I don't know about you but one of the things I really miss about living in Florida (and there's truly not much) is not having all those beautiful plants peaking through the ground in early spring. I used to go absolutely crazy in the fall when I lived up north. My husband and I would visit all of our favorite garden stores to find bulbs of every variety. Then I'd come home and proceed to go through all of my garden catalogs and order more. I still remember the year I was so caught up that I ordered over $100 worth of bulbs! Whew. That surprised even me when I sat down and started calculating it out.

Anyway, here in Florida it's decidedly more difficult to grow bulb plants other than the usual native stuff. But I'm willing to try. You may recall my mother gave me some gorgeous tulips for Easter. I mentioned then that while all of my gardening books discouraged it, I intended to force the bulbs for the coming spring. Well it's time and I'm going to do it. I read recently the best way to force bulbs is to make sure all the foliage has died away and the bulbs are dry, then place them in a closed brown paper bag and store in the produce drawer of the refrigerator. After about 3 months, I can plant them in the garden about 6 inches deep in full sun, give them a little bulb food and prepare to be wowed. So, here's to trying. Keep your fingers crossed and, if all goes well, I'll be sharing the flowers with you again in March. Happy Florida Gardening.