Emailed September 01, 2006. 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
"I long for the bulbs to arrive, for the early autumn chores are melancholy, but the planting of bulbs is the work of hope and always thrilling."
May Sarton (1912-1995, New England poet, author, feminist)
Happy Labor Day Weekend! (Yes, It's a Great Time to Order Bulbs!)
We Start Shipping October 1: Why Not Earlier?
Bulbs are already at the big-box stores, so why don't we start shipping till October 1? Quality, first of all. During their summer dormancy, bulbs go through a complex series of changes to get ready to grow and bloom again. For them it's like getting a good night's sleep, and if you skimp on it, their performance suffers.
It's also that we're tiny and our bulbs are rare. When everyone in the Netherlands is trying to get their bulbs washed, inspected, and shipped all at once, the big guys tend to end up at the front of the line.
But don't worry. Though we ship orders in the order we receive them, we also expedite orders to customers in the coldest zones, and even there early October is a great time for planting.
Site of the Month: Domino's "Germinatrix" Blogs about Our Bulbs
Hey, we're excited! We've been named one of Domino magazine's "Sites We Love" at http://www.dominomag.com/siteswelove/dominoblackbook/ (Domino is Conde Nast's hip new "guide to living with style"), and their blunt, funny garden-blogger Ivette Soler, aka Germinatrix, had some very kind things to say about us August 25. She starts off:
"I'm in the throes of plant lust. I just received a copy of Old House Gardens' catalog. I have to sneak it into the house so my husband doesn't see it. I hide it in last month's Vanity Fair. He thinks I'm reading about the difficulty of being Hilary Swank, but I'm planning on acquiring some serious heirloom bulbs. . . .
You can read the rest (and more of Ivette's engaging blog, such as "Purple is the New Black" and "Do Gardener's Scare You?" etc.), at http://www.dominomag.com/magazine/blogs/germinatrix.
Spice Up Your Herb Garden with Odd, Elegant T. acuminata
With its almost thread-like petals, Tulipa acuminata is so unusual that some gardeners may be afraid to try it. So here's a simple but inspired suggestion from one of our favorite garden writers, Vickie Johnson, writing in the New Jersey Herald:
"A couple of years ago . . . I became infected with
[Old House Gardens'] enthusiasm for rare and endangered heirlooms and smitten with one in particular, Tulipa acuminata. Acuminata . . . does look like a wildflower, and I delight in imagining myself living then, hiking on the mountain slopes of The East and discovering the flaming yellow and red petals swaying in the breeze. I planted three of the bulbs in my herb garden last year, and this past spring the thyme and oreganos provided a dusty green backdrop to the colorful, spidery and long-blooming
petals."
She's Awed by Our Fall-Planted Bulb of the Year
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!
Your Garden Memories: Tall, Buff, and Beautiful
Our good customer Nancy McDonald (founding editor of the late, lamented American Cottage Gardener) gardens close to Lake Superior in Grand Marais, Michigan. She
writes:
"Your mom's hollyhock memories brought back mine: When I was a kid we used to travel to Iowa to visit my dad's mother. She had a small garden, just some old flowers she had brought from their farm. Among them were some buff-apricot single hollyhocks that I thought were the most glorious flowers in creation. I loved them not only because they were beautiful, but because they were so tall. My dad was six-foot-three, but the hollyhock plants were even taller, at least eight feet, maybe nine. Since I was for many years the tallest girl in my class at school (and often the tallest girl in school, period), I loved those soaring flower stalks that made me feel short.
"Sadly, I never collected seed, so when Grandma died and the house was sold, I thought I'd lost them forever. I tried single hollyhock mixes, but none had the right buff-peach color. Then in 1993, John Mapel of Mapel Seeds (which specialized in old hollyhocks) sent me seed saved from a buff-apricot single in his garden. The plants grow eight feet tall or more (unless the deer prune them into shrubs) and the single flowers are the perfect color. A few are pink, but every year there are some just like Grandma's."
Coming Next Week: Ten More Web-Only Rarities
Though we said we'd get them online by the end of August, we're not going to make it. But next week we promise you'll have a chance to buy five more extra-rare daffodils (Marionette, Minor Monarque/N. italicus, Rosy Trumpet, Snowball, and Vireo) and five extra-rare tulips (Cardinal Rampollo, Golden Standard, Julia Farnese, Papillon, and Paragon van Everwijn), all from from 1630-1914. Thanks for your patience!
What's Sold Out?
We have lots of great bulbs still available, but a few of our rarest are already sold out: antique white freesia; Argent and Emperor daffodils; Formosa,
gold-band, and Copper King lilies; the tulips Beauty of Bath, Blue Flag, Insulinde, Prince of Austria, Kroeskop, and Zomerschoon; and several of our web-only rarities. Sorry!
To help you avoid disappointment, we update our website daily to reflect current availability. As always, our best advice is: Order now.
Did You Miss Our Last Newsletter? Read It Online!
Last month's articles included university-tested perennial hyacinths, a tulip that returns reliably on the Gulf Coast, 'Little Beeswings' dahlia and song, a tough winter leads to a skimpy harvest, remembering Mr. Boylan's iris, and more. You can read all 53 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.