Emailed April 6, 2007. To subscribe, click here.
To reprint any of this material, simply credit www.oldhousegardens.com. © 2006
Friends of Old Bulbs Gazette
Old House Gardens, 536 Third St., Ann Arbor, MI 48103, (734) 995-1486
Shipping Started Monday -- and Then it Snowed
We had three great days of shipping this week before bitter cold forced a temporary halt. Tender spring-planted bulbs can be damaged by temperatures even close to freezing, and we didn't want to put your treasures at risk in transit. We'll be back to full speed Monday, though, and done by the end of April -- Mother Nature willing!
It's Not Too Late to Order Your Summer Fun!
Though some varieties are sold out, we still have plenty of easy, exciting bulbs
for you to plant this spring.
Can't decide? Try our fabulous
"Intro to Heirlooms" or other
samplers.
Dahlias make sumptuous bouquets. Previously sold-out
'Mme. Angele Martin' canna
is back! Even glad-haters love our
unusual glads.
Fragrant tuberoses will relax
you, rain lilies and
elephant ears are great in pots, and we even have a few
hardy St. Joseph's amaryllis -- if you move fast!
Free Catalogs for Your Garden Club, Historical Society, Whatever!
We still have some of our current catalogs left and we don't want them to go to waste. We'd be happy to send you 10, 50, 100, or more to share with your garden club, historical society, neighborhood association, Master Gardeners group, house museum friends, public garden volunteers, or any other group you think would be excited about them. Email us with your name, address, and how many you want and we'll mail them right out. Don't be shy, help us spread the word!
Martha's All-Hyacinth Bouquet
The April 2007 issue of Martha Stewart Living features a lovely bouquet of
nothing but hyacinths, something we've been advocating for years. You'll see it
on pages 188 and 189, a mass of blue-purple and creamy white hyacinths in an
antique soup tureen.
Why not try
your own hyacinths-only bouquet this spring and see if you don't
agree with Martha and us that it's simple, elegant, and a good thing!
What Exactly is an Heirloom Plant?
Our friend Lynn Coulter gives a definition that we like a lot in her excellent
Gardening with Heirloom Seeds (2006). She writes:
"The answer is a little tricky. Is that battered cedar chest your aunt left you
really an antique or just old? Most gardeners agree that a plant becomes an
heirloom when it's been around longer than fifty years, while others set the bar
at a century. But others don't hold to a strict definition. Why not include the
chili plant your dad brought out of his native Mexico some forty-odd years ago,
as long as you love the fiery bite of the peppers and you think of him when you
plant the seeds? It's not just the age of that old chest that makes it valuable;
it's also where it came from and who gave it to you."
An Easy Way to Integrate Dahlias into Your Perennial Garden
Here's a great tip from Steve Nowotarski writing in the ADS Bulletin:
"To include dahlias [in a perennial garden] we need to be aware of the root
system of existing plants. I have found it preferable to include my dahlias in
areas where I can plant the dahlia in pots. Dahlias grow well in large pots and
I have not seen a significant difference between plastic and clay. I will plant
a dahlia . . . in a two-gallon plastic pot and let it get well-established
before digging a hole and placing it in the garden. I bury the pot about one
inch below the soil line. At the end of the season this pot can be dug easily
out of the garden without damaging the roots of the dahlia or roots of the
surrounding plants. An additional plus is that the dahlia can be stored
successfully in the pot [inside over the winter]."
Helping the Hortus
10,000 copies of the Hortus Bulborum's brand new brochure await tourists in the Netherlands this spring. Open it and wow! Two full panels are filled with a big, beautiful photo of the Hortus in full bloom -- and if it looks familiar that's because it's a photo from our website. We also helped translate the text into English for Leslie Leijenhorst, the brochure's talented designer and author of the Hortus Bulborum book. We're proud to help this extraordinary botanic garden (and Leslie) any way we can!
"Bud Burst" Wants Your Help Tracking Global Warming
You can help scientists investigate global warming in your own backyard! Gardeners and other "citizen-scientists" are being recruited to note when native plants in their area -- including many common garden flowers -- first leaf out and bloom. The data will help scientists track the arrival of spring, which since 1955 is coming about six days earlier in the Northern Hemisphere. Several universities and federal agencies are participating, as are elementary and high school students across the country. To find out more, visit http://www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/budburst/.
Join Scott for Our All-New 2007 Historic Landscape Walk
This May, come for a springtime stroll with OHG owner Scott Kunst and rediscover the landscape of the past. Taking a whole new route this year, we'll explore Ann Arbor's Old West Side looking for antique garages, trellises, and birdbaths, heirloom lilacs and daffodils, even historic weeds. Enrollment is limited to 25 per walk to keep things cozy, and we'll walk for an hour, keeping to the sidewalk. For more info, visit http://www.oldhousegardens.com/lectures.asp .
Did You Miss Our Last Newsletter? Read It Online!
Last month's articles included a cool website devoted to both heirlooms and murder mysteries, croquet memories, Scott as Indiana Jones, and more. You can read all 55 of our back-issues at http://oldhousegardens.com/newsArchive.asp.
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