From our perspective, the cycle begins with perceptible changes in our environment. As the days grow longer and the intensity and duration of sunlight increases, we sense the approaching summer. Concurrently, soil temperatures begin to rise. This combination of photoperiod (day length) and thermoperiod (temperature pattern) acts as a crucial environmental signal. It is not a sudden alarm but a gradual, undeniable shift that tells us the favorable growing conditions of spring are coming to an end. This is our cue to initiate a profound physiological transition, moving from a state of active growth to one of preservation and dormancy.
Our primary survival strategy is the strategic relocation of energy. The above-ground parts of us—the leaves and flowers—become liabilities in the hot, dry months. They are sites of water loss through transpiration and offer no benefit when heat stress inhibits photosynthesis. Therefore, we begin to systematically break down chlorophyll and other compounds in our leaves, drawing valuable nutrients and energy back into our below-ground storage organ: the tuber. This process causes our leaves to yellow, wilt, and eventually die back completely. What may appear as decay or death to an observer is, for us, a highly efficient process of resource recycling and conservation, safeguarding every possible molecule of energy within the safety of the earth.
During the summer, our entire existence centers on the tuber. This swollen, underground stem is our lifeline. It is a reservoir of stored starches, water, and nutrients meticulously accumulated during the previous growing season. While the world above ground is harsh and inhospitable, we remain alive but in a state of suspended animation deep in the cooler soil. Our metabolic rate slows to an absolute minimum—just enough to maintain basic cellular functions and repair. We do not grow, we do not photosynthesize; we simply wait. This profound dormancy is our adaptation to avoid desiccation and heat damage, allowing us to outlast the severe abiotic stresses of the Mediterranean summer.
Our dormancy is not permanent. We remain exquisitely attuned to our surroundings even in our rest. As the peak of summer passes, the days begin to shorten noticeably. More importantly, the first significant autumn rains occur, cooling the soil temperature and increasing soil moisture. This combination of cooler temperatures and water is the signal we have been waiting for. It breaks our dormancy and triggers a new wave of growth. Using the stored energy in the tuber, we send out new roots to absorb water and nutrients, followed by the rapid emergence of new leaf buds that will push through the soil surface to greet the mild, moist autumn sun, commencing a new cycle of growth and flowering.
