“Slow Gardener” Felder Rushing’s Favorite Daylily

        I’ve been reading and savoring Slow Gardening, Felder Rushing’s new book in which he promotes – in his typically humorous, down-to-earth style – a “no-stress philosophy” of gardening that’s meant to help you follow your bliss in the garden and not worry so much about what the experts and your neighbors might say. Felder has always been a big fan of heirloom plants “rescued from the compost heap of fashion,” and in a chapter titled “Plants – The Real Deal” he sings the praises of one of our best-selling daylilies: “My all-time favorite daylily is the old double orange ‘Kwanso’, grown for eons as a nutritious food (more vitamins than broccoli!) and actually mass-planted outside the royal gardens at Kew in London. Though nearly impossible to find in a daylily-society display, it grows for me, you, anybody, anywhere, with absolutely no demands. None.” You don’t have to be a slow gardener to appreciate a plant like that! (Oct. 2011)

Elwes Snowdrop: Sydney and Scott Say Try It (and Save 25%!)

        In a lifetime of gardening, Sydney Eddison has grown thousands of plants and evaluated them all with the eye of an artist. If you haven’t tried the wonderful Elwes snowdrop yet, this description from Eddison’s first book, A Patchwork Garden, might help you see why you should: “[My friend] gave me clumps of giant, early-blooming snowdrops (Galanthus elwesii) with flowers three times the size of the common snowdrop (G. nivalis). The buds are like tiny perfect snow-white eggs. And when they open, the three large outer segments spread apart, revealing a little underskirt patterned with a green hourglass.” (Oct. 2011)

Our Readers Recommend: Great Garden Nail Brushes

        Last month we told you about our favorite brushes for scrubbing dirt-caked fingernails and invited you to tell us about yours. Bob Radtke of Wisconsin shared a tip from his plumber. “He told me to clean my garden fingers by turning on the hose just a little, then spraying my fingertips. All the dirt under your nails gets gently washed away. No need for a nail brush!”
        Janet Fisher of Ann Arbor had another frugal recommendation. “This isn’t very classy,” she wrote, “but it works great for me. I just use old toothbrushes. They don’t last very long but they don’t need to – you’re supposed to change your toothbrush every three months.”
        Laurel Schreiner of Amherst, NY, took that suggestion a step further. “While nail brushes work on the hands and nail edges, I find an old electric water pic really cleans the cuticles and under the nail itself. My hands are then ready for a manicure and polish.”
        “Have I got a nail brush for you!” Pat Stover of Little Rock, AR, emailed us – and when two other readers recommended the same brush, we couldn’t wait to try it. Pat describes it as “perfect, gentle, and extremely effective,” and says that even after years of use “it’s still as good as new.” Sandy O’Rorke of Oregon, IL, and Cindy Brown of Pittsfield, MA, have also used this brush for years. “It’s the best I have found,” Cindy says, “and you can’t beat the price.” It was originally developed as a surgical scrub brush, and versions of it are widely sold as vegetable brushes, but the one Pat, Sandy, and Cindy swear by is sold by Lee Valley Tools. Two of them cost just $1.70, and they come with a money-back guarantee. We’ve been using them for a couple of weeks now, and though Kelly and Josh think they’re great – “the best I’ve ever used,” Josh says – Scott and Vanessa have been less impressed, saying the bristles are too soft to get all the dirt out from under their grubbiest nails. So we can’t guarantee you’ll love it, but it’s definitely worth a try. (Aug. 2011)

Miracle in the Mud: Trashed Bulbs Triumph

        “I can’t believe my eyes,” our good customer Kathryn Armenta of Closter, NJ, emailed us a few days ago. “Last year I had a tree destroyed by a storm. When I had it replaced, all of my Old House Gardens bulbs that were planted around it were accidentally thrown in a pile of garden debris. I just discovered that they came up this year taller and stronger than some other bulbs that I had carefully planted last fall! And some of them were only halfway in the soil!! I’ve told a lot of people about your bulbs but this incident really says it all.”(April 2011)

Best-Selling Author Sends Us “Dahlia Love”

        With “Dahlia Love” as her subject line, Tracy DiSabato-Aust, author of the hugely popular Well-Tended Perennial Garden, sent us this short email last summer: “Gorgeous!!! Loving them.” In a follow-up she added: “Having so much fun with your dahlias! One of my grandfathers who passed away before I was born grew dahlias – maybe some of these same varieties? [‘Andries Orange’, ‘Deuil du Roi Albert’, and ‘Winsome’] Also, so enjoyed your tulips this spring – ‘Peach Blossom’ and ‘Willem van Oranje’ were amazing as cuts. Thanks for enriching our gardens and lives!!!”(April 2011)

Sydney Eddison’s Favorite Iris (Order it Now to Plant in April!)

        “I am no longer a fan of the modern bearded irises which I once lusted after,” Sydney Eddison writes in Gardening for a Lifetime, “because borers always wreak havoc with their foliage, chewing the edges of the leaves and coating them with slime. While the plants rarely die, they look so awful that you wish they would.
        “The species Iris pallida is a different story. Mine came with the house forty-eight years ago and can still be found in other old gardens. I recently saw it for sale in Williamsburg, Virginia, where the historic gardens contain only plants available in colonial times. This old iris can be easily identified by its bloomy blue-green leaves, which stand at attention throughout the season and are seldom ruined by borers. The three-foot flower stalks bear five or six modest blue-violet flowers that have a delicious scent. And after the brief flowering season in May, the foliage usually remains handsome all season.” (March 2011)

How to Love Gardening When Winter Drags On and On

        “February and March are my favorite gardening months,” our good customer Carole Bolton wrote us last week – from snowed-in Coldwater, Michigan, where temperatures were well below freezing and the sun hadn’t been seen for days. Had she lost her mind? Quite the contrary! For years now, Carole has been forcing hyacinths indoors every winter – lots of hyacinths – and this year’s “are especially beautiful,” she wrote. “They’re healthy, tall and fully flowered. They make the freezing rain and weather advisories bearable.”
        To learn how to work magic like that yourself, see our Forcing How-To and our Forcing Newsletter Archives. (March 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)

Bright Spot of the Month: Glad Beauty at Robin’s Library

        Like most gardeners, our good customer Robin Leach loves sharing the joys of her garden – but she does it in a really big way. Last summer she emailed us a few photos saying, “I thought you’d like to see how beautiful your glads look at my library. You can see why our patrons LOVE them!” It turns out that, for almost a decade now, she’s been bringing as many as five big bouquets a week to the library where she works – just for the fun of it. Read her inspiring story here. (Jan. 2011)

Tough Little ‘Gracchus’ Iris Wins Praise from Virginia to Alaska

        Your mother was right. Beauty is more than skin-deep, and that’s true for plants, too. ‘Gracchus’, for example, isn’t an “oh-my-gosh-look-at-that” iris, but it is an exceptional one.
        According to an article in the Historic Iris Preservation Society’s Roots (fall 2000), Schreiner’s Iris, the country’s largest iris nursery, is now working to “reintroduce hardiness, disease resistance, and vigor to modern bearded iris using ‘Gracchus’ as the foundation stock.”
        The strength and vigor of ‘Gracchus’ has also impressed Straea from Somerville, Massachusetts, who writes at DavesGarden.com, “I love ‘Gracchus’! It produces an amazing number of flowers, and they’re on sturdy stems that don’t bend at all in my windy garden despite often having four or five flowers on them. In addition, it bounced back from an iris borer infestation last year with little intervention on my part (all I did was cut off the worst part of the infestation) and is now more vigorous than ever.”
        In Juneau, Alaska, reports Glacierdawg at DavesGarden.com, “‘Gracchus’ has been growing at the Jensen-Olson Arboretum since the property was originally homesteaded in 1904. It blooms well here despite the cool, wet, maritime climate. While no plant is completely maintenance free, this one comes close. A top dressing of compost in late summer and deadheading is all that we do for it.”
        And in Portsmouth, Virginia, “‘Gracchus’ is my husband’s favorite iris in my whole garden of 300+ irises,” writes Homefire, also at DavesGarden.com. “It is a fast grower with many flowers. He always enters it in iris shows and it won Best Historic Iris here in 2007. It was introduced in 1884, so for an iris cultivar to remain in existence with people still growing it that long tells its own story. Highly recommended!” (Dec. 2010)

Amazing ‘Atom’ and Tips for Perennial Glads from Zone-5 Idaho

        Our customers are continuing to report success in over-wintering their glads outside. Daniel Ostenberg, for example, emailed us this past August:
        “I live near Naples, Idaho, 35 miles south of Canada. It’s zone 5. I forgot an ‘Atom’ glad two winters ago while digging the rest of them and it came up the next spring. We did have good snow cover that winter and it wasn’t cold long before it snowed. I do have a neighbor nearby who mulches her glads every fall with six inches of straw and never digs them and she says they do fine. [Idaho’s relatively dry weather and well-drained, alkaline soils probably play a role in this success, too.]
        “Also I saved some little bulblets from my ‘Atom’ last fall and planted them this spring in a container and four out of five of them are blooming. I didn’t think they would bloom the first year.
        “One of the best gardeners I know told me that glads love calcium nitrate but she couldn’t find any. I’m an ex-apple farmer from the East Washington apple country, and I always get calcium nitrate from the ag-supply companies in apple country. I use it on my glads and get it for her for the 1000 glads that she grows. Orchardists use a lot of calcium nitrate. Trees love it.
        “I’m going to leave one each of a few other kinds of glads in the ground this fall and mulch them heavily with straw and see what happens. I’ll let you know next summer how it turns out.” (Dec. 2010)

From North to South, Experts Say “Plant This Peony!”

        For a peony that never flops and blooms happily from zone 4 to 8 (yes, 8!), experts recommend the 1920s classic, ‘Krinkled White’. Elizabeth Lawrence, patron saint of Southern gardening, called it “the king of the singles.” Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery in zone-8a North Carolina says it’s “one of the finest, especially for gardeners in the South,” explaining that it’s “proven to be one of the top low-chill, heat-tolerant, deer-resistant peonies in our trials.” And Joan Severa of zone-4 Wisconsin, Master Gardener and author of Creating a Perennial Garden in the Midwest, says she prefers single peonies because they “hold themselves up and stay fresh-looking better,” adding that “last year I counted 75 blooms on . . . ‘Krinkled White’ which has gorgeous yellow centers and parchment-white petals, charmingly wrinkled.” Why not order one to plant in your garden right now? (Oct. 2010)

Are Martagons and ‘Mrs. B’ Chipmunk Resistant?

        Possibly. Our good friend Nancy McDonald who gardens near Lake Superior in zone-4/5 Grand Marais, Michigan, writes: “The martagon lilies have me grinning widely. They love our climate and soil, apparently, and for some reason the chipmunks don’t eat them – whereas Asiatic and other lilies are nearly as popular with chippies as crocuses. I planted some martagons in 1998 and they’re still going strong. ‘Mrs. Backhouse’ is, too, and she has martagon in her.”
        Nancy also emailed us photos of a beautiful clump of ‘Mrs. Backhouse’ blooming in a wild corner of her garden. Give yourself a treat and take a peek. (Sept. 2010)

Childhood Joy Regained: Crinum in Colorado

        Sometimes you can go home again, at least in the garden. With “Hooray!!!” as her subject line, our good customer Betty Yahn of Aurora, Colorado, emailed us in late July:
        “Despite your warnings that it wouldn’t be easy to grow the milk-and-wine lily here [since it’s not hardy in Aurora], I took a chance and ordered a bulb. This was a duplicate of a crinum that grew behind my grandmother’s bedroom in my Arkansas home. As a child I had loved the fragrance of those blossoms, and the beauty of the trumpet-covered stalks that bloomed all summer. When our family there passed away I desperately tried to coax a bulb out of the ground, but the dirt was hard as a rock, and there was no way I could dig even one out.
        “Years passed and I tried to find out the name of that bulb. I was so excited when its photo showed up in your online catalog. There were dire warnings of no blooms the first year and it would be challenging to grow in a pot, but there have been two stalks covered with trumpets so far, and the fragrance is just as I remembered from 50 years ago. Thank you! I hope there are many who will plant this bulb and enjoy it as much as I do.” (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)

Two Old Daffodils Delight New Customer

        After Donna Jarrow's first bulbs from us bloomed in her zone-7, Palmyra, Virginia garden, she wrote us happily:
        “Your bulbs were the biggest I've seen! 'April Queen' was a real show stopper — HUGE blooms, very strong stems, and it lasted a long time. But, being a purist, nothing is more beautiful to me than my 'Carlton' . . . pure deep yellow daffs. Mine are in one of the hottest parts of the yard and bloom for four weeks MINIMUM. The greens last a very long time, too, which I love.”
        Donna also had some good advice: “I am against braiding the greens or folding them over and using rubbers bands or string to keep them tidy. Sun needs to hit all parts of the leaves so they can suck in as much energy as possible for the following year's booms. People who need NEAT gardens should live in apartments!” (Sept. 2010)

Can Regal Lilies Ease Arthritis Pain?

       “Don’t sub any other flower,” Janet Weymiller wrote on her order for 25 regal lilies, “because my mom uses the petals in an arthritis remedy that really works.” We’re not doctors, but we know that flowers have been used medicinally since ancient times, and Nature is constantly surprising us, so we asked Janet to tell us more.
       “This remedy really does work!” she emailed us. “It doesn’t cure arthritis, of course, but it takes the pain away. My mother grows regal lilies (in her New Albin, Iowa, garden). When they bloom and the petals start to turn brown, she takes them off the plant and cuts them up into chunks. Then she puts the petals into a glass jar and covers them with rubbing alcohol. She lets them sit for one month, drains off the liquid, which turns brown, and rubs the liquid onto the sore arthritic spots.”
       The remedy was suggested to Janet’s mom by a local doctor who learned about it from a patient from Russia. Although we’re intrigued and hope it works, please remember that we are NOT doctors and are NOT endorsing it in any way. (August 2010)

How Winter-Hardy Are Your Glads? Our Readers Report

       Although most experts say gladiolus won’t survive winters north of zone 8, our customers kept telling us that theirs were returning like perennials in zones 7, 6, and even 5. So we asked our readers, “Have your regular glads survived zone-6 or colder winters? And what do you think made that possible?” Many replied (thanks!), and now you can read what they said along with our conclusions at oldhousegardens.com/Hardy-Glads.asp.
       Although warmer, shorter winters are probably the biggest reason why so many glads are surviving in colder zones, other important factors seem to include reliable snow cover, winter mulch, deep planting, good drainage, micro-climates, plenty of sun, and the time-tested vigor of heirlooms. To add your two-cents to the discussion, email charlie@oldhousegardens.com. And if you’d like to experiment with glads as perennials in your own garden, we suggest starting with the tough little one our readers recommended most: ‘Atom’. (August 2010)

Arctic Crinum: One Customer’s Success Story

        We love stories like this. Crinums are usually found in the South – or indoors – and most experts recommend them only for zones 7 and warmer. But don’t we all dream of growing plants that really shouldn’t survive in our gardens? And experimenting is one of the great pleasures of gardening. So we weren’t entirely surprised by this email from our good customer Lynn Falls of zone-5/6 Grand Rapids, Michigan:
        “Received your January newsletter and read about the ‘milk and wine’ crinum. I know the zone says 7b, but I just wanted to let you know I have one that has lived quite happily in Grand Rapids for three years. I cut it down in fall but it doesn’t really die down. The first year it didn’t bloom. The second year I had one flower stalk, and last year I had two stalks of beautiful blooms.
        “It looks exactly like the picture of the one you have for sale, pink and white striped. My sister in northwest Arkansas sent it to me. She received it from her mother-in-law who is in her 90s. This is from a VERY old plant.
        “I have it on the east side of my house near the foundation. These guys are tough, just plant in a protected area. I don’t do anything special to protect it for winter. But I am the wood chip queen, so it has about three inches of wood chips on it.” (June 2010)

Zac Posen Gives Us a Shout-Out At Vogue.com

        For Mother’s Day this year, Vogue.com asked twenty top fashion designers and models – from Vera Wang to Gisele Bundchen – to talk about “the gifts they intend to give or hope to receive.” Our favorite reply came from Zac Posen, the wildly popular Tribeca designer whose “strong, feminine aesthetic has become a favorite of style leaders” such as Kate Winslett, Jennifer Lopez, and Beyonce, and whose off-the-rack collections are currently selling at Target and Saks.
        “I plan to give my mother ‘Madame Chereau’ heirloom iris from Old House Gardens,” Zac wrote. “They are the most sought-after iris of the nineteenth century and have a history of staying alive. I remember when I was younger we had a field of iris, which was beautiful! I want to fill a field with irises for my mother one day.”
        Thanks, Zac! We hope your mom loves them! (June 2010)

Tell Bill and Us: How Winter-Hardy Are Your Glads?

        Our good customer Bill Killpatrick of Lafayette, NJ, wrote us recently:
        “I’d love it if you’d ask your readers about glads. . . . I’m just getting too old and creaky to dig ‘em all up. Find it easier to just buy new every spring. But, much to my surprise, for the past four winters, a good 80% of the corms have wintered over just fine right in the garden. Officially, I’m a zone 6. Due to elevation and exposure, I’m really a zone 5-ish. We’ve NOT had reliable snow cover, I don’t mulch, nuthin’. But come spring, up pop the glads – big, double-corm, monster glads.”
        The glads he’s talking about aren’t our zone-6 hardy Byzantine, Boone, or Carolina Primrose, but just regular glads. And we’ve heard similar reports from other customers. Jane Murphy of zone-6 Concord, Massachusetts, for example, wrote that “some of the overlooked gladiolus bulbs I left in the garden last winter flowered, including a lovely salmon-colored one [‘Spic and Span’?] in October,” and Kathi Frank of zone 5/6 Onsted, Michigan, wrote “I just have to tell you my joy when my ‘Atom’ survived the winter and came back this summer as beautiful as ever. What a bonus!”
        So we’re asking you: have your regular glads survived zone-6 or colder winters? And what do you think made that possible? Email Charlie@oldhousegardens.com and we’ll share your experiences here. (Feb. 2010)

More Love Letters to Our Dahlias

        Bees, state fair judges, and at least one happy bride think you ought to give our dahlias a try.
        Margaret Waters of Belmont, Massachusetts, writes: “Your dahlias were beyond compare. ‘Prinzessin Irene’ grew to almost 8 feet tall! ‘Winsome’ [OHG’s Spring 2010 Bulb of the Year] blew us away, and we had a whole mini-culture of bees who lived on ‘Bonne Esperance’. They slept on the flowers overnight to hold their places for morning.”
        Dwarf, single-flowered ‘Bonne Esperance’ was a hit in zone-7/8 Azle, Texas, too, where Steve Leahy says they “performed really well in our hot Texas summers. When we bought our new house I neglected to dig them up, so I just had to order more.”
        Every year Gerry Westereng of zone-4 Great Falls, Montana, takes her best dahlias to the State Fair, and last summer ‘White Aster’ and ‘Little Beeswings’ both won first prizes there. “Beautiful specimens, by far,” Gerry writes.
        Kathy Moss of zone 6-7 Pottstown, Pennsylvania, writes: “Your dahlias were absolutely stunning. I used them for my cousin’s wedding and everyone was amazed. People particularly loved ‘Little Beeswings’, which is also my favorite.”
        And Max Eber of zone-7 Owings Mills, Maryland, writes: “We love your dahlias. ‘Old Gold’ is one of the most prolific we’ve ever grown here, and from late July onwards, we were never without its flowers. I’m a young gardener myself (still an undergrad) but I love all these old cultivars. They have so much more personality than the mass-produced new ones.” (Jan. 2010)

“You Can’t Grow Dahlias Here,” the Neighbors Said . . .

        First-time dahlia grower Marie Ivey decided to persevere, even after the neighbor ladies pooh-poohed her plans. She writes from Ruidoso, New Mexico, 6900 feet up in the Rockies:
        “Well, the growing, blooming, beautiful season is over, and I must tell you about my ‘Dahlia Saga’. When I first started digging and planting, I had several neighbor ladies tell me how they won’t grow up here in the mountains, I had just wasted a lot of my time, sore knees, and money. When my dahlias started growing, though, they shot up to over six feet tall. I couldn’t believe it! Then, the blooms came, and oh my goodness, were they ever beautiful!!!
        “A woman who lives a few blocks over told me she thought they were fake, so she waited till my husband and I were gone one day, and came up in our yard to feel of them. And the ladies that swore dahlias wouldn’t grow up here, well, let me just say inside I was crowing. My husband swears that I can sell these beautiful blooms. I gave away so many bouquets this summer. Next spring, I’m expanding my flower beds, and planting more. Thank you for giving me such a beautiful garden this summer!”
        If you’re feeling encouraged now to try dahlias yourself, you might like to start with one of the Old Reliables that Marie grew: ‘Kidd’s Climax’, ‘Lavengro’, ‘Mrs. Le Boutillier’, ‘Thomas Edison’, and ‘White Fawn’. (Dec. 2009)

Bulbs Gone Wild: Craving Spring

        If you’re already looking forward to spring, this poem’s for you. Written this past March by our good customer Stephani Franklin of Tulsa, it’s so far from smarmy it may deserve a warning label, but we love how it captures the desperate exuberance that all of Nature seems to feel as spring gets near. (Stephani added in a post-script, “Don’t worry, it melted, they all survived.”)

“March Snow”
by Stephani Franklin

Icy morning penance
Catches revelers off guard
To their sorrow;
Affirms ascetics
Of their canon.
Snug under a blanket of
Mulch and warming earth,
Smug, biding their time
Reciting pious axioms,
“Good things come to those who wait.”
“Patience is a virtue.”

I lament the carousers:
Heads bowed, freezing;
Icicles dripping from
Outstretched frond.
I craved spring.
They felt my longing and obliged
Cheerfully, foolishly,
Bad influences, egging each other on
“It’s spring somewhere, let’s get this party started.
Laissez le bon temps roulet!”
As midnight
Skulked in the alley.

For a few short days
They were the life of the party;
First krewe in the parade.
Staggering, laughing
Leaning on one another
Lifting their shirts
With a boozy wink,
“Throw me some bead, mister!”
Thumbing their nose at forty days
Of ash and deprivation
And me cheering them on
From my kitchen window.

The virtuous will see the sunrise
On Easter morning.
They always do.
But I won’t need them
In April.
They’ll emerge in a din
Azaleas, quince, iris, peony,
Sunday morning congregation
Reverently filing in
Just another fancy hat in the pew

I will remember my good time friends;
The lovely drunks
Singing a little too loud,
Swaying in my yard
At the tail-end of winter.
Who came out when they shouldn’t
Who misbehaved.
Who knew better.
But did, anyway.
Cheers!
(Nov. 2009)

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)

Community Gardener Brightens Queens with Our Glads

        A month ago, our new customer Alia Ganaposki emailed us this heart-warming report on the glads she planted at Two Coves Community Garden in Queens:
        “The ‘Atoms’ were the standout winners, but all of the varieties have been brilliant. Because my plot is far from my house, I planted them for cut flowers, mostly– but very few made it home. My first blooms went to Auntie Luscious, who wanted a bouquet for a friend’s birthday – I believe the gentlewoman was turning 94? The next blooms went to Arcadio (Junior), who had given me pink pepper seeds in the spring.
        “Big white blooms [‘White Friendship’] went to Millie, who lets the kids play in front of her patch and doesn’t lose her temper when the play sometimes tumbles into her plot. My next batch of blooms will probably go to Louis and Tim, who built a wonderful shelter and painted it with Bob Marley lyrics. But don’t think I’m not getting any harvest. I wasn’t willing to share the ‘Elviras’. My charity only extends so far.
        “Anyway, I wanted you to know that the bulbs you sent me have brightened many lives, not just my own. Thanks so much for your work! I look forward to ordering (many) more bulbs from you in the future.” (Sept. 2009)

Anna Pavord’s Favorites for Fall Planting

        In the London Telegraph recently, bulb-maven and author Anna Pavord (The Tulip, etc.) lists her ten favorite bulbs – and we’re proud to say we offer four of them. Two are wildflowers: Cyclamen hederifolium and the “enchanting” snake’s-head fritillary. And the other two have a wildflowery grace and simplicity: ‘Mrs. Backhouse’ lily – “the kind I like best,” Pavord writes, “with speckled, reflexed flowers of a smudgy apricot orange” – and the rare ‘White Lady’ daffodil with “fine papery petals and a soul that is still wild.” Rounding out her list are Tulipa orphanidea Whittallii Group, Crocus sieberi ‘Tricolor’, English iris, Crinum x powellii ‘Album’, Arisaema candidissimum, and Hippeastrum papilio. (Sept. 2009)

Kind Words of the Month: Tulips Amid the Brambles

        Our bulbs get a lot of fan mail. (Thanks!) Here’s one from our good customer Bobbie Harkin of Scituate, MA, that we thought you’d enjoy, too:
        “Years ago I ordered a dozen of your antique tulips. Thought you would like to know that in my bramble-ridden wreck of a garden they bloom beautifully each spring and lift my heart sky high. Thank you has to be the most inadequate phrase in the language but it must suffice.”

Triumphing Over Adversity: Mighty ‘Carlton’

        We have a saying here at Old House Gardens: “Bulbs want to grow.” By that we mean they’re amazingly resilient if you give them half a chance – as you’ll see in this story from our friend Kit Steinaway:
        “In October a couple of years ago I sent 50 ‘Carlton’ daffodils to Syracuse, NY, to be planted in the wooded backyard of my friend for her 50th birthday the following April. Her husband was going to plant them while she was gone, and their blooming would be her surprise gift. Along with the bulbs I sent instructions, and her husband successfully planted a huge bag of bulbs in the backyard (with only two phone calls to me for additional guidance). In April they bloomed and my friend was thrilled with the surprise. End of story? Not quite . . . .
        “When I visited their home in August that same year, the husband pulled me aside and sheepishly admitted that he had recently found something in the garage – a second bag of ‘Carlton’ bulbs. They had been stuck in a corner of the garage for nine months! Since they still felt firm and heavy, we went ahead and planted them in another part of the yard, without much hope. In May my friend reported that all were blooming beautifully.
        “When you tell people that these babies want to grow, you are not kidding!”

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.

Are Red Spider Lilies Hardy in Wisconsin???

        Maybe. Although we recommend them for zones 7 and warmer only, Jean Virnig of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, has been experimenting with them. She writes:
        “I ordered your heirloom version of the red spider lily (L. radiata radiata) because this form is triploid and rare in the trade, having been replaced by the diploid form (L. radiata pumila). Jim Shields of Shields Gardens wrote in his online journal that the triploid form is hardy for him in zone-5 Indianapolis while the diploid form perishes. He added, ‘Why are the triploids hardy in the cold North when their diploid cousins are not? It might be because they have extra amounts of a few critical genes that promote cold hardiness. For some genes, having three copies allows the cell to produce more of the gene-product than having only the usual two copies does.’
        “Here in my zone-5a Wisconsin garden, I have been growing the heirloom form for two years now, and although they have proved hardy enough to survive the winters with no special care, they may not be truly suited for this climate.
        “Red spider lilies put up leaves in the fall which have to survive until spring. Last winter we had lows of -20 F, three weeks when the temperature never once rose above freezing, and destructive, desiccating winds. Nevertheless, every one of my bulbs still had green leaves this spring, albeit shorter, as they were burned back by the cold. On the bulbs I planted last fall, most leaves were 4”-6” long, as they were not able to grow much longer before the weather turned inhospitable. Those that were already established, planted the year previous, grew much longer foliage that lay down on the ground after the first snow and survived the winter nearly fully intact. Currently in late June all of the foliage is still green with no signs of dying back, although I suspect it will soon.
        “In areas that have more consistent snow cover, or in a sheltered location like a woods, damage to the leaves over the winter would probably be mitigated. As for me, I will try covering them with straw this winter and removing it in the spring. I am still hopeful of some red spider lily blossoms in my yard in the future.” (June 2009)

View ‘Ehemanii’ in Greg Grant’s Texas Garden, and Order Yours ASAP!

        Expert and hilarious, Greg Grant is one of our favorite horticulturists. Recently he emailed us photos of our Canna ‘Ehemanii’ growing at his place in Texas. One shows a nice big clump in his front garden (artistically balanced by an especially fine bottle tree), and the other is a close-up of its rosy, bell-like flowers.
        If you decide you need one yourself, you’ll need to move fast. We still have 10-15 available, but since they don’t hold up well in storage we’re shipping them through Monday only. They may not be cheap, but they are extraordinary. (Apr. 2009)

Are These Cannas on Steroids?

        Nope, but our good customer Ruth Riegel of Casey, Illinois, was impressed with them anyway:
        “I got three Canna indica from you this past spring, and one of the clumps I dug up yesterday is over two feet across. Amazing for not-so-well-drained clay soil (though I do add lots of horse manure). Oh, and the ‘Cleopatra’ canna went berserk with three different foliages – green, bronze, and variegated – and flower colors. What fun!” (Dec. 2008)

Dahlias: All in the Family

        Dahlias you grow yourself can be better than any you buy, as 0ur good customer Theodora Alves of Nevada City, California, discovered this fall:
        “Did I mention that your dahlias were used in my daughter’s wedding this year? Her florist had brought some in, but they were . . . well, how can I be kind . . . they were ‘poopie.’ She ended up not using them, and the ones from my garden just stole the show. Thanks again for your very personal attention to your customers. I love doing business with you. It’s like we’re all in the family!” (Dec. 2008)

If Javelinas Roam Your Garden, Plant Iris!

        Though we didn't include bearded iris on our recent list of animal-resistant bulbs, our good customer Louise Coulter of Payson, Arizona, emailed us to vouch for them:
        “In my area which is at 5,000 feet in Arizona’s northern section there is an animal called javelina or wild pig. With cloven hoofs, tusks, and large foraging families, it devastates unprotected bulbs in gardens – except for iris. Seems they can’t eat iris. So at thousands of homes here, where the yards are unfenced, iris naturalize and are ubiquitous. Seems the local nurseries obtained a limited color palette of them each year, so one can almost tell how old the bulbs are by their color. For years one could only get shades of variegated purple and a lovely pale salmon.” (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)

Blog of the Month: Southern Living’s Grumpy Gardener

        “An outstanding mail-order nursery,” that's what Southern Living garden editor Steve Bender calls us in a recent posting at his blog. Steve calls himself the Grumpy Gardener, but that’s because he can't call himself the Really Funny and Also Expert Gardener. Though he tends to tone down his humor in his magazine writing, in his blog you’ll see more of the Steve who cracked us up in the modern classic, Passalong Plants.
        His praise-filled review of “the Old House Gardens difference” spotlights several of our best bulbs for warmer gardens including our true Byzantine glad which he describes as both “gaudier than Liberace at the Moulin Rouge” and “a single-malt Scotch for your garden.” Don’t miss his blogs titled “Squirrel Problem? Fire Away!” and, right in time for Halloween, the “Toilet Paper Miracle.” Like gardening, laughing is good for you. (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)

Hurricane Ike Survivor: ‘Rubrum’ Lily

        Our condolences to all of you touched by Ike’s devastation! Here’s one happy report from our good customer Stephanie Murrey-Alonso who lives in Pearland, just south of Houston:
        “One of my ‘Rubrum’ lilies had just started blooming a day or two before Hurricane Ike hit us, and the next morning when I walked out there was one flower on the stalk still untouched by the Cat 2 winds. It was the most beautiful thing to see after such a ferocious storm. Your lilies are the best, and hurricane resistant, too!” (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)

Wisconsin Garden Writer Falls in Love with ‘Schoonoord’

        Although she “shied away from bulbs” and had never planted a single tulip before, garden writer Linda Brazill of Madison, Wisconsin, finally “took the plunge” and ordered several dozen from us last fall. She planted them “willy-nilly, purely as experiments,” and the results were “so fragrant and so stunningly beautiful” that she’s already ordered more.
        Writing in the Capital Times she raves about our ‘Willem van Oranje’, T. acuminata, and ‘Generaal de Wet’ (“I could smell it almost as soon as I stepped out the door”). “But the showstopper,” she writes, “was ‘Schoonoord’. . . . It’s a flower that I never want to be without now that I’ve grown it. The green- and yellow-striped buds opened into lushly double white flowers touched with gold. Anyone who saw them in a vase thought they were peonies. ‘Schoonoord’ drew me out into the garden day after day in every light and weather to enjoy its changing beauty. Luckily, I ordered enough bulbs that I felt free to cut as many as I wanted to bring indoors.”
        To read Linda’s entire column, click here. She may inspire you to “take the plunge,” too! (Sept. 2008)

Blue-Ribbon Winning Historic Daffodils

        Congratulations to our good customer Raymond Rogers of North Brunswick, New Jersey, who writes:
        “I won five individual blue ribbons at two American Daffodil Society shows this past spring, as well as Best Historic, Best Vase of Three Historics, and Best Collection of Five Historics, with Beersheba, Mary Copeland, and Queen of the North, all from you. Keep ‘em coming! “ (Aug. 2008)

Blog of the Month: “Delirious About Bulbs” (and ‘Hyperion’ Daylily)

        First up is a recent blog by Pomona Belvedere at tulipsinthewoods.com. “OHG bulbs are the top of the top of the bulb world,” she writes, “big, fat, healthy, and bursting with (often) multiple blooms.” She calls our catalog “fun” and “clearly written by people who are delirious about bulbs, and don’t care who knows it.” (She’s right!) And “for those who enjoy diversity,” she adds, “shopping at Old House Gardens is a way to support people who preserve it – and to do a little preserving ourselves.”
        Don’t miss Pomona’s blog about ‘Hyperion’ daylily, too, in which she praises its graceful shape, fragrance, and willingness to bloom with just a few hours of sun. Then take a look at her “Heirloom Plants” and “Bulbs” categories, and if you’re like us you’ll find yourself reading on and on! (Aug. 2008)

An Unexpected Tote-Bag Testimonial

        Our brand-new Heirloom Bulbs Tote-Bags are getting rave reviews from some very demanding critics: our staff. Twenty-something Renee Hytinen, for example, found a couple of unorthodox uses for it on a recent weekend trip to Lake Michigan.
        First she filled it with ice and beer and lugged it down to the beach. That worked so well, she told us with excitement, that later on the ferry ride to Manitou Island when the waves got rough and she started feeling green at the gills, she kept it close at hand, confident that it would also make a leak-proof – and elegant – barf bag. (Jul. 2008)

Customer Raves: Another Glad-Hater Converted by Our Heirlooms

        Last summer, Kerry Hoffman of Clara’s Meadow Flower & Herb Farm in Watsontown, Pennsylvania, wrote us in excitement:
        “Just wanted to tell you how absolutely GORGEOUS the glads are that I planted this spring. I’m a cut-flower market grower, and I stayed away from gladiolus because they were just too big for my bouquets and, truthfully, rather gaudy looking to me. But your heirloom varieties are stunning! They’re an absolute hit with my customers, too. ‘Atom’ was the first to bloom last week, and everyone wanted to know its name. I love you guys. I will buy from you faithfully forever and ever and ever.” (Apr. 2008)

When Perennials Aren’t Enough: A Husband’s New Love

        Can the right flower strengthen your marriage? Maybe! Our good customer Audrey Kilgore of Akron, Ohio, writes: “My husband is new to the ‘Dahlia Affair’ – for what else can you call loving dahlias? He said none of our perennials lasted long enough and he wanted something tall that bloomed all summer into fall, so I thought about it. The only plant I knew that was easy to grow and filled this need was dahlias. I planted two tall ones this past summer. They were beautiful, and he counted the many butterflies and bees that visited them. He is hooked!” (March 2008)

Praise of the Month: ‘Thomas Edison’ Dahlia

        Our good customer Kathy Winkelman of Sacramento, California, writes:
        “I just wanted you to know how great my ‘Thomas Edison’ is doing in its second year here. I have flowers six inches wide and it’s been blooming continuously for months. I share with my neighbors, and they just can’t get over how big and beautiful the flowers are. And our warm days of over 100 degrees have not seemed to bother it. It’s framed by my big window in our family room, so it’s the first thing I see in the garden every morning. I tell ya, it’s a beauty!” (Nov. 2007)

Combo of the Month: ‘Andries Orange’ and Sizzling Partners

        Our good customer Becca Brown of Worcester, Massachusetts, writes:
        “Just a note to let you know that my dahlia ‘Andries Orange’ is thrilling me and everyone else who beholds him right now in my garden. I have him planted in front of a purple-leafed cotinus with perilla at his feet, some hot colored zinnias in front, and aster ‘Alma Potschke’ (hot cherry pink) about to burst forth beside him. Also in the mix nearby: geranium ‘Rozanne’ and hot spots everywhere of neon-orange Emilia (tassel flower). Life doesn’t get much better than this! Thank you, thank you!” (Sept. 2007)

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)

Kind Words of the Month

        At GardenWatchdog.com recently, Maggie Brown of Ridge, NY, wrote:
        “I planted bulbs from OHG when I lived in Maine and the cut flowers were ALWAYS the talk of my officemates. Then I moved to New York. Sigh.
        “Let me just say that getting a box of bulbs to plant from OHG has made the transition so much more enjoyable! What a great group — and who can beat a personal note from the owner himself?!?
        “Say it with me: Yay for old bulbs! Yay for Old House Gardens! Keep the bulbs of old alive — bring horticultural history to a garden near you!” (July 2007)

Idiot-Friendly Bulbs: One Beginner’s Story

        “Bulbs want to grow.” That’s what we say around here when our bulbs thrive despite impossible odds, and Yvette Figueroa of Green Bay, Wisconsin, knows exactly what we mean. She writes:
        “I ordered in the fall and planted all of my bulbs right away. This was my first foray into gardening and the day after I planted them I had to go out of town for my grandmother’s funeral. During the month-long trip I learned from my mother that I planted them all UPSIDE DOWN! By the time I came back there had been a frost and I tried to dig them up to turn them over. I couldn’t find most of them and some I accidentally roughed up with my trowel.
        “Well, guess what??? I have about ten green sprouts showing already! I couldn’t be happier. I realize I may not see them all, but I learned three very important lessons:
        “1. Your bulbs are very “idiot” friendly.
        “2. Plant them with the pointed side up.
        “3. Mark where you planted them!” (June 2006)

She’s Awed by Our TRUE, Hardy Byzantine Gladiolus

        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)

‘Little Darlings’ Offer “Heavenly” Perfume

        Our good customer Emmy Morrison of Davidson, NC, writes:
        “My N. jonquilla ‘Early Louisiana’ have multiplied and are heavenly. Three stems in a vase scented our entire kitchen. I call them ‘Little Darlings,’ a name I picked up in Natchez.” (2006-07 catalog)

Dahlias for the Hungry

        Phyllis Valle of Milford, Michigan, has been buying bulbs from us since 2000. Here’s one good reason why:
        “My friend Andrew Berry is an avid gardener, and he especially loves dahlias. I give him your bulbs for his birthday every year. In the summer he takes bouquets to his church every Sunday and they auction them off to the congregation. The church is First United Methodist of Birmingham. His wife Jayne says he averages $60 a week, all of which goes to the church’s mission for the hungry.” (March 2006)

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)

Can the Queen of Autumn Take Southern Heat?

        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’ve been warning Deep South gardeners away from them. But our customers are constantly teaching us (thanks!). For tips from five who garden in zones 8 and 9 – including expert John Kreiner of the Dahlia Society of Georgia — click here. (March 2006)

Busy Mom Discovers Dahlias Hardy in Zone 6

        We aren’t making any promises, but our long-time customer Janet Atkinson of zone-6 Sleepy Hollow, NY, writes:
        “Your dahlias are TOO HARDY!!! 90% of the ones I got from you last year came back, which on top of this year’s collection, created quite a dahlia jungle. I’m not really complaining, but I think I may need to curb this bad dahlia ordering habit I’m developing. I always want all of them!
        “I left all of them in the ground. Lots of good intentions, but once the kids’ soccer season starts, there’s never as much time for gardening as I would like. The ones planted against the house have come back for two years now, but last year the ones in a more exposed bed came back, too, hidden by hollyhocks so that I didn’t realize until they had swamped my oregano and mint. They look pretty fabulous though! Thanks.” (Dec. 2005)

Boxer Puppies and Fragrant ‘Elegans Alba’

        Our good customer Jeananne Forgey of Swayzee, Indiana, wrote us last spring:
        “‘Elegans Alba’ just bloomed in my garden and it is the most elegant tulip I have ever seen. I rarely sniff tulips but I picked this one because we have a new boxer puppy who loves the taste of tulips, and I kept wondering after I got in the house where the wonderful smell was coming from and it is that tulip. Wow! I am always thrilled by the wonderful bulbs I order from you, but looking at this particular tulip is like looking at something that is too perfect to be real. Thanks!” (Oct. 2005)

One of Our Biggest Fans Writes

        This just in: “Dear Scott, I walked out to my garden and almost gasped when I saw beautiful purple gladiolus blooming. That is the fun of the ‘Intro to Heirloom’ samplers. I never know what to expect. With love, Mom” (Aug. 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.” (March 2005)

One Customer’s Vibrant Bedding Plans

        Our good customer Diane McCue of Wethersfield, CT, wrote in response to the Victorian bedding plans we offered in our last newsletter:
        “My summer garden plans include a giant circle planted with tall cannas in the middle, then dwarf Mexican sunflowers, and then about 40 dark-leaved basil plants. Another circle will be peach-colored cannas in the middle with ribbon-grass bunches around the outer rim. Last year the giant circle was red and bronze ‘Roi Humbert’ canna in middle surrounded by a shorter canna, then some spider plants (Cleome), and then large yellow marigolds. Every year it’s different!” (March 2005)

Judy’s Husband Used to Laugh at Our Bulbs, But Now . . .

        Is your spouse anything like the husband of our good customer Judy Sanders of Montgomery, Texas? She writes:
        “My husband kind of laughed at me a couple of years ago when I planted the first bulbs I received from y’all. I was so excited and would go check on what had sprouted and later what was blooming. Well, now he’s as enthusiastic as I am. He often gives me a bloom update before I even have a chance to look out the window. Sure brightens our dreary winter days. Thanks for the entertainment.” (Feb. 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)

A Winter-Hardy Canna? Test It Yourself!

        Our good customer Lenora Larson of Long Lips Farm in Paola, Kansas, writes:
        “I notice that you no longer sell ‘Roi Humbert’ canna. Pour quoi? I ordered mine from you nine or ten years ago, and it is my very favorite canna because it reliably survives our zone 5/6 winters, modestly (not extravagantly) mulched. Of course I always save some inside just in case.”
        Good news, Lenora: we’ve returned ‘Roi Humbert’ to our website along with fellow classics ‘Richard Wallace’, ‘City of Portland’, and ‘Stadt Fellbach’. We haven’t tested its winter hardiness here, but we plan to! Readers, will you join us? (Feb. 2004)

Tender, Family-Heirloom Rain Lilies Thrive in Zone 4 Wisconsin

        Although pink rain lilies, Zephyranthes grandiflora, aren’t hardy beyond zone 8, Julie Monroe has been enjoying them in zone-4 Wisconsin for decades.
       Her bulbs came originally from her Great-Aunt Irene and before that from Irene’s grandmother. “They thrive on neglect,” Julie says. “The only thing I am careful about is to take the pots inside before the first freeze.” She stores them dry in pots in the basement all winter, brings them back outside in the spring, and they just get better every year.
       For the whole story and Julie’s tips, or to try a few rain lilies yourself, click here. (Jan. 2004)

Tough Little ‘Atom’ Survives Two Years in Storage

        Sandra Pickett of New Castle Indiana, writes of our best-selling glad:
        “Two years ago, I dug up my gladiolus bulbs and put them in a crawl space to store. Last year, I completely forgot about them. This year, when I discovered them again, they were dried up, and not so healthy looking. I decided nothing ventured, nothing gained, so I planted them. Imagine my surprise when my ‘Atom’ appeared, the first glad of the season. Talk about a survivor!!! Your bulbs are wonderful.” (Dec. 2003)

Love That Lincolnshire Tulip!

        Our good customer Bill Howe of San Francisco emailed us in April: “‘Lincolnshire’ is stunning: thin, silky, deep-red petals that when the sun hit them seemed transformed into stained glass. And their sturdiness belies their delicate looks. Here they’ve endured a heat wave followed by a cold snap, and several rainstorms, and they’re still blooming now, after three weeks. Indestructible? Maybe. Wonderful? Definitely.” (Oct. 2003)

First Blooms of Spring: Our Customers Write

        Many thanks to everyone who shared stories of their first spring bloomers!
        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.”
        Debbie Windoloski of Hadley, MA, said she especially enjoys the early bloom of her double snowdrops, and Cynthia Van Hazinga of Hillsborough, NH, offered a great tip for enjoying snowdrops inside: “I can’t tell you how much I love snowdrops, always the first blossoms of spring in early April. Of course I can’t bear to pick them but sometimes I dig up a clump and put them in the middle of the dinner table (in a tray) to worship. Then I put the clump out again in a different place so the naturalizing can go on and on.”
        Mary Ivers of Ann Arbor reminded us that siting can make a big difference: “My first bloom of spring is one that was here long before I was. Our house was built in 1866, and there’s a small single yellow crocus growing right next to the brick foundation at the southeast corner that blooms before anything else. I don’t know who planted it or how long ago, but it’s my sign that spring is on the way.”
        And then there’s Alexis Shaw with a suggestion for REALLY early spring blooms. “I live in coastal Maine and can’t wait for the garden to thaw out, warm up and bloom! So I enjoy forcing many pots of bulbs. Don’t you know those so-called ‘vegetable drawers’ in the refrigerator are great for small pots? Your family might object to what they regard as unsanitary pots of dirt in the fridge, but you must be firm.” Now that’s a gardener who has her priorities straight! (March 2003)

Four Thumbs Up for Spring Planted Bulbs

        Last month, we asked you to tell us why you do or don’t plant spring-planted bulbs. To all of you who responded, thank you! Here are bits of what you shared with us.
        “My gardening passion is spring-planted bulbs!” says Rebecca Roddy of Walhonding, Ohio. “I love that I can re-use them year after year and they get bigger and better. . . . On the patio I move their pots to make different arrangements or to catch the exotic scent of my tuberoses. They create a ‘tropical air’ in a relatively inexpensive way.”
        “Cannas are a wonderful addition to the summer garden,” says Marybeth Hawn of Aylett, Virginia. “They add an upward dimension, stunning color, and a stark contrast to the little hummingbirds who visit them regularly. This year mine outdid themselves despite the drought.”
        “I always plant dahlias, which take the exact same amount of care as tomatoes, which of course are worth it in every garden everywhere,” says Leslie Swartz from Hollister, California. “I always plant a few glads, too, because they are foolproof – no feeding, no extra watering, planted in unamended adobe clay soil.”
        “We lived in a condo, and I found that dahlias and glads did very well in containers,” says Kae McDonald of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. “Dahlias occasionally have a short blooming season depending on the first frost, but I have been known to cover them at night for a month to keep them blooming . . . . Starting them inside helps, too.” (Jan. 2003)

Jane and Henry: Falling in Love with a Flower

        Jane Hearne of Johnson City, Tennessee, has joined the long list of customers who write us in praise of our true, Southern-heirloom Campernelle narcissus. She writes:
       “The Campernelles I ordered from you . . . are exquisite. I am so taken with them – their beauty is so delicate. And to think they have endured for centuries.
       “I wanted to share a quote from Henry Mitchell with you: ‘I’ve seen in other gardeners a tendency to gaze at some flower as if glued to the spot and unaware of anything else. At first the gardener has the queasy feeling he’s falling in love with a flower. But as years pass he sees that some common flower has turned magical to him.’
       “That’s how I feel about my Campernelles.” (1999-2000 catalog)

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