What light bulbs go off when you hear the word 'bulb'?

Brent and Becky’s Bulbs is a catalog company, “Garden Bulbs for the South” is a book by Scott Ogden and “Bulbs Are Great — If You Choose Wisely” is a chapter in Hamilton Mason’s “Your Garden in the South.” What do they have in common beyond the obvious? All deal not only with bulbs, but also with tubers, tuberous roots, corms and rhizomes.

But while the word “bulb” is simply shorthand for advanced gardeners, it's a hazy catchall for average folks who think all plants with swollen subterranean structures are bulbs.

A true bulb is actually an underground stem enveloped by fleshy, starch-storing leaves that provide energy for the embryonic plant that will eventually emerge. The bulb’s bottom — its basal plate — serves as the foundation for the entire plant and also generates roots. In addition, the basal plate produces offsets called “bulblets.” Among true bulb plants for Central Florida are Easter lily, garden amaryllis, blood lily and crinums such as “Queen Emma.”

To read more on this article: What light bulbs go off when you hear the word 'bulb'?

By CHARLES REYNOLDS
Halifax Media Group