I grew my first gladiolus while a sophomore at Prospect High School. The Class of ’85 rox! They were like totally awesome the following summer. I dug, stored and replanted them the following year, but they were not quite so rad during the second summer. In 1985, I realized that gladiolus are not as prolific as I had previously thought. It was necessary to add more bulbs to supplement the few that remained from the previous two years.

Most bulbs bloom as well in the Santa Clara Valley as they do in other parts of North America, but do not necessarily regenerate to bloom after the first year. Endemic soil and climate are unfortunately not very conducive to a healthy dormancy cycle. (Bulbs, corms, tubers and tuberous roots are very different structures, but are commonly known collectively as ‘bulbs’.)

Many bulbs should be dug and stored when dormant to minimize rot. Some of the more resilient bulbs, such as narcissus, grape hyacinth and freesia may regenerate and bloom reliably without this technique. Many of the more discriminating bulbs, such as tulip and hyacinth are however used as annuals to bloom once during spring, then abandoned or removed. Such bulbs may or may not bloom in the future if abandoned, but are not reliable.

Foliage that remains after bloom sustains the bulb as it replaces itself with a new bulb. It should therefore be left intact until it abscises from the bulb when regeneration is complete. Developing seed or ‘fruit’ should however be removed because it utilizes considerable resources that might otherwise be stored in the bulb. Seed of some bulbs may likewise become a nuisance by maturing into ‘feral’ seedlings that do not resemble the parents. Feral freesias for example, typically bloom with small, pale white and purple flowers that are not nearly as colorful or fragrant as the hybrids.

Foliage of bulbs that have already bloomed may be lain flat to the soil surface and obscured by annuals or ground cover. Gladiolus that bloom later during summer do not easily lay flat, but fortunately abscise foliage soon after bloom. I would not normally discuss these procedures this early, but so many types of bulbs have been blooming prematurely.

Potted bulbs that have been forced into bloom are more seasonal during winter and early spring, but are unfortunately not easily recycled. Even the most reliable ‘paperwhite’ narcissus exhaust their resources by blooming in an environment that is not conducive to regeneration of new bulbs. Blooms that appear this year were initiated during the previous growing season while the bulbs were ‘fattened up’ for optimum performance. During and after bloom, new bulbs would normally grow and store resources for the following year. However, bulbs forced in the home lack necessary exposure to sunlight and are unable to disperse roots to adequately sustain regeneration of new bulbs.

Such bulbs are typically discarded after bloom because they will not bloom the following Spring, if they survive at all. My neighbor regularly brought home various forced bulbs from work, including Easter lilies, rubrum lilies, tulips, hyacinth, Dutch iris and freesias. Most did not recover in the garden, but some did. In fact, the rubrum lilies have multiplied and are now quite numerous.