Book of the Month: One Writer’s Garden

        Here’s a book to put at the top of your gift list – for you and anyone who loves gardening, history, American literature, independent women, or the South. Eudora Welty is one of the most revered American writers of the 20th century, and her home in Jackson, Mississippi is now a historical museum visited by pilgrims from all over the world. But when Welty first gave the property to the state in the 1980s, the garden which she had helped her mother plant and tend since the 1920s, and which offered her comfort and literary inspiration for decades, had all but disappeared from neglect.
        This book is the story of the rediscovery and restoration of that garden, guided by author Susan Haltom and based mostly on family photographs, old letters, and Welty’s memory. What makes the book truly outstanding, though, is the way Haltom and co-author Jane Roy Brown integrate the story of the Welty garden into the broader social history of gardening and America – street-car suburbs, garden clubs, civic beautification, Progressivism, the conservation movement, and so on – and illuminate the many connections between Welty’s gardening and her writing. It’s also an especially attractive book, with big, full-color shots of the restored garden interspersed with a wide array of old photographs and historic images from books, magazines, and seed catalogs. We’re proud that many of our historic bulbs grow today in the Welty garden (Susan even thanks us in her acknowledgements), but even if they didn’t I’d be telling you this is a book you don’t want to miss! (Nov. 2011)

Got Drought? Bulbs Are Built for It

        Our condolences to you if you’re one of the millions of gardeners suffering through the drought that’s afflicted huge swaths of the country this summer. (And our hearts go out to the farmers who are already facing billions of dollars in losses.) It may be small consolation, but bulbs are one of Nature’s clever ways for hanging on to a back-up supply of moisture, safe underground, and surviving when there’s no rain for days and days on end. They have their limits, of course, but when the drought finally breaks, you’ll probably find that your bulbs recover better than most plants. Here’s hoping that’s soon. (Aug. 2011)

Book of the Month: Bill and Greg’s New Heirloom Gardening in the South

        North, south, east, west – no matter where you garden, if you like heirloom flowers, you’ll want this book. Our friends Bill Welch and Greg Grant have been growing and championing heirloom plants for decades. Their 1995 The Southern Heirloom Garden became an instant classic, and although this new book is based on that landmark publication, it’s different enough to warrant the new title. Chapters on the garden influences of various ethnic groups – Native Americans, Africans, Germans, etc. – have been completely rewritten, and many new chapters have been added, including ones on naturalizing bulbs, traditional ways to multiply plants, heirloom fruits, and “Natives, Invasives, Cemeteries, and Rustling.”
        It’s a hefty book at 537 pages, and nearly 350 of those are devoted to an encyclopedia of heirloom plants for the South. Some entries – such as the one for snowflakes – are pretty much identical to what originally appeared in The Southern Heirloom Garden, but others – such as the five pages on lilies – are completely new. Following the final entry (Zizyphus jujuba, with a recipe for jujube butter) comes one of the book’s best parts, “How Our Gardens Grew,” in which Bill and Greg tell the very personal stories of their own gardens. Don’t miss it.
        The book is list-priced at $29.95, but Amazon is offering it for just $19.77 – less than I paid last weekend for two flats of annuals that will be dead by Thanksgiving. No matter how you do the math, this extraordinary book belongs on your bookshelf. (May 2011)

Garden Artist Embraces Heirloom Glads

        Like most artists, Atlanta-area garden designer Ryan Gainey has a keen eye for beauty and a creative spirit that won’t be bound by convention. He even likes gladiolus! In fact, he wrote a whole article about them, “So Glad,” for Flower magazine. As he explains, “my great-grandmothers and my Aunt Marie grew gladiolus” and he did too when he started gardening in the 1960s. ‘Spic and Span’ was an early favorite, and when 40 years later he found it in our catalog, he was “swept away by a wave of nostalgia.” Since then he’s added many other heirloom varieties to his garden, including the rare parrot glad, an old Southern form of G. dalenii.
        Our readers can receive a special discounted subscription to Flower – four quarterly issues for $14.99 – by going to flowermag.com/subscribe and entering the source code, GLAD. Enjoy! (Feb. 2011)

Book of the Month: Laughing and Learning with Greg Grant

        For about 11 cents a piece, you can enjoy 54 essays by one of the smartest – and funniest – gardeners I know, Greg Grant. If you’ve ever heard Greg speak, or read his modern classic The Southern Heirloom Garden (co-authored with Bill Welch), you know how laugh-out-loud funny he can be. But he’s a world-class horticulturist, too. His new book, In Greg’s Garden: A Pineywoods Perspective on Gardening, Nature and Family gathers together the first nine years of his columns from Texas Gardener magazine. Topics range from “Heirloom Bulbs” and “The Lure of Nocturnal Flowers” to “Confessions of a Plant Rustler” and “White Trash Gardening.” Most are engagingly personal, and though they’re Texas focused I think any gardener anywhere will find them well worth reading.
        The price is amazing, too: $5.95. But here’s the wrinkle: the book is only being published electronically. Don’t panic, though. If – like Greg and I – you don’t own an e-book reader, it’s easy to download the book to your computer at Amazon. Our easy instructions will guide you. (Oct. 2010)

Southern Living's “10 Best Plants for Fall Planting”

        “Order from oldhousegardens.com” – that's what Southern Living's senior garden writer Steve Bender recommends for all three bulbs on his recent “10 Best Plants for Fall” list. He calls Spanish bluebell “the best spring bulb no one seems to know about. It stands 15-20 inches tall, loves our climate, and spreads steadily into glorious sweeps. It comes in white and pink, but blue ‘Excelsior’ [the form we sell] is my favorite.” Steve also praises red spider lily and surprise lily. Both “send up foliage in the fall which remains through spring and then disappears. In August and September, spikes of flowers standing anywhere from 18-30 inches tall appear seemingly overnight without leaves. Both are easy to grow, spread into drifts, and last for generations.” (Sept. 2010)

A Tulip for Houston: T. clusiana “Officially a Success!”

        Our good customer Dawn Anderson of zone-8/9 Missouri City, Texas, emailed us recently:
        “Thank you, thank you, thank you for recommending T. clusiana! We usually grow tulips as annuals down here [southwest of Houston] by putting them in the fridge for a few weeks before we plant them. But these beautiful plants do not need to be babied here. They bloomed for a second time this spring, so I am officially calling them a success, especially since each bulb had doubled. Their cheerful blooms were simply joyous. I’m wondering, can I wait for them to multiply more to share with my mom, or will I have to give in and order some especially for her? (I’m not sure I want to share what I have!)” (Sept. 2010)

Four Favorites for Hilton Head and Points South

        “Despite being housed in Michigan, Old House Gardens offers more heat-loving heirlooms than anyone else,” wrote Betsy Jukofsky recently in Hilton Head’s Island Packet. She grows many of our daffodils and reports that “‘Avalanche’ is a favorite as is ‘Sweetness’, . . . the ‘best daffodil for the South.’ Its fragrance is the sweetest.
        “I know now that there is more than one grape hyacinth variety. I originally planted the standard that flowered well for only one season. Old House Gardens has Southern grape hyacinth that will repeat for years.
        “I made a mental note last January to be sure to write a paragraph about snowflakes [Leucojum]. These, not from the sky but the ground, look like little pure white bells. . . . Each year these beautiful flowers produce more stems. They were planted about 20 years ago, require no care and, unusual for bulbs, tolerate wet conditions.” (Oct. 2009)

A Glimpse from 1810: Bulbs in South Carolina

        In the Rare Books Library of the Missouri Botanical Garden, our friend Sara Van Beck tracked down a fascinating booklet titled Catalogue of Plants in the Botanick Garden of South-Carolina. Published in Charleston in 1810, it lists 494 plants, including these 25 ornamental bulbous ones (along with garlic and leeks). Though we wouldn’t recommend all of them for Southern gardeners today, the list offers a rare glimpse into the past.
        Arum, esculent; Indian kale, Arum esculentum [probably Colocasia esculenta]
        Asphodel lily, Crinum americanum
        Atamasco lily, Amaryllis atamasco [= Zephyranthes atamasco]
        Corn-flag, common, Gladiolus communis [most likely G. byzantinus]
        Crocus, Crocus sativus [also listed as Saffron]
        Crown imperial, Fritillaria imperialis
        Daffodil, Narcissus poeticus [see also Jonquil and Polyanthes]
        Day-lily, Hemerocallis flava
        Flag, German, Iris germanica [= all bearded iris]
        Flag, Virginian, Iris virginica
        Four-o’clock flower, Marvel of Peru, Mirabilis jalapa
        Hyacinth, garden, Hyacinthus orientalis [= all hyacinths]
        Jonquil, Narcissus jonquilla [see also Daffodil and Polyanthes]
        Indian kale, three-leaved, Arum triphyllum [= Arisaema triphyllum, jack-in-the-pulpit]
        Indian reed, Canna indica
        Lily, Canadian, Lilium canadense
        Lily, Guernsey, Amaryllis sarniensis [= Nerine sarniensis]
        Lily, Jacob’s, Amaryllis formosissima [= Sprekelia formosissima]
        Lily, white, Lilium candidum
        Paeony, Paeonia tenuifolia [= fern-leaf peony]
        Polyanthes, Narcissus tazetta [see also Daffodil and Jonquil]
        Squill, officinal, Scilla maritima [= Urginea maritime]
        Tuberose, Polyanthes tuberose
        Tulip, common garden, Tulipa gesneriana [= all standard garden tulips]
        Wake-robin, Arum maculatum [= lords-and-ladies, cuckoo-pint]
        (Sept. 2009)

Ryan Gainey’s Tips for Canna indica

        Romantic garden designer Ryan Gainey calls us every now and then with tips, requests, and reports on what’s looking especially good in his garden. Our Canna indica was at the top of his list when we talked last month. He calls it by its old name, Indian shot (the round black seeds are as hard as buckshot), and says the big clump of it in his Georgia garden looks even better now that he’s planted chartreuse ‘Limelight’ hydrangea and yellow ‘Hyperion’ daylily alongside it.
        Indica looks great in bouquets, too, he says, especially when it’s combined with fiery little ‘Atom’ gladiolus. Give that a try, tell us what you think, and we’ll let Mr. Gainey know the next time he calls.

“Martagons Won’t Do Well in Your Zone,” We Said, But . . . .

        Last fall when Master Gardener Linda Cobb of Spartanburg, South Carolina, ordered our martagon lilies, we told her we didn’t recommend them for her zone-7b/8a garden. But Linda loves a challenge, and this past June she wrote us happily:
        “I visited England last year and fell in love with martagon lilies. I rushed home and ordered both the pink and white ones from you. You warned me that they might not grow in my South Carolina garden. But persist I did, and planted, watered, and waited. They came up and bloomed! I planted them in my shade garden because our shade is like the rest of the country’s sun. My soil is red clay but I amended it with 1/3 compost or peat moss and 1/3 sand which I’ve found works well in South Carolina.
        “Now we wait to see if they come back next year. But in the meantime, I am so happy I was able to grow them in my own little English garden in South Carolina.” (July 2009)

‘Little Beeswings’ Earns Rave Reviews in South Carolina

        ‘Little Beeswings’ has been added to our list of dahlias that thrive in Southern heat, too, thanks to our good customer Miranda Hein of zone-8a North Augusta, SC. She writes: “I’m originally from Washington state and I LOVE my dahlias. I was advised not to grow them here, but couldn’t resist. The first year I planted ‘Little Beeswings’ and ‘Claire de Lune’ in my backyard, but they were not happy. So last year I put them on my back deck in whiskey barrel tubs, and they were beautiful! ‘Little Beeswings’ absolutely astounded me. It bloomed for ages, tons of flowers, and, let me tell you, my back deck faces south and is absolutely incinerated from sun-up till sundown. What an impressive little flower in every way!” (Mar. 2009)

Dahlias in Florida (and Another Sniff of Abyssinian Glads)

        Our friend Jonathan Lubar reports “great luck” growing our old dahlias in his “trial bulb garden” at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in zone-8 Gainesville, Florida. Those doing especially well this year were ‘Yellow Gem’, ‘Willo Violet’, and ‘Thomas Edison’.
        “I followed some recommendations from your Dahlias for the South page,” he writes, “heavy mulch, etc. They limped through the hot summer but took off in fall and are still blooming [Nov. 1]. ‘Tom Edison’ is an impressive monster!”
        As for Abyssinian glads, Jonathan adds this to our ongoing discussion: “I think they smell like four o’clocks (somewhat citrus flower-scented).” (Nov. 2008)

Black Beauty Lilies Thrive in Zone-8 Florida

        Our good customer Judy Little of Cantonment, Florida, writes:
        “When I ordered your ‘Black Beauty’ lilies a few years ago, you warned me that they might not do well in my zone-8 garden. They have done fantastic! Now I can't wait to try the new lilies I’m ordering. Thanks!” (late Oct. 2008)

Another Southern Voter for ‘Gravetye Giant’ Snowflakes

        Our long-time customer Peter Schaar of Dallas writes:
        “I’ll second Richard Devine’s praise of Leucojum aestivum ‘Gravetye Giant’ for hot, stressful climates. Mine that I got from you have been my most reliable and productive spring bulbs, reliably blooming in late February regardless of the weather. Hooray for GG!” (Oct. 2008)

Tulipa clusiana Returns Happily for Mississippi Gardener

        Our good friend Felder Rushing shared this email with us from one of his Mississippi Public Radio show listeners, Karen Lee:
        “A few years ago you had a fella on the show from Old House Gardens with news about his having procured some clusiana tulip bulbs from an old farm in the Netherlands. Well, I contacted that guy and bought some. This is their second spring here in my [zone 7b-8a] Alcorn County garden. I think they love it. My neighbor and I say they look like a raspberry parfait.” (Sept. 2008)

Spring Starts with Stinky Narcissus

        Spring has sprung for many of you (we’re jealous!), and your tazettas may already be blooming. These cluster-flowered narcissus include paperwhites which are often forced on pebbles for winter bloom. Some gardeners love their rich fragrance, and others can’t stand it.
        Our California friend and tazetta expert, Bill Welch, explains, “About a quarter of the population cannot stand the scent of paperwhites, and that has poisoned their attitude towards the tazettas as a whole. Someone I know was doing a study of the chemical components of fragrance in various flowers, and he found that paperwhites had a lot more indole in them than other tazettas. Then he told me that indole is the same chemical given off by E. coli! Of course I don’t usually mention this to people who like paperwhites and ask if the others ‘smell as good’”!
        On the other side of the fence, our Texas friend, Greg Grant, writes: “I love the smell of all narcissus including paperwhites. Living on a farm however, the ‘manure’ tinge doesn’t affect me, I guess. Not everybody thinks it smells like manure. A new gardener I worked with said, ‘Ooh, smells like pee pee!’ The general rule is the more yellow in the flower (cups or petals) the better the scent (inherited from Narcissus tazetta orientalis) and the more white, the more ‘manure’ the scent (inherited from N. papyraceous).” (Feb. 2008)

Campernelles and Heaven

        Known since colonial days as the “large jonquil,” Campernelle narcissus are memorably fragrant — as our good customer Jan Ayers of Plano, Texas, makes clear:
        “When I saw the Campernelles you offer, I knew I had rediscovered my first childhood love! We had a whole row of those in our yard. I believe that if I can smell them as I die, I’ll go straight to heaven.” (Aug 2007)

Rain Lilies for Elizabeth Lawrence’s Grave

        This past May we were proud to be a small part of a ceremony honoring Elizabeth Lawrence, patron saint of Southern gardening and one of America’s most revered garden writers. At the 25th annual meeting of the Southern Garden History Society, members made a pilgrimage to Lawrence’s unadorned grave in a colonial churchyard outside Annapolis where they planted white rain lilies we had donated for the occasion.
        Lawrence grew these tiny flowers and wrote about them in her classic A Southern Garden. In the right spot, they multiply happily into a permanent, ever more beautiful display. With Miss Lawrence looking on, we’re sure these will thrive.
        Efforts are currently underway to save Lawrence’s house and garden in Charlotte, NC. To learn more or help, visit www.elizabethlawrence.org. (July 2007)

“Mardi Gras Lilies” Lead Spring’s Parade

        “Mardi Gras lilies are nodding in the warm breeze,” Bill Finch wrote in the Mobile Press-Register February 2, giving a new name to a very old jonquil.
        “I can’t remember a Joe Cain Day when the Campernelle daffodils weren’t nodding in the wind — which is why they are our own special Mardi Gras lilies. As is the case throughout the South, the blooming of the Campernelles is a signal that spring has just begun.” (June 2007)

Cannas in Colonial Williamsburg

        Though cannas may seem flamboyantly modern, these New World natives were pictured in John Gerard’s Herbal of 1597, and in 1735 Peter Collinson of London wrote to his friend and fellow plant-collector John Custis of colonial Williamsburg:
        “The seed you Call Indian frill Wee call Cana Indica or Wild Plaintain or Bonana from some Resemblance in the Leafe. With us it is perannuall by secureing the Roots from the Frost & Comes up Ev’ry Spring.” (March 2007)

Virginia Customer Awed by our TRUE Byzantine Glads

        Our fall-planted Bulb of the Year is NOT your ordinary glad. For a start, it’s perennial through zone 6, and we have true stock! Our good customer Tamara Bastone of Chesapeake, Virginia, writes:
        “Yes, without a doubt your Byzantine glad is the real thing and worth every penny to boot! I ordered one last fall and when it bloomed alongside of the other Byzantines I had grown for years (of course thinking they were the ‘real’ thing but wondering why they didn’t look like the ones in English gardens), I was in awe of its beauty. The color is a deep magenta and it is taller and sturdier. Plus, it’s a good investment for it will multiply over the years. Trust me, you are the only ones offering the ‘real’ thing. Thank you!” (Sept. 2006)

Gulf Coast Expert Surprised: Heirloom Tulip Thrives in Mobile

        Bill Finch, Mobile’s garden guru and environmental editor of the Press-Register, reported recently:
        “I had given up on any form of tulips for Mobile, until Scott beat me over the head with Old House Gardens’ selection of the old-fashioned ‘candy-striped’ species tulip, Tulipa clusiana. I’d tried various strains of this tulip before, without much success, and so gratuitously threw a few of Scott’s candy-stripers into some poor dry soil at the corner of my yard. I figured maybe my wife would get a brief kick out of them. Now I’m kicking myself that I didn’t start planting candy-stripe tulips years ago. They’ve come bursting out of the ground three springs in a row, each year better than the last.
        In an email to us, Bill added: “Yes, I really do think your clusianas are pretty solid for sharply drained, humus-poor, sandy soil in at least upper zone 9A south. And they really have had a trial by fire here: much warmer than normal winters, hot springs, and (until this year) wetter than normal summers. In the past, I believe I must have trialed one or more of the chrysantha types, perhaps ‘Cynthia’. [Ed. note: These are clusiana cousins with yellow or cream and red blooms.] I don’t believe I ever had one survive the second summer, and lost most the first.” (Aug. 2006)

Mobile’s Favorite Gardener Lauds Our Freesia and More

        Bill Finch, Mobile’s garden guru and environmental editor of the Press-Register, reported recently that he has had excellent results with our antique Freesia alba (which we usually recommend for dry-summer/Mediterranean-climate gardens only), Byzantine gladiolus, Spanish bluebells, true Tulipa clusiana, and the Narcissus he calls our “Gulf Coast All-Stars:” ‘Grand Primo’, ‘Campernelle’, ‘Carlton’, ‘Sweetness’, ‘Avalanche’, ‘St. Keverne’, and ‘Thalia’. (Aug. 2006)

When Bi-Color Dahlias Aren’t: Blame the Heat

        If your purple and white ‘Deuil du Roi Albert’ is completely purple, or your silver-tipped ‘Princess de Suede’ has lost its silver, chances are it’s been hot lately. Bi-color dahlias normally vary a bit from bloom to bloom, but when the temperature goes up the varying can get extreme. In our trial garden we’ve seen blooms on a single plant of ‘Deuil du’ that are almost all white next to some that are completely purple.
        If you watch your dahlias closely, you’ll find that the colors of many of them vary as temperatures rise and fall through the growing season. Sunset-colored ‘Arab Queen’, for example, is often much more yellow when it’s hot, and ‘Kaiser Wilhelm’ shows more of its rosy shading when fall brings cooler temepratures.
        High temperatures often cause dahlias to slow their growth, too, but don’t worry. They’ll kick back into gear as temperatures cool and reward you with arm-loads of blooms in the fall. (July 2006)

Mississippi Expert Says: For Tough Southern Daffs, Start with St. Keverne

        Mississippi daffodil expert Ted Snazelle writing in the March 2006 edition of the American Daffodil Society’s Daffodil Journal had this advice for modern hybridizers:
        “Where does a Southerner begin in hybridizing daffodil reverse bicolors which are both resistant to the narcissus basal rot fungus [common in the South] and also of exhibition quality? I think one should look to cultivars which have ‘St. Keverne’ (1934, 2 Y-Y) in their pedigree or to ‘St. Keverne’ itself. ‘St. Keverne’ was used in hybridizing by the late Barbara Frye of Rosewarne because ‘many of the progeny acquired valuable basal rot resistance, upright bud, and good stem.’” (June 2006)

Schoolhouse Lilies and Surviving Katrina

        Our good customer Nancye Renihan of Fairhope, AL, writes:
        “I dug clumps of red spider lilies from my mother’s yard in Bay St. Louis, some of which had come from her mother’s yard. Whenever they pop up in my yard now, I think of the first day of school. We used to pick them for our teachers. Mom’s house was washed away by Katrina, but her spider lilies bloomed amid the rubble.” (2006-07 catalog)

More Success with Dahlias in the South

        Here’s some more good news about growing dahlias where it’s HOT from our good customer Della Smith: “One of your ‘Bishop of Llandaffs’ is alive and well in zone-9 Houston, Texas! My daughter, who is a Master Gardener there, has had it return for three years now. She just leaves it in the ground over the winter and in the spring it pops back up. I was there last July, sweat box city, and it was gorgeous. I think that drainage is one of the keys for success there. It is planted in a raised bed.”
        And Judy Blackwell of zone-7 Benton, Arkansas, wrote to say: “Dahlias thrive in my yard, so much so that when I inadvertently threw some away when cleaning out pots in the fall and they ended up in a nearby drainage ditch, they grew the following spring. No fertilizer, no mulch, no nothing. They bloomed all season.” (Editor’s note: Naturally we don’t recommend this technique!) (March 2006)

Farewell to Flora Ann Bynum

        Many of us who love historic gardens were broken-hearted when we learned of the death on March 17 of Flora Ann Bynum. One of the warmest, most genuine people you could ever hope to meet, Flora Ann was devoted to her family and a wide circle of friends in historic Old Salem, NC, as well as in the Southern Garden History Society and all across the country. She founded and worked tirelessly for decades leading the SGHS and landscape-preservation efforts in Old Salem. She had a special affection for Roman hyacinths, making herself the country’s leading expert on these all-but-lost Southern heirlooms, and her big, old-fashioned garden on Main Street became a local landmark. The garden history community has lost one of its brightest lights, the world has lost an amazing human being, and we have lost a good friend who we will miss forever. (March 2006)

Tips for Growing Dahlias Where It’s HOT

        Dahlias, we’ve always said, like it cool. They bloom best in the fall, they come originally from high mountain plateaus in Mexico, and they’re great favorites in northern states like Minnesota. So for years we warned gardeners in the Deep South and other hot areas to avoid them.
        But our customers are constantly teaching us (thanks!), and we’ve learned that you can have great success with dahlias where it’s hot as long as you follow a few simple rules. For tips from five of our customers, including expert John Kreiner of the Dahlia Society of Georgia, click here. (Mar 2006)

Garden Design’s “Way Hot 100” Includes Three of Our Bulbs

        Every year in March, Garden Design magazine names their “Way Hot 100.” These are, editor Jenny Andrews says, “insiders’ top picks . . . , what designers and avid gardeners are wild about this spring.” Many are brand new, but of the eleven bulbs listed we’re proud that three are heirlooms we offer:
        Formosa lily: “This heirloom bulb is back in vogue,” and Jenny praises its rich fragrance.
        Red spider lily, Lycoris radiata: Its “sea-urchin-like flowers” are showcased in a full-page photo. (Please note that we recommend it for zones 7-10 only).
        Tulipa clusiana: “One of the few tulips that will perennialize (especially in the South), thriving in dry soils.” (We offer the hard-to-find, original, red-and-white T. clusiana.) (March 2006)

Newsletter Special: Parrot Gladiolus, Rare African Wildflower

        Don’t delay! It’s been years since we’ve had enough of this rare glad to offer it, and we expect the handful of corms we have will sell out in a flash.
        The parrot gladiolus was the first African glad to reach American gardens way back in the early 1800s, and though it has long disappeared from commerce it can still be found in old Southern cottage gardens. Small-flowered and bright, this rare wildflower will add an exotic touch to any garden, and it’s hardy through zone 7 at least. (Feb. 2006)

Felder Reports: Hurricane Lilies Light Up Katrina-Browned Mississippi

        Our friend Felder Rushing (www.felderrushing.net) emailed us recently:
        “The hurricane lilies (aka red spider lilies, Lycoris radiata) were outstanding in September and into October, in many cases the ONLY color in the landscapes. The Gulf Coast of Mississippi was eerily brown. The sustained winds, salt spray, and 20-foot surge wave that went over two miles inland in some places turned EVERYTHING a uniform sepia, like an old post card, including live oaks and pines to ligustrum, azaleas, hollies, ivy and everything else evergreen (even the aspidistra, liriope, and ivy). But because of the wind-induced hormone stress, all the spring flowering trees (Asian magnolias, flowering pears, etc.) were in full bloom. And then there were all the red lycoris popping up through the debris.” (Dec. 2005)

Hurricane-Ravaged Historic Sites Need Our Help, Too

        The Gulf Coast is rich in history, and hundreds of historic buildings and gardens were devastated by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. To help, please join us in making a contribution to the Hurricane Relief Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. To learn more, click here. (Sept. 2005)

Hot and Dry? Try These Daffodils!

        When the American Daffodil Society met in Dallas a couple of years ago, our friend Phil Huey gave a talk on daffodils for public plantings. Varieties he recommended as thriving in warm climates even without irrigation included our Erlicheer, Grand Primo, and Trevithian, along with heirloom February Gold, Fortune, Golden Dawn, Ice Follies, and Peeping Tom, and modern Dik Dik, Eclat, High Note, Pink Declaration, Pipit, Quail, and White Magnolia. (Sept. 2005)

        Many of our Southern friends have snapped up the new Daffodils in Florida book which is based on the life’s work of the late John Van Beck. John was a great friend of ours and of historic daffodils. He tested hundreds of varieties in zone 8b Tallahassee to discover those that did best in what he called the Spanish Moss Belt where modern, mainstream cultivars often fail. Here are ones John recommended to us before he died in 2001, with a few additions from the book itself. Most should thrive throughout the South.
        John Van Beck’s Very Best for Zone 8b: Avalanche, Carlton, Dick Wellband (needs shade), Early Pearl, Erlicheer, Geranium, Grand Primo, N. jonquilla Early Louisiana, Mrs. Backhouse (needs shade), Tenby, Texas Star, Thalia (needs shade), Sweetness, Trevithian.
        Other Excellent Performers: Butter and Eggs (needs shade), Campernelle, Double Campernelle, Orange Phoenix [currently unavailable], N. pseudonarcissus (Lent lily), Queen of the North (despite its name!), St. Keverne, and Van Sion.
        Another challenging area for bulbs is the arid Southwest. Our friend Mary Peace Douglas who gardens in Tucson and Sonoita, Arizona, has been growing our bulbs since 1997. She reports great success with Avalanche, Conspicuus, Double Campernelle, Grand Primo, N. jonquilla Early Louisiana, and White Lady. If you’re in the Southwest, you might want to give some of these a try as well! (June 2005)

“Stunning” and “Profuse” in Mae’s California Garden

        Our long-time customer Mae Hoag of Orinda, California, writes of a new favorite and two old friends that just keep going and going:
        “What a beautiful flower ‘Red Devon’ is! I think it is my favorite of all. The deep orange on the outer edge of the cup softening to yellow closer to the perianth is truly stunning. The Campernelles and Early Louisiana jonquils I bought from you many years ago are still blooming profusely, too. Thank you!” (2005 catalog)

Watch for Our Tuberoses at Mount Vernon and the National Arboretum

        Our ravishingly fragrant 2004 Spring-Planted Heirloom Bulb of the Year continues to gain converts. This spring we delivered bulbs of ‘Mexican Single’ tuberose to both Mount Vernon, where it is historically appropriate, having been grown in America since colonial days, and the US National Arboretum in Washington, DC. We’re honored! (April 2005)

‘Vuurbaak’ Hyacinths Wow Them in Fort Worth

        Our good customer Steve Leahy of Fort Worth wrote recently:
        “I just had to tell you that your ‘Vuurbaak’ hyacinths are probably the most beautiful of any hyacinth that I have ever seen. They’re blooming now and couldn’t look better. I still have several other varieties just coming up, so I’m excited and eager to see them as well. Is your limit on the ‘Vuurbaaks’ still 50? Too bad if it is; I want to order at least 100 more of them for next year!” (March 2005)

Erna Says, “Plant Some Tuberoses This Spring!”

        Our good customer Erna Hassebrock of Hot Springs, Arkansas, writes:
        “I was very pleased with your ‘Mexican Single’ tuberoses. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the folks who produce those fabric softener sheets could copy this delightful fragrance? I smelled it every time I went to the back of the yard and again when I returned. Thanks, thanks, thanks! I am old enough not to get very excited about plants but this one really surprised me and fulfilled its description.” (Mar. 2005)

Pink Roman Hyacinths Smell Like Cinnamon Candy

        Scott has a pot of pink Roman hyacinths blooming on his desk right now. The dainty flowers are graceful and charming, but what’s really fantastic is their fragrance. It started light and springy but then deepened into rich cinnamon or cloves, like the most potent pinks (Dianthus). Wow! (Feb. 2005)

New Daffodils in Florida: A Field Guide to the Costal South

        Daffodils in Florida? You betcha! Self-published by our friends Linda and Sara Van Beck, this exciting new book is, as Scott says on the back cover of it, “a friendly, knowing guide” for gardeners in the Deep South, especially zones 8b-9a, who have been “disappointed by daffodil duds while longing for – and wondering about – the hosts of nameless daffodils thriving without care in old gardens and abandoned places.” The Van Becks are passionate amateurs whose advice and lists of recommended varieties are based on years of research in Florida gardens. This is no slick coffee-table book but a labor of love for everyone who “loves daffodils and the tough, gorgeous, traditional flowers of the South.” (Jan. 2005)

Did You Know Fragrant Tuberoses Make Great Cut Flowers?

        Our good customer Judy Sanders of Montgomery, Texas, writes:
        “I cut several stems of tuberose and they lasted a full two weeks in the house. Every few days I’d trim a bit off the stems and refresh the water. And, as outside, the fragrance was stronger in the early evenings. We really enjoy this bulb!”
        Big bunches of freshly-cut tuberoses are sold today in Mexican street markets, as they probably were in Aztec street markets long ago. Plant your own this spring and you can enjoy a fragrance prized by gardeners for a thousand years. (Jan. 2005)

Eudora Welty’s Garden Restored with Our Heirlooms

        Roman hyacinths, ‘Twin Sisters’, and other classic Southern bulbs are blooming again in the Jackson, Mississippi, garden of author Eudora Welty – and we helped! The garden opened to the public this past spring after a careful restoration led by landscape historian Susan Haltom who turned to us for authentic bulbs.
        Our customer and friend Jeannette Hardy writes in the Nov.-Dec. 2004 issue of Horticulture: “If you go to the garden on Pinehurst Street, brace yourself for a primer on the native and heirloom plants that dominate Mississippi’s landscape. There are camellias of every stripe, banana shrub and other fragrant plants, along with bulbs galore – daffodils, spider lilies, silver bells, and hundreds of other favorites that planted Welty’s writings into the tough soil of the Deep South.”
        To learn more, visit mdah.state.ms.us/welty/index.html. (Dec. 2004)

Protecting Your Plants from Armadillos

        Our creative customer Sharon Black of Paris, Texas, writes:
        “I finally found a solution for armadillos. In the spring, I place what we Southerners call hog wire on top of the prepared soil in my beds. This wire is constructed with 4 x 4 inch square openings and can be cut to fit with wire cutters. I place decorative flat stones over the edges of the wire. Most annuals do OK when one is planted in each square. For larger plants, I just skip a square. Once the plants grow a little, the wire can’t be seen or it can be covered with mulch right after planting. The ‘dillos can’t break the wire that is between the plants and soon get frustrated and give up.” (April 2004)

No Joke: Kind Words from Felder Rushing

        Felder Rushing, horticultural demi-god, garden comedian, and author of Passalong Plants and other great books, stopped by to see us last summer. Recently he emailed us:
        “When I talk about places to start shopping for tough plants and passalongs, I wave around three catalogs and I give out three web addresses: yours (Old House Gardens) Mike Shoup’s (Antique Rose Emporium), and Kent Whealey’s (Seed Savers). I mention that y’all have three things in common: a love of plants that goes beyond the pale, networking with other hardcore plantsmen, and sharing both plants and what you learn.”
        We love you, too, Felder! (March 2004)

Excellent New Book: Bulbs for Warm Climates

        Thad Howard of Texas has spent 45 years collecting and growing bulbs that like it HOT. His encyclopedic Bulbs for Warm Climates is a terrific, scholarly companion for one of our all-time best-selling books, Scott Ogden’s Garden Bulbs for the South. Read them both before it’s hot again! (Jan. 2004)

Mobile’s Bill Finch Lauds OHG and Daffodils for Zone 8/9

        Bill is the environmental editor for the Mobile Press-Register, and after reading one of his articles you’ll probably wish he wrote for your local paper. Recently he wrote, “Let me remind you where you’re most likely to find the bulbs that grow well in our climate: Old House Gardens.” Then he listed the daffodils he has found most reliable in his zone 9 garden. His top three are ‘Campernelle’, ‘Carlton’, and ‘Grand Monarque’ [currently unavailable], and he also highly recommends ‘Trevithian’, ‘Sweetness’, Lent lily (N. pseudonarcissus), ‘Avalanche’, ‘Thalia’, and ‘Early Louisiana’ jonquil. (Dec. 2003)

Good News – Louisiana’s Old Dickory is Saved!

        The centuries-old live oak that we told you a couple of months ago was threatened by a highway project has been saved, thanks to an outpouring of support sparked by our good customer Coleen Perriloux Landry. The great old tree and its surrounding land have been donated to the local government, and three projects that would have fatally damaged it have been redesigned to protect it. Click here and scroll down the page for a photo and more info, and be sure to read the editorial from the New Orleans Times-Picayune, too. Who says one person can’t make a difference?! Thanks, Coleen, for the inspiration, and for saving this VERY historic plant. (July 2003)

Byzantine Glads Take Jim Back to Texas in the Fifties

       Our good customer Jim Massey of Moncure, NC, writes:
        “Your Gladiolus byzantinus were spectacular this spring – just like being in my grandmother’s garden in Mart, Texas, in the 1950s. I had bought this plant a dozen times from as many sources searching for the true old variety. They are worth the price and more!” (2003-04 catalog)

Kind Words from Williamsburg

        Our good customer Wesley Greene of Colonial Williamsburg, VA, writes:
        “We are thrilled to be able to include your heirloom bulbs in the demonstration beds at the Colonial Garden. They were a great fascination to our visitors last year, and we frequently recommend your website to interested visitors. Your company is a wonderful resource.” (2003-04 catalog)

OHG Customer Protects 800-Year-Old Live Oak

        When an 800-year-old live oak is threatened by a $6-million highway extension, what do you do? Well, if you’re Coleen Perilloux Landry of Metairie, LA, you call local officials and even the governor, alert the media, organize volunteer crews to clean up the woods surrounding it, and speak eloquently about the value of a living giant that was already old when La Salle claimed the Mississippi Valley for Louis XIV in 1682. Thanks to Coleen’s efforts, the DOT is now studying alternative plans for re-routing the project and saving “Old Dickory.” Yea, Coleen! For a 14-state registry of ancient live oaks, visit the Live Oak Society website at www.louisianagardenclubs.org/live_oak_society/about.html. (March 2003)

Garden-Bubba Felder Rushing Visits, Writes About Us

        Felder Rushing is one of the funniest guys in horticulture, and passionate about getting more people to have more fun gardening. We’re proud to call him a friend. Felder visited us here last month, picked our brains for his NEW edition of Passalong Plants, and then wrote about us for the Jackson, Mississippi, Clarion-Ledger. If you missed his column there, you can enjoy it here: oldhousegardens.com/felderRushing.asp. (March 2003)

First Blooms of Spring: Our Southern Customers Write

        Many thanks to everyone who shared stories of their first spring bloomers! Here are two from a couple of our favorite Southern gardeners.
        Scott Thigpen of Sumter, SC, wrote: “Having grown up in Florida where we really don’t have a spring bloom, I get so excited when I see the first daffodils blooming here. They are usually our first change from brown and dead to color and life.” The earliest – starting February 1 this year – is “an abundant stand of small yellow daffodils” naturalized from an old homesite. These are N. pseudonarcissus, often known as the Lent lily and cherished since colonial days.
        Doug Ruhren of Belmont, NC, has flowers blooming all winter long, but he also wrote of the Lent lily: “I saw the first one yesterday, 2/7/03. It appeared freshly open. The gardens here were started in 1989, but these clearly are from an earlier inhabitant. They are mixed with “Scrambled Eggs” [‘Van Sion’ or ‘Butter and Eggs’] around an ancient Yoshino cherry tree.” (March 2003)

Tips for Success: Too Hot?

        Though your dahlias may have stalled and looked stressed this summer, chances are they will revive in the fall – which is their glory season. They’re native to the highlands of Mexico and like it cool. For best bloom, give them plenty of water and don’t forget to fertilize.
        Glads may grow with kinked stems in extra-hot weather as they sag a bit during the heat of the day – unable to keep their cells full of water – and then grow upright at night. Thrips (tiny sucking insects) may attack your glads when it’s extra hot, too. Insecticidal soap is one mild control.
        Heat affects flower color, too. ‘Black Dragon’ lilies in many areas were pale this year and ‘Green Woodpecker’ [not currently available] glads more yellow due to abnormally high temperatures. Dahlias and other flowers often take on rosier hues as fall weather cools. (Sept. 2002)

In John Van Beck’s Memory, Plant Florida-Loving Daffodils

        OHG and historic daffodils lost a great friend this past year with the passing of John Van Beck, founder of the Florida Daffodil Society. John was full of enthusiasm, humor, deep daffodil knowledge, and a maverick spirit. I’ll miss him a lot.
       John tested hundreds of Narcissus in zone-8b Tallahassee to discover the best ones for “the Spanish Moss Belt” where modern, mainstream cultivars often fail. For those we offer, click here. All will do well throughout most of the South. (2001 catalog)

The Southern Heirloom Garden by Bill Welch and Greg Grant

        I wish we had a book like this for every region in the country. Lively, serious, and beautifully illustrated, it starts with eight chapters, each by a different expert, on how various cultures – Native American, Spanish, French, African-American, and so on — have shaped Southern gardens. The second half is an encyclopedia of Southern heirloom plants, including many bulbs. It’s rich with historical facts, growing advice, and Bill and Greg’s entertaining reminiscences. (1996 catalog)

For articles on other topics, see our main Newsletter Archives page.