Hope, like planting bulbs

"Furrows, be glad. Though earth is bare, one more seed is planted there:
Give up your strength the seed to nourish, that in course the flower may flourish.
People, look east and sing today: Love, the rose, is on the way."
--- Eleanor Farjeon

What is it in the heart of a gardener that makes her trust precious bearded iris bulbs to the soil, burying all evidence of their existence, then waiting weeks or months to see if Mother Nature has played a massive joke on her? What makes a potato farmer save the best of the crop, not to eat, but to cut up and re-sow, burying the best evidence of his success, then waiting weeks or months to see if the gamble will pay off in a bumper crop next season?
It's hope, a little crazy for us on the outside looking in. It's hope, a faint glimmer through the long winter when there is nothing else. It's hope, not much, just enough. It's hope, like planting bulbs.