Page 14 Fall Home & Garden | September 2023 Lincoln Daily News Fall is not too early to think about Pumpkin spice lattes and apple cider doughnuts may not seem like the signal to contemplate next year’s flower garden, but if the garden includes summer flowers grown from bulbs, autumn is the perfect time to think about preserving those favorite blooms for next season. Bulbs give us some beautiful spring and summer flowers, but which ones can survive an Illinois winter? What we might generally call “bulbs” can encompass five different bulb or bulb-like structures. According to the University of Illinois Extension website, which is an excellent resource for reliable plant and garden information, corms, rhizomes, tubers, roots, and true bulbs all “have underground fleshy storage structures” which store the nutrient reserves of the plant. In Central Illinois, some bulbs and bulb-like structures are cold hardy enough to survive the winter and flower in the spring. Vernal favorites such as crocus, tulips, and daffodils fall in this category. However, tender bulbs which produce lovely summer flowers, are not cold hardy enough for Illinois winters. Gardeners must know the bulb and the hardiness zone of their area to determine which bulbs can survive the winter. Hardiness zone and tender bulbs USDA hardiness zones are based on the average minimum temperature of an area, and it is crucial for gardeners to know their zone to aid in choosing and caring for plants. Logan County is in zone 5b with annual average extreme minimum temperatures of -10 to -15 degrees Fahrenheit. Plants and roots that are not cold hardy will be damaged or killed in a typical Central Illinois winter, including summer-blooming bulbs. These are flowers such as gladiolus, dahlias, cannas, elephant ears, caladiums, and tuberous begonias. These can be treated as annuals and replanted every year, but why not spend a little time rather than money and dig up the bulbs to save for next year? It is especially rewarding if you have favorite blooms that are worth preserving. Summer Flowers Continued --
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