COLUMBIA, Mo. – Jump-start your spring garden by starting four easy, inexpensive tender bulbs indoors before the weather warms.
University of Missouri Extension horticulturist David Trinklein suggests tuberous begonia, caladium, achimenes and calla lily. All are available in bulb or tuber form from retail outlets that feature plants.
Most greenhouses and big box stores sell ready-to-plant options of these bulbs in the spring. But gardeners can start them inexpensively and easily at home.
Plant about a month before the last frost date so they have well-established root systems by the time it gets warm outside, said Trinklein. MU Extension’s Frost/Freeze Probabilities Guide helps to estimate the first and last frost dates for different areas of Missouri.
See https://ipm.missouri.edu/FrostFreezeGuide.
Plant each in a 4-inch pot filled with a well-drained growing medium consisting of a blend of peat moss, vermiculite and perlite. Place in a sunny spot indoors and keep the growing medium moist. Plant outside when danger of frost has passed. Begin hardening them off for about two weeks before transplanting them outside.
Tuberous begonia
Tuberous-rooted begonia National Garden Bureau
These have large, elaborate brightly colored blooms to shade gardens. They come in a variety of colors and forms. All thrive in shady areas, but they do best with some dappling or filtered sunlight during the day. Thanks to plant breeders, several new varieties are available that make stunning additions to garden beds, patio containers or hanging baskets.
Caladium. Public domain image.
Caladium
Caladium’s colorful, brilliant-veined foliage has brightened shady spots for generations. Traditional varieties of this tropical plant do well in shade or indirect light. Caladium “bulbs” are tubers that have “eyes,” like those of a potato. For best results, remove the dominant eye in the center of the tuber with a paring knife. The surrounding eyes emerge more uniformly when the center eye is removed. Although caladiums tolerate some sun, most gardeners save these colorful beauties to brighten shady areas.
Achimenes longiflora. Photo by Vinayaraj. Shared under a Creative Commons license (CC-BY-SA .30).
Achimenes
A relative of African violet and gloxinia, this easy-to-care-for tropical plant sometimes is called the “hot water plant” because some think that watering it with warm water encourages blooming. Achimenes has brightly colored, funnel-shaped blooms and velvety green leaves. It likes indirect sunlight. Keep soil evenly moist for best results.
Orange calla lily. Public domain image.
Calla lily
This beauty produces stately vase-shaped blooms called spathes on plants with sword-shaped and often spotted leaves. This hybrid of several South American species needs full sun and well-drained soil that is not allowed to dry out. Calla lily comes in a variety of different colors and is excellent as a cut flower.
“These four species are not winter-hardy in Missouri. However, they can bring joy for many years when dug and stored indoors over winter,” said Trinklein. Dig the bulbs after the first light frost and allow them to cure for several days. Remove excess soil and place them in a plastic bag with some moistened peat moss or similar material. Store in a cool location that does not experience freezing temperatures.
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