Bulbs

At risk of going off down a slightly trippy-hippy path today, I’ve been thinking a fair amount about plant bulbs of late. We’ve got a whole bundle of hyacinths in the house, all of which are currently growing like buggery. And seeing the way they’re doing this – and the speed they’re doing it at – fills me with wonder.

Bulbs are an amazing energy store. The plant lies dormant through the winter (or what passes for it in the UK at the moment) and when spring comes, bang, they go into overdrive. All of a sudden you see leaves sprouting through, and in the case of amaryllis and hyacinths in particularly, you can virtually watch the things growing. Then the flower-heads start to come out, and finally bloom, and the entire process is – to me, anyway – nothing short of miraculous. Yet plants do it every year.

Sometimes it really doesn’t take much to discover wonder in things. And Spring is the best time of all to see it. It’s bloody everywhere!