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| Photo Credit: Robert Smaus |
| The much shorter, 1-foot-tall baboon flowers work well by rocks or paths. |
California gardeners, you have a choice: You can knock yourself out trying to grow tulips, crocus and other cold-climate bulbs in the milder parts of the state – only to be disappointed a year later – or you can plant some tougher, lesser-known bulbs and simply walk away, then watch the plants bloom year after year with little or no care. They won’t need digging, storing, dusting or dividing. They’ll go completely dormant in summer but will return the following fall, as reliable as taxes and car payments.
(My vote is for choice No. 2.) Those who have tried growing tulips and similar bulbs in California know that the plants might bloom the first spring, if the beds are properly prepared and they get the right care. But the following year will be a big disappointment. Your best strategy is to use those plants as rather expensive, one-shot annuals in beds or containers. In other words: Dig them up after flowering and toss them. The bulbs that do best in the Golden State – not too surprisingly – come from places with similar mild climates, such as the Cape region of South Africa, an area unbelievably rich in bulbs. Only a handful has found its way into the nursery trade, however. Freesias, watsonias and sparaxis are probably the most common and can be found at most local nurseries. Warning: Don’t use these bulbs in mass plantings, as if they were the tulips seen in catalog photos. That’s not their niche! Plant even the large kinds in clumps of three to five. Some will grow into quite large clumps in a few years, especially the yellow and orange Homerias, which become a tough and durable garden flower about 2-½ feet tall, outlasting even bearded iris.
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