Article: Garden gems: Cape bulbs look exotic but grow like natives in our climate.

* If you live in California, you ought to read bulb catalogs in reverse. Why? Hidden in the back of the book under some grab-bag category like "exotics" are freesia, sparaxis, watsonia, babiana, and the rest of the Cape bulbs (named after a former province of South Africa). These are, without a doubt, the easiest bulbs to grow in mild climates and the ones most likely to naturalize here. The front of the book is devoted to page after page of tulips and hyacinths--bulbs that don't understand our mild winters and have to be stored in the refrigerator for at least six weeks in order to be coaxed into bloom for a season. In our Mediterranean climate, they are the exotics.

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