The pleasure of pairing perennials to bulbs reminds me of the time I learned that Gerwurtztraminer wine knocks the socks off Indian food.

Living in Boston after college, I developed a serious thing for Indian food. Surely no problem was unsolvable while dining on a plate of saag paneer, a mellow dish of creamy spinach dotted with cheese. I worked as a secretary in the Chemistry Department at Harvard and a group of graduate students and some of my co-workers became Indian food aficionados, searching out the best nearby Central Square could offer for lunch.

One day, a friend from work suggested we try glasses of the German wine, a sweet selection that normally made my teeth hurt. A bite of saag paneer, a sip of Gerwurtztraminer, and I was hooked. I can’t remember if I got much accomplished back at the department that day, as I pecked away at my computer, but it didn’t matter – I was 22 and had discovered the friendship between saag paneer and Gerwurtztraminer, a relationship I planned to savor.

Although I didn’t know it then, gardening was in my future, and I have found the friendship between perennial plants and flowering bulbs as rich, surprising and savory as good wine paired with fine food.

The time for spring bulb planting is at hand, and it also happens to be a fine opportunity to put in those last minute perennials. These rainy days will help to get the root systems adjusted before the next hard frosts. The bulbs, meanwhile, go in easily in the damp soil.

Here are some combinations you might want to try. I wish you the gardening equivalent of bon apetit!

A white, lacy leafed Dicentra or bleeding heart, with its fern-like foliage looks splendid with tulips and maybe a Delphin blue Hyacinthoides, the hot new name for the loved or loathed scilla. Dicentra blooms for two to six months, depending upon the type, and prefers shady conditions, though it can handle full sun in our climate. Scilla seems to bloom for, well, forever and appears to like whatever ground in which it is planted. Come on you scilla despisers – and I am talking to you, a certain scilla-tossing friend of mine – give these two a chance together!

Heuchera, or coral bells, give lush foliage early in spring, both complementing and camouflaging spring bloom bulbs. You can find the ivy leaved plant in greens, red-tones, bronze, silver, deep purple and now, even yellows. This plant does best in shade, although it fares well in some sun in cooler climates. Consider trying a purple-leaved Heuchera with black ‘Queen of the Night’ tulips, primulas and the wall flower ‘Bowles Mauve.’

Hosta, hosta, hosta – where would we (and our slugs and deer) be without hostas? Try planting some of the little bulbs, such as the wee species miniature narcissi, in clumps in front of the hosta or skirt it with a Lewisia or two. With colors running from green to chartreuse to blue-tone, two-tones and gold, hostas demand attention.

Hemerocallis or daylilies offer up dense foliage just when it’s needed the most, as other bulbs die off. Try planting daylilies and daffodils together and watch how they seem to know each other’s innermost needs. Sure, they’re a little messy after the party is over, but I say let the foliage go in the interest of better bulb growth. Besides, you’ll get to replay those party scenes – our omnipresent orange daylily finally finding its match with the 4-inch flowers on the trumpet daffodil ‘Golden Harvest’ or the demure, large cupped ‘Kissproof’ getting a smooch from a pale yellow daylily, such as ‘White Temptation.’

I have yet to meet a Euphorbia that I didn’t like. Sure, there are some such as E. Wulfenii , that refuse to grow taller then my ankle – this is problem, you see, because Wulfy typically reaches to 4 feet. But others, like the fabulous ‘Jade Dragon’ are happily knee high in my garden and stand sentry over a grouping of little bulbs. ‘Jetfire’ and ‘Tete-a-Tete’ both kneel to ‘Jade Dragon.’ Although not a bulb, I couldn’t help but adding the mat-forming sedum, ‘Dragon’s Blood’ to the combination, if only someday to happen upon a meeting of the two dragons.

Cathy Peterson belongs to the Clatsop County Master Gardener Association. “In the Garden” runs weekly in Coast Weekend. Please send comments and gardening news to “In the Garden,” The Daily Astorian, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 or online to peterson@pacifier.com

NPIC answers your pesticide questionsDo you have a question about how to safely use, store, handle or dispose of garden or household pesticides? Or, do you want to learn more about West Nile virus and how to avoid it?

You can find answers at the nation’s official pesticide information center, the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC), which is headquartered at Oregon State University.

NPIC provides objective, science-based pesticide information to the public. The center can be contacted by toll-free telephone, (800) 858-7378, by mail via the internet, npic.orst.edu or by e-mail, npic@ace.orst.edu

The center answers questions about pesticide products, label instructions, potential toxic effects, environmental impacts, alternatives to pesticides and storage and disposal requirements. The NPIC Web site provides links to other pesticide information sites.

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About 2,000 phone calls and 80,000 Web hits come into NPIC per month. You can send pesticide-related questions via the U.S. mail to: NPIC, Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, OSU, Weniger 333, Corvallis, Oregon 97331.

Headquartered in Corvallis, the center is run in cooperation with the EPA.