Thank You for Rallying to Our Support!

        Our loyal friends and a lot of new friends gave us a late surge in sales this spring that lifted the season's total to just over last year's. Thank you! Times are tough across the nation and especially here in Michigan, but you, friends, have continued to support us and our heirloom beauties, and for that we're more grateful than we can ever tell you.
        And so . . .

New Catalog, Old Prices!

        We thought we'd show you our gratitude -- and help YOU out a bit -- by keeping all the prices in our new catalog the SAME or LOWER than last year's. That's right, NO price increases on anything in our catalog, and we actually DROPPED the prices on 26 different bulbs and samplers. We hope that makes it easier for you to keep enjoying our fabulous, spirit-lifting flowers -- and continue helping us "Save the Bulbs!"

You Can Order Online NOW!

        Our new catalog is at the printers (woo-hoo!), but it could be a month before it reaches you via bulk-mail. There's no need to wait, though, because it's already up and ready for shopping at oldhousegardens.com -- and you're the first to know!
        For a quick list of everything that's new in it, go to oldhousegardens.com/newBulbs.asp. Then watch our newsletters for many more to be offered "web-only" this summer.

Peonies: Tips for Cut-Flowers and Where to See Hundreds in Bloom

        Peony season is here! Peonies are long-lived but slow to establish, so if you planted them last fall, you can expect a few stalks of foliage this first spring, a few blooms next year, and more every year after that for a century or more.
        For tips on cutting peonies so they last longer in bouquets (and so you don't damage your plants), visit oldhousegardens.com/Bulbs-As-Cut-Flowers.asp.
        To see hundreds on display, visit the national show of the American Peony Society, June 6-7, at the historic Kingwood Center in north-central Ohio. It's all free and sure to be amazing! To learn more, visit the APS website.
        That same weekend, one of the world's oldest and largest peony gardens welcomes visitors to its annual Peony Peaking Party right here in Ann Arbor. Located in a sunlit glade in the University of Michigan's Nichols Arboretum, the garden dates to the 1920s and exciting new efforts are underway to revitalize it and make it a model for historic plant preservation across the country. The free celebration runs from 1 PM to 4:00 on Sunday, June 7. See you there!

How's Your 'Ehemanii' Canna Doing?

        Though it's rare and fabulous, 'Ehemanii' is also a bit of a diva. It grows happily, but its congested rhizomes are hard to divide and they quickly fail in storage. We thought we'd figured out how to handle it successfully this spring, but apparently even our best efforts weren't always enough.
        If your 'Ehemanii' failed, please email charlie@oldhousegardens.com so we can make amends. And if it's thriving, please tell us what you did with it so we can share your tips. Nature can be humbling, but we're not giving up! We're just redoubling our efforts to figure out how to share this amazing canna with gardeners across the country.

Got Iris? We're Buying!

        We've doubled the number of iris in our new catalog, and we'd like to offer many more in the future. Maybe you can help.
        If you have a big clump of a wonderful old iris, and you might be interested in selling 50-200 rhizomes of it to us, please email charlie@oldhousegardens.com. You don't have to know its name (we have experts to help us with that), but we will need clear, close-up photos of (a) an individual flower, including the beard, (b) a stalk, so we can see how it branches, and (c) the base of the leaves where they meet the rhizome (the coloring there is often helpful in identification). We hope to hear from you!

Celebrating 400 Years of Gardening in New Netherlands

        In September 1609, Henry Hudson sailed up what we now call the Hudson River and opened the door for Dutch settlement in the New World. To celebrate the quarto-centennial of that momentous voyage, a variety of events are planned this year, including a special planting of 16th-century 'Duc van Tol Red and Yellow' tulips at the New York Botanical Garden. To learn more, visit henryhudson400.com/hh400_foundation.php.
        Dutch gardens in the New World were first described in a 1653 book by Adriaen Van der Donck titled A Description of the New Netherlands. Though experts today are still arguing over what some of the names he used mean, he wrote:
        "The flowers in general which the Netherlanders have introduced there are the white and red roses of different kinds, the cornelian roses, and stock roses; and those of which there were none before in the country, such as eglantine, several kinds of gillyflowers [pinks], jenoffelins, different varieties of fine tulips, crown imperials, white lilies [Madonna lily], the lily frutularia, anemones, baredames, violets, marigolds [Calendula], summer sots, &c. The clove tree has also been introduced; and there are various indigenous trees that bear handsome flowers, which are unknown in the Netherlands. We also find there some flowers of native growth, as for instance, sun flowers, red and yellow lilies [probably including Lilium superbum], mountain lilies, morning stars, red, white, and yellow maritoffles (a very sweet flower), several species of bell flowers, &c.; to which I have not given particular attention, but amateurs would hold them in high estimation, and make them widely known."
        Other sections of the book are devoted to "healing herbs," fruit trees, grape vines, and agriculture, including interesting descriptions of how to grow "Turkey wheat or maize" and descriptions of the amazing fertility of the soil -- a paradise lost. You can read it all at http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Description_of_the_New_Netherlands/Part_2.

Congratulations, Jessica and Renee!

        Last weekend two of our crew here at OHG celebrated momentous achievements of their own. Our beloved Jessica Burby graduated from Washtenaw Community College with an associates degree and a GPA all of us envied -- 3.94 -- while working two jobs to support herself. She looked terrific, too! And sweet, cool Renee Hytinen and her band, Ghostlady, debuted their new CD, "When the Sheet Hits the Fan," at a raucus, late-night show at Ann Arbor's Blind Pig. You can listen to Renee's music and even download the CD at hauntandflaunt.com. We're proud and happy for Renee and Jessica, and we feel lucky to be working with them!

Did You Miss Our Last Newsletter? Read It Online!

        April's articles included Google Books, Depression-era praise for 'Jane Cowl', Brothers of the Spade, a century-old Wisconsin heirloom, good groundhogs, and more. You can read all of our back-issues -- by date or by topic -- at oldhousegardens.com/NewsletterArchives.asp .

Share Our Gazette with a Friend!

        Please help "Save the Bulbs!" by forwarding our newsletter to a kindred spirit, garden, museum, or group. Or if a friend sent you this issue, click here to SUBSCRIBE!

Remember: We will NEVER share your email address with anyone!

To Guarantee That You Get Your Next Newsletter . . .

        Please add newsletter@oldhousegardens.com to your email address book or safe/approved list today.

To Unsubscribe

        We hope you find our Gazette helpful and fun, but if not simply email us at newsletter@oldhousegardens.com with Unsubscribe as the subject and we'll drop you from our list immediately.