Spring bulbs in the Subtropics - Jonquils!

 The image of a ‘spring garden’ often involves bulbs – daffodils, tulips, snowdrops, bluebells – strappy green leaves poking their heads up from the bare earth that harsh winter frosts created. But I live in subtropical Brisbane and to be honest sometimes the earth is LESS bare over winter because it hasn’t been baked to a crisp in the summer sun (although when the summer rains hit, you’ll be mowing that lawn every second day..). Anyway I digress – my point is your typical ‘spring bulbs’ aren’t a big thing here. They don’t really like our hot spring and summer and prefer a chillier winter to get best performance in repeat years. But last winter, I thought I’d give it a shot anyway….. I bought a pack of Erlicheer jonquils. Jonquils are one of the spring bulbs that will better tolerate our warm conditions and have a beautiful fragrance to boot. They the smaller cousin of Daffodils and as I found out later, the name ‘Erlicheer’ isn’t Dutch or German. It’s “Early Cheer”. Because they’re cheerful. Early.

I was a little late planting them, probably the end of July. I put them mostly in pots, but tucked a few in my sandy soil. Up they sprang and I thoroughly enjoyed their scent wafting through the garden. Once the foliage died back (much easier to manage in a pot when you can move it out of sight during the process!), I dug them up and put most in a mesh bag which I hung under the awning of our shed – out of direct sunlight but far from dark. I put a few in another mesh bag in the fridge to see if the cooler temperatures did anything for next years flowers.

This year I got them in in April. The ones that had hung outside were still in good condition but maybe half of what I had in the fridge had gone soft/started rotting. I planted all the good ones and marked the pot that had the refrigerated ones vs the un-refrigerated ones. I put the two pots next to each other and have watered them the same. They’ve just started flowering (funnily enough, about the same time as last year, despite being planted 3 months earlier!). To be honest the chilled vs un-chilled are mostly the same. The latter have leaves that are a bit longer - though I think this is because they could have been sliiightly more shaded? But they have a bigger flower head.

 I haven’t had heaps of flowers but the ones I have had I am picking to bring inside to enjoy their perfume wafting through the house. In hindsight the spot they were in probably wasn’t as full sun as it could have been, which could be why I don’t have as many flowers. I’ve moved them now to get more sunlight (the joy of pots!), and will give them a good feed to replenish their energy levels. I’ll store the bulbs again this winter – I might try the fridge experiment again, we’ll see. I wonder how many years I can get out of them. And if it’s not that many - who cares, I’ll just buy new ones!