has been drastically reduced in price as “In Your Spring Garden with Plews Garden Design” is due for release next week.
Available in formats for PC, Kindle and iPad from Amazon and Smashwords

cover illustration “In Your Winter Garden with Plews Garden Design” by Lucy Waterfield