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Article: Sizing up summer-flowering bulbs
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- June 22, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2003 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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Summer-flowering bulbs come in all shapes and sizes.
Consider dahlias, for instance. Their roots are about as different
from a true bulb--think of a tulip bulb--as a swollen underground
root can be. Clumps of fleshy light brown tubers are attached in the
middle by last season's thick woody stem. New shoots grow from "eyes"
at the base of that stem.
By season's end, a huge bush with eye-popping blooms can result
from a single eye attached to a single thumb-sized tuber.
Summer-flowering bulbs are enjoying enormous popularity, and
dahlias are leading the charge. Demand for dahlia tubers is up 40
percent from just five years ago, which means lots of gardeners are
trying them for the first time.
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