Grow An Indoor Bulb Garden

 

Isn't it strange that visual memories are less strong that other sensory memories such as sound and smells? In this I mean that we often have memories attached to specific pieces of music but strangely we also have many memories associated with certain smells. I may not have too many memories of my great grandparents as I was very young when they died but certain smells can instantly transport me back to their home. The strongest of these is the smell of lilacs as they had the most wonderful lilac I have ever seen in their front yard so there was no chance of missing it. Another wonderful smell that transports me immediately back to their house is the smell of an indoor bulb garden, especially hyacinths, which they often grew indoors using the same technique as shown in the photograph above.

Growing bulbs indoors is a wonderful hobby to have at any age. Growing hyacinths using hydroponics is great for the interest of their root systems and can serve as a useful educational tool to introduce children to the concept of plants, bulbs and gardening in general. I know that most of my interest in gardens can be traced back to my experiences and memories of my great grandfather who maintained a wonderful front and back yard full of interesting aspects, plant species, fruits and trees. His love of gardening shone through and inspired me greatly.

One of the reasons my great grandfather took to growing an indoor bulb garden was that my great grandmother was, towards the end of her life, housebound, and he wanted to bring some of the garden they shared together into the house to bring cheer to her life. While he could bring in roses and other cut flowers some did not last long and certain bulbs could not be cut. Here is one of the distinct advantages of growing such plants in an indoor garden, the flowers last so much longer and often smell so much better when grown indoors rather than outdoors.

Another great advantage to growing bulbs indoors is that you are not constrained to growing them in their prescribed season for your region. You can fool bulbs into growing and flowering out of season pretty easily and it is possible to have fresh flowers at virtually any time of the year.

Strangely, as I write this small article I have begun to realize that I may have little option but to go and plant up an indoor bulb garden of my own as soon as I am finished here. Foolishly I have had some bulbs in the house for a few days and they have begun to sprout. I had planned to plant them outdoors but the weather changed quickly and I put them to one side. Oh well, I must go and get them planted or risk losing them...

 

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