Happy New Decade!

        This is where we usually say "Thanks for our best year ever!" But 2009 was an unusually challenging year for us – as we know it was for many of you. We're still standing, though, and happy to hear the experts saying the economy is resprouting. We're optimistic, of course – we're gardeners. Happy 2010!

Get More Bang for Your Buck: Order by Jan. 31

        We love our customers. So every year we offer everyone who's ordered from us in the past a 5% "thank-you discount." If you're a returning customer, simply order your spring-planted bulbs by midnight, PST, on Sunday, Jan. 31 – and don't worry about the math. We'll figure it out for you here before charging your order.
        January 31 will be here soon, though, so don't delay. You need some flowers!

New This Month: Milk-and-Wine Crinum

        Crinums are big, fragrant, lily-like perennials that, to quote Steve Bender of Southern Living, "take sun or light shade, like wet or dry soil, bloom repeatedly from spring to fall, and live longer than Adam." The ones with striped flowers are called milk-and-wine lilies, and when our Louisiana grower (an heirloom himself) offered us an especially lovely variety from his wife's family farm, we jumped at the chance. If you like tough, exuberant, old-fashioned flowers and you've got a sunny spot in zones 7b-9bS, take a look at it here. But be prepared to jump. It's gorgeous, and our small supply won't last long.

And 4 New Glads: Allegro, Contentment, Green Lace, Sunbonnet Sue

        Psst! We just added four rare glads from the 1950s and '60s to our website today, and you're the first to know. Ruby-red 'Allegro' sold out way too early last spring, so you might like to take a look at it first. Then there's misty, lavender-pink 'Contentment' and two cute, small-flowered pixies: 'Green Lace' and 'Sunbonnet Sue'. All are easy to grow, long-lasting in bouquets, and truly something special.

Narcissus Stamps to Celebrate Year of the Tiger

        For centuries, cluster-flowered tazetta narcissus much like our 'Grand Primo' and 'Avalanche' have been an important part of New Year's festivities in Asia. Their gold cups symbolize wealth, and if they bloom on New Year's Day, it's said you'll have luck and prosperity throughout the year. To celebrate New Year's Day for the year 4707 which is coming up February 14, the post office is issuing a bright red 44-cent stamp decorated with these traditional narcissus. Take a look!

Join Scott at Williamsburg's "Timeless Lessons from Historic Gardens"

        Williamsburg in April is a paradise for any garden lover (and we're not just saying that because Williamsburg now gets all of their bulbs from us!). Add two days of talks and informal garden sessions focused on "Timeless Lessons from Historic Gardens" and you've got the extraordinary 64th annual Williamsburg Garden Symposium. Our own Scott Kunst will be a featured speaker along with garden superstar Ken Druse (Planthropology, etc.), rose rustler Mike Shoup of the Antique Rose Emporium, John Forti of Strawbery Banke Museum, Jennifer Bartley of American Potager, and landscape designer Gordon Hayward (Intimate Gardens, etc.). For full details, see history.org/History/institute/Images/Web_GardenSym10.pdf.

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."

Save the Clematis! RCC Granted "National Collection" Status

        If you care about conserving historic garden plants, here's some exciting news: The world-class Rogerson Clematis Collection has been granted National Collection status by the North American Plant Collections Consortium. Located in Lake Oswego, Oregon, the Rogerson Collection includes over 650 clematis species and cultivars, including a recent gift from Poland of rare varieties bred by the late Brother Stefan Franczak.
        What may be even more exciting is that, according to our friend Linda Beutler, curator of the Rogerson Collection, the North American Plant Collections Consortium is "broadening their focus from conservation of species to preservation of important/historic cultivars." In fact, she says, "part of the attraction of our collection for the NAPCC was the number of cultivars we have that are 'museum quality', including cultivars that are commercially extinct." Only a handful of other NAPCC Collections focus on garden cultivars and/or herbaceous plants instead of wild species of trees and shrubs – including hostas at the Toledo Botanic Garden (43 species, 357 cultivars), hardy geraniums at the Chicago Botanic Garden (17 species, 85 cultivars), and peonies here in Ann Arbor at Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum (292 cultivars) – but we're encouraged to see this small group expanding.

Link of the Month: Well-Loved Books from Heiko

        Winter is for reading, and for 20 years now we've been turning to Calendula Horticultural Books to help us learn more about antique flowers and gardening. In his December catalog, owner Heiko Miles (who by day works in a small accounting office) wrote that "the hard economic conditions that caused a significant drop in book sales made me decide to scale back somewhat with the book business this year." But, he adds, "I would rather sell old and rare books than do any other work. I love the wonder books create, the dreams they ignite, and the pleasure they provide. Books are my friends that smile to me from the shelf, full of memories of time shared together. They beckon me to read them again and start the adventure afresh. . . They provide me with a sense of belonging." And Heiko feels the same way about plants. "Our books and our gardens," he writes, "both fill an almost primal need within."
        For hundreds of old, soul-satisfying garden books priced from $5 to over $1000, visit Heiko at calendulabooks.com. And please tell him we said hello.

Did You Miss Our Last Newsletter? Read It Online!

        December's articles included "you can't grow dahlias here," Pavord's sumptuous new Bulb, cannas buried in the basement, life lessons from digging tuberoses too late, our new Motawi art tiles, and more. You can read all of our back-issues -- by date or by topic -- at oldhousegardens.com/NewsletterArchives.asp .

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