Gardening: On Bulbs, Lilies and the AMEN Food Pantry’s Fresh Produce Initiative

The La Grange Garden Club wants to let everyone know about their upcoming Caladium bulb and plant sale.

The sale will take place at the Faison House in La Grange on Friday and Saturday, April 17-18.

I’m no more of an expert on bulbs than any other gardening topic. We have a few growing around our house. They’re usually dependable plants in the landscape.

We moved onto our place in Cozy Corner about 15 years ago. No one had lived in our house for about 20 years before that. But there were lilies growing everywhere.

They’re not true Easter lilies, but we’ve always called them that because they bloom the most around Easter.

These white-flowered lilies are slightly fragrant. I believe they are some variety of crinum lilies, possibly Crinum latifolium. They appear to be the same variety as the ones that grow in the ditch on the west side of US 77 south between Swiss Alp and the East Navidad River. They’re extremely hardy.

There’s a shady spot on the west side of our house that stays somewhat moist, and these lilies thrive in that location.

I’ve occasionally dug up some bulbs and planted them in other places. They transplant easily. Sometimes the ones in full sun disappear during the hottest, driest part of the summer. But they reappear as soon as it rains.

My wife Janessa has also introduced a few other bulbing plants around the place. She has planted a lot of Canna lilies – some in the shade, some in part sun, and others in full sun. They all thrive and come back year after year. The ones that get more sun tend to bloom more, which is true of most flowering plants. But the ones in more shade handle the summer heat better.

Last year, Janessa planted some gladiolus bulbs around the house, and I just adore them. They produce tall flower spikes in various colors. They’re so big and striking when they are in bloom. They are evidently hardy. They disappeared during the winter and just started emerging a few weeks ago. As I recall, they bloomed for about a month during the mid-summer last year.

The Garden Club will have a bunch of caladium bulbs available at their plant sale later this month. Most people know these plants as “elephant ears.” The come in several cultivars varying in coloration and pattern. Some have watermelon-red leaves. Some are white with green veins. I’ve come across caladiums that have naturalized along the banks of the Colorado River. They’re native to tropical South America. We have a few growing in a bed next to our porch.

If you’re new to landscape gardening, try some bulbs. They’re easy to care for. Most of the time, you really have to try to kill them.

In colder regions, gardeners have to “lift” their bulbs and store them inside during the winter. They can’t survive frozen soil, apparently. But here in Texas, none of the bulbs I mentioned require lifting, at least in my experience.

If you’d like some bulbs, the La Grange Garden Club’s plant sale on April 17-18 is the perfect opportunity to get some.

In other gardening news, don’t forget about AMEN Food Pantry’s gardening initiative, Add a Row for AMEN. Folks at the pantry are asking gardeners to consider adding a row or dedicating a row in their garden for AMEN Food Pantry.

The folks at AMEN tell me that the La Grange community greatly supports their mission to feed those in need through food drives and monetary donations. But some of the hardest items for them to procure are fresh fruits and vegetables.

The cheapest foods available tend to be full of seed oils and corn-derived sugars. The poorest folks in our community suffer the most from chronic illnesses like diabetes, obesity and heart disease. I believe the former causes the latter. That’s why it’s so important, I think, for local gardeners to consider the food pantry.

Dr. Randy Albers, a retired La Grange ISD Superintendent, has been meeting with a group of local gardeners, myself included, who are interested in helping the pantry. Albers said he doesn’t want gardeners to donate their “scraps” or “seconds.” That doesn’t really help the pantry. They need high-quality produce picked fresh so that it has some decent shelflife.

Albers said he doesn’t want to interfere with gardeners who grow extra produce for the farmers market or other outlets. But if anyone has extra space in their garden, or if they’re thinking about expanding their garden, please keep the pantry in mind.

Bill Voshalike, an AMEN gardener, said onions planted in December and potatoes planted in February will be ready for harvest in April and May, respectively.

“These garden-fresh staple crops are greatly appreciated by pantry shoppers,” Voshalike said.

Donations of produce can be dropped off at AMEN Food Patnry on Monday mornings between 8:30 a.m. and noon, the earlier the better.

More details about the pantry and helpful gardening resources and a gardening blog are available on the AMEN website www.amenlagrange. org.

“As you plant your spring and summer crops please consider planting a little extra for a combined harvest donation to the pantry,” Voshalike said. “When each brings a little, the result is a bounty.”

AMEN would also like to recognize gardeners for their donations. If you have a gardening skill with a particular crop that you would like to share, they would love to feature that on the AMEN Gardens blog. Submissions can be sent to amengardens@proton.me. I may even feature some of those bounties in this column.