Web-Only Rarities: Giraffe, Robert Kemp, and Parrot Glads

        Fifty corms – that's all we can spare this spring of our extra-rare parrot gladiolus. We added it to our Web-Only Rarities page this morning, and if you want one you'd better move fast! Small-flowered and brilliant, this was the first African glad to reach American gardens way back in the 1830s.
        Also newly available at our Web-Only page is the rare and wonderful 'Giraffe', a unique little dahlia with narrow, twisted petals of olive-gold barred with ruddy bronze.
       'Robert Kemp' is back "web-only," too! A lush, vigorous canna with tiny, flame-like petals, it's a favorite of hummingbirds everywhere.
        As a Gazette reader, you're the first to know -- but don't delay. These treasures won't last long!

Link of the Month: Quirky Vases, Our Dahlias, and Martha Stewart

        We're always looking for interesting vases, and sometimes they find us. Last month our good customer Frances Palmer of Weston, Connecticut, emailed us a few photos of our dahlias "in the garden and in my pots" -- and wow! It turns out Frances is a renowned potter whose classic yet quirky tableware and vases are being featured in the February Martha Stewart Living, on newsstands now.
        "Thank you for such incredible flowers," Frances wrote us. You can see her photos at http://www.oldhousegardens.com/FrancesPalmer.asp and more of our dahlias and her pottery at http://francespalmerpottery.com/FP_about.htm . Don't miss her "whimsical pots," including two filled with our 'Thomas Edison' and 'Deuil du Roi Albert'
       Thanks, Frances! We want one of everything you make!

Book of the Month: Garden to Vase

        If you like picking bouquets from your own garden -- and who doesn't? -- here's a refreshingly down-to-earth guide full of great advice for getting all sorts of flowers to look better and last longer when cut. Did you know, for example, that your daffodils will stay in top shape much longer if you let them sit for twenty minutes in a bucket of water while their gooey sap drains out? And Garden to Vase goes way beyond technical advice. Author Linda Beutler writes as if she were your next-door neighbor, offering tips for collecting vases, using what you already grow, and making cut flowers an everyday pleasure in your home. She's funny (did you catch her OHG-inspired Christmas carol in our December newsletter?), encouraging, irreverent, and real. "Don't be afraid to get this book dirty," she writes, and we plan to do just that.

Extra! Extra! Newsletter Archives Now Organized by Topics

        Have you read any of our old newsletters recently? We didn't think so. But there's a lot of great information tucked away in those Gazettes, so to make it more user-friendly we've re-organized it all by topics.
       Go to our main Newsletter Archives page and you can choose from 20 topics including bulb-specific ones such as Dahlias (26 articles) or Daffodils as well as broader ones such as History and Heirlooms (63 articles) or Customer Raves and Advice. We even added sidebars from our catalogs dating back to 1993. Not everything is complete, but we hope you'll take a look, tell us what you think, and come back for more!

Meet Scott at the Seattle Flower Show

        In February Scott will be giving his gorgeous slide-lecture "Heirloom Bulbs" at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show -- and is he ever excited!
         Rated one of the top three garden shows in the country, the Seattle show this year features 26 full-scale display gardens, over 120 seminars and demonstrations, and thousands of garden products and services.
        Scott LOVES meeting our customers, so mark your calendar for 5:15 on Thursday, February 21, and come say hello. Please help spread the word, too -- or just bring your whole garden club! For more info, visit our Lectures page or http://www.gardenshow.com/seattle/seminars/index.asp .

New Year, New Farm for Old Bulbs?

        We're still looking hard for a new home for Old House Gardens, a place where we can preserve and propagate our rarest bulbs and maybe even expand into historic iris, peonies, or daylilies. Though we've checked out scores of possibilities -- thank you! -- our dream of 5-10 acres with an old farmhouse and barn just outside Ann Arbor has proven to be elusive. If you have any suggestions, we'd love to hear from you at 734-995-1486 or charlie@oldhousegardens.com. The bulbs will thank you!

Did You Miss Our Last Newsletter? Read It Online!

        December's articles included an OHG-inspired Christmas carol, Emily Dickinson's Gardens, catalog reviews at Suite101.com, and more. You can read all 70 of our back-issues at http://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.