Flowers: If you can’t eat ‘em, Enjoy ‘em!

 As May wraps up, tulips are on their way out.  We’ll cut the flowers, let the green leaves gather up a bit more energy and die back, and then dig out the replenished bulb and growing bulblets to save for next year (in a cool, dry, rodent-free spot, of course!).  All the flowers in this bouquet–except for the gorgeous (and stinky!) Bleeding Hearts dangling in the back–are bulbs. The tight white blossoms on the right are narcissus, and the rest are various painted shades and styles of tulips. It’s not my style to just show off flowers, but while we’re enjoying bulbs you can make a meal of ‘em, too: try the bulb of an onion, a rhizome (underground stem) of ginger, some cloves from a blub of garlic, and a handful of potatoes (tubers) make a delicious, simple meal. 

Underground food crops–bulbs, tubers and roots like carrots, turnips, and radishes, too–are the rich storage tanks for their plant body, stocking up nutrients to get them through tougher, colder seasons. When we eat them, we’re raiding an entire pantry of vitamins and minerals.  If you’re eating roots and bulbs with your kids, read along with the charming children’s book Tops and Bottoms.  And hurrah, the world’s best allium sativum will soon be back at the Union Square Greenmarket when Keith Stewart returns to sell his world-famous hardnecked Rocambole garlic!