Bulbs: Mother Nature’s little remedy for the dark days blues

Published 1:30 am Saturday, October 26, 2019

I think it is fair to say that the dark season is upon us, and it seems to have arrived a couple of months early.

September and October have both been unusually wet, which cut down on my gardening time and prematurely kicked off my seasonal affective disorder. I always look forward to sunshine in the fall, and for the most part it has been missing in action.

Dealing with winter depression is a common challenge for many of us in the Northwest. And it is only going to get darker and wetter. Those of us who aren’t snowbirds will just have to stick it out and find a way to cope.

For me, the best antidote to the winter blues is to plant bulbs in October — for the simple reason that they give me something to look forward to.

Bulbs come in all sizes and bloom times, and contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to wait three to four months to see the fruits of your labors. Bulbs such as Colchicums and saffron crocus actually bloom in the fall. They can be purchased and planted now, and they will naturalize and bloom year after year.

Grape hyacinths will start to put up new green shoots as early as November and cover the ground with lush foliage for several months before they finally bloom in late winter. The same is true for Pushkinia and Chionodoxa, both of which are known as “minor bulbs.” They lend themselves to rockeries and the edges of borders, where they will live and multiply for decades with absolutely no intervention.

January brings the happy little yellow faces of winter aconites front and center, along with the first signs of daffodils and narcissus. Somewhere around February, the Dutch hyacinths start to bloom followed by a whole array of daffodils and by late March, and most of April the tulips strut their stuff.

Finally, as late as May or even June, the Alliums with their giant blue globes come into their own, and by that time everything else in the garden is awake and growing like crazy, and our endorphins are flowing like gangbusters. Any feelings of depression will be long gone by then.

Bulbs are so incredibly simple, and it is a shame more gardeners don’t plant them. “Dig. Drop. Done.” is the expression we like to use in the trade, and it pretty much sums up the time and effort it takes to succeed with bulbs. I can’t overstate it — they are easy.

Perhaps the hardest part of gardening with bulbs is getting off the couch on a cold rainy day and driving down to the garden center to purchase them. Oh, sure, you could stay home in your jammies with a hot cup of tea and order them online, but it’s just not the same.

I prefer picking up a netted package of them, smelling the residual dirt still clinging to their withered-up roots, checking them for firmness knowing that they haven’t been subjected to desiccation or freezes in some Amazon delivery truck.

In my book, there is no better antidepressant than touching a living object, and bulbs are just that. You’re literally feeling the life that lies under all those layers of scales.

October is the prime month to purchase and plant bulbs, so don’t miss out. It could very well be what gets you through the long dark days of winter.

Steve Smith is the owner of Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville and can be reached at info@sunnysidenursery.net.

Winter jewels

Learn all about hellebores, aka winter’s jewels, at a free class set for 10 a.m. Nov. 2 at Sunnyside Nursery, 3915 Sunnyside Blvd., Marysville. For more information or to sign up, go to www.sunnysidenursery.net.