Cormlets

 

Day 246

The Daily DuBrule

Yesterday I finally got around to digging my tender bulbs. Actually, what I dug were tender corms and their accompanying cormlets. I love the word cormlet, even more than I love the word bulblet, because it just sounds so fun rolling off my tongue. I'm weird like that. What is a corm? It is a fleshy storage organism for a plant. Unlike a bulb, which has concentric rings of tissue (consider the onion and you will know what I mean), a corm is a solid mass. Cormlets are baby corms and each one has the capacity to become another plant some day. 

Acidinathera, my Abyssinian gladiolus with amaranth

I was digging gladiolus and Acidinantheras-these are called Abbysinian gladiolus. I have been planting these same corms for many years and they have multiplied and gotten bigger, to my delight. I was pretty freaked out by last week's snow storm because I had so much unfinished business in the garden. My raised beds and the borders surrounding them were covered with nearly a foot of wet snow. By Sunday, most had melted but everything that remained was a sodden mess. 

Glads with 'Ruby Streaks' mustard and amaranth

I grow my gladiolus amongst other plants as I find them stiff and not very graceful alone. In fact, I never used to grow them at all until my mother died and I decided to plant them in her honor as they were her favorite flower. Now I love them. I have always grown Acidinanthera as they are sweetly fragrant. So Sunday, I attacked the mushy foliage of mustard, arugula, and borage in order to find my corms and lift them. I was relieved to find they were plump and solid, no worse for the wear despite the snow and cold. I laid them on the stone wall to dry as I continued to work in the gardens. Right before I packed it in for the day, I put them on the floor of the back garage to dry further. Once they are completely dry I will store them in the cellar for the winter and then start the cycle all over again next spring.

Corms ready for storage