North or South, Fall is for Planting Byzantine Glads

        More and more gardeners across the country are singing the praises of our true, hardy Byzantine gladiolus.
        In Long Island’s Newsday, for example, Irene Virag wrote “I’m adding more Byzantine gladiolus from . . . Scott Kunst, the Indiana Jones of the bulb world. Scott saves heirloom bulbs on the verge of extinction and propagates them. Some go back as far as the 15th century. Byzantine gladiolus – a 2- to 3-foot-tall perennial with deep magenta flowers that look like orchids – was spectacular in my garden last spring.”
        And a thousand miles away, Ruth Geraci of Summerdale, Alabama, wrote: “My Byzantine glads are so beautiful. The first year’s glads multiplied, adding to the new ones I planted last fall. Everyone admires them! Thanks for having such beautiful and unusual plants for my hot southern Alabama climate.” (Sept. 2008)

Head Gardener Praises ‘Gravetye Giant’ (and Gophers Shun It)

        Writing in Fine Gardening magazine, estate gardener Richard Devine of Dunnellon, Florida, recommends one of our favorite bulbs for zones 5-9S/9W:
        “I know few plants that offer as much and ask for as little as ‘Gravetye Giant’ snowflake (Leucojum aestivum ‘Gravetye Giant’). This marvelous 24-inch-tall bulb is one of the first plants to emerge, with nodding white bells as early as mid-January. Nearly 20 years ago, I scattered ‘Gravetye Giant’ along paths and in perennial beds here, and the plants have unfailingly risen every year since.”
        If that’s not enough to convince you to try it, our friend Gregg Lowery of California’s Heritage Roses tells us that Leucojum are the most gopher-resistant bulbs of all, out-ranking even daffodils! (Jul. 2008)

Intensely Blue: Our New Turkish Glory-of-the-Snow

        New to our catalog this year is the TURKISH glory-of-the-snow, not to be confused with the common luciliae/forbesii/siehei forms. Expert Judy Glattstein praises it in her fine Bulbs for Garden Habitats: “Chionodoxa sardensis . . . has an intensity of blue that must be seen to be believed, its concentration unadulterated by any white. . . . Four to twelve flowers per stem provide an abundant display from even a handful of bulbs. In a lightly shaded site at the edge of the woods I planted a goodly numbered, 50 or more, with 10 Narcissus ‘Rip van Winkle’. The dwarf daffodil, a cheerfully tousled, ragged mophead of a double, like an exaggerated dandelion, makes a charming contrast to the blue puddle beneath them. The two kinds of bulbs have been coming back year after year, so I think it is a happy marriage.” (June 2008)

She’s Awed by Our TRUE Byzantine Glads

        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!” (Sept. 2006)

Mobile’s Favorite Gardener Lauds Our Freesia and More

        Bill Finch, Mobile’s garden guru and environmental editor of the Press-Register, reported recently that he has had excellent results with our antique Freesia alba (which we usually recommend for dry-summer/Mediterranean-climate gardens only), Byzantine gladiolus, Spanish bluebells, true Tulipa clusiana, and the Narcissus he calls our “Gulf Coast All-Stars:” ‘Grand Primo’, ‘Campernelle’, ‘Carlton’, ‘Sweetness’, ‘Avalanche’, ‘St. Keverne’, and ‘Thalia’. (Aug. 2006)

Schoolhouse Lilies and Surviving Katrina

        Our good customer Nancye Renihan of Fairhope, AL, writes:
        “I dug clumps of red spider lilies from my mother’s yard in Bay St. Louis, some of which had come from her mother’s yard. Whenever they pop up in my yard now, I think of the first day of school. We used to pick them for our teachers. Mom’s house was washed away by Katrina, but her spider lilies bloomed amid the rubble.” (2006-07 catalog)

Martha’s May Bouquet: Spanish Bluebells and Chives

        We’ve grown these two cast-iron classics for decades, but we never thought of combining them in bouquets till we saw how great they look in the May 2006 issue of Martha Stewart Living. As Martha says, they’re “unexpected but perfect partners: They coordinate in color and reach full bloom at the same time, in May.”
        Our favorite bouquet was in a style we’ve seen in books of the mid-1800s that’s much like Victorian carpet-bedding. In a small round vase, a circle of chive blossoms makes a neat, frothy border around a center of densely packed Spanish bluebells. For added texture, tuck in a few fuzzy leaves of lamb’s-ear. By all means, do try this at home! (April 2006)

Garden Design’s “Way Hot 100” Includes Three of Our Bulbs

        Every year in March, Garden Design magazine names their “Way Hot 100.” These are, editor Jenny Andrews says, “insiders’ top picks . . . , what designers and avid gardeners are wild about this spring.” Many are brand new, but of the eleven bulbs listed we’re proud that three are heirlooms we offer:
        Formosa lily: “This heirloom bulb is back in vogue,” and Jenny praises its rich fragrance.
        Red spider lily, Lycoris radiata: Its “sea-urchin-like flowers” are showcased in a full-page photo. (Please note that we recommend it for zones 7-10 only).
        Tulipa clusiana: “One of the few tulips that will perennialize (especially in the South), thriving in dry soils.” (We offer the hard-to-find, original, red-and-white T. clusiana.) (March 2006)

Felder Reports: Hurricane Lilies Light Up Katrina-Browned Mississippi

        Our friend Felder Rushing (www.felderrushing.net) emailed us recently:
        “The hurricane lilies (aka red spider lilies, Lycoris radiata) were outstanding in September and into October, in many cases the ONLY color in the landscapes. The Gulf Coast of Mississippi was eerily brown. The sustained winds, salt spray, and 20-foot surge wave that went over two miles inland in some places turned EVERYTHING a uniform sepia, like an old post card, including live oaks and pines to ligustrum, azaleas, hollies, ivy and everything else evergreen (even the aspidistra, liriope, and ivy). But because of the wind-induced hormone stress, all the spring flowering trees (Asian magnolias, flowering pears, etc.) were in full bloom. And then there were all the red lycoris popping up through the debris.” (Dec. 2005)

We Say Byzantine Glads, They Say Whistling Jacks

        Our friend Greg Grant sent us this tidbit by the illustrious Roy Lancaster from a BBC website:
        “I recommend a wild species, the Gladiolus byzantinus, which is very common in the Isles of Scilly where they call it Whistling Jacks. It’s perennial and the flowers are quite outstanding with a rich purplish-rose color.” (Oct. 2005)

Our Fall-Planted, True Byzantine Glads Flourish in Ireland, Too

        Our Texas friend Cynthia Mueller emailed us in June saying:
        “I’m happy to report that our old friend, Gladiolus byzantinus, is alive and well in southern Ireland. A few weeks ago I saw them blooming proudly in Helen Dillon’s Dublin garden, Glasnevin Botanical Garden, Powerscourt, Muckross Castle, at Mount Juliet estate, and here and there along the way in cottage gardens. . . . The winters there are fairly warm but the summers are never as hot as here in Texas where they thrive. The glads were growing happily with Oriental poppies, columbine, tradescantia, knautia, bronze fennel, bearded iris, true geraniums, Russell lupines, foxgloves, and so on.” (Sept. 2005)

We Shop the Competition: 25-Cent Byzantine Glads Unmasked

        Are our Byzantine glads really worth what we charge, when some of our competitors offer them for less than a quarter? One of our resident Master Gardeners had to see for herself. She writes: “Last fall, one of our more gullible, adventurous, and fiscally responsible staff members finally succumbed to the siren song of the ‘Cheap Byzantine Glad.’ She ordered 25 corms for $5.75 from one of our best-known competitors, planted them as instructed, and waited hopefully. What emerged from the soil this spring was surprising, even shocking.” To read more and see exactly what she means, take a look at our Byzantine glad comparison photo page. (June 2005)

Celebrate Our Aztec Tuberoses with Antique Chocolate

        The tuberose, our 2004 Spring-Planted Heirloom Bulb of the Year, is one of the Aztecs’ great gifts to the world. Chocolate is another. And now you can taste chocolate the way it was enjoyed back in the days of the Aztecs!
        A sign at Zingerman’s, our local, world-class deli, caught my eye: “Antique Chocolate.” I picked up a bar and read the label: “Xocoatl . . . was introduced to Europe by the Spanish in the 16th century, who had learned the process from the marvelous Meso-American people. Since 1880, the Antica Dolceria Bonajuto continues to make this chocolate with the same ingredients and methodology that was passed on from the ancient Aztec civilization.”
        I had never tasted chocolate like this before! Enraptured, I sampled another old-style chocolate from Oaxaca, Mexico. Zingerman’s description fits both well: “The texture is coarse, with little sugar crystals exploding in your mouth and a dark, subtle, cinnamon and smoke flavor.”
        For your own taste, visit our friends at zingermans.com and enter either Bonajuto or Oaxacan in their search box. Tell them we sent you, and enjoy! (April 2004)

Are Wild English Bluebells Doomed?

        Spring would hardly be spring in England without woods full of wild English bluebells, Hyacinthoides non-scripta. But these dreamy scenes may soon be a thing of the past according to a distressing article in the Daily Telegraph. The culprit is the alien Spanish bluebell, Hyacinthoides hispanica. Pollen from garden-grown Spanish bluebells is being carried by bees to wild English bluebells, and the resulting hybrid offspring are crowding out the natives. This same interbreeding has long been happening in the bulb fields of Holland, making it all but impossible to get pure English bluebells there. That’s why we get our guaranteed-true English bluebells from a small farm in the wilds of Wales! (Sept. 2003)

True Byzantines Take Jim Back to the Fifties

        Our good customer Jim Massey of Moncure, NC, writes:
        “Your Gladiolus byzantinus were spectacular this spring – just like being in my grandmother’s garden in Mart, Texas, in the 1950s. I had bought this plant a dozen times from as many sources searching for the true old variety. They are worth the price and more!” (2003-04 catalog)

Enjoying Spring’s First Snowdrops Inside

        Our good customer Cynthia Van Hazinga of Hillsborough, NH, offered a great tip for enjoying snowdrops inside: “I can’t tell you how much I love snowdrops, always the first blossoms of spring in early April. Of course I can’t bear to pick them but sometimes I dig up a clump and put them in the middle of the dinner table (in a tray) to worship. Then I put the clump out again in a different place so the naturalizing can go on and on.” (March 2003)

The Thrill of Something New

        If snowdrops bloomed for months, would we love them more? Here’s a thoughtful response from one of my favorite garden writers in Henry Mitchell on Gardening:
       “In the garden, at least, you soon grow almost sick of flowers that bloom endlessly . . . . Floribunda roses can become boring after a while; so can marigolds. They are nice enough, it’s just that after a few months you wish they would look a little different. It is otherwise when the snowdrops bloom. Wow. Look at that. Right through the snow. Nobody ever gets bored with snowdrops or crocuses.” (1999-2000 catalog)

For articles on other topics, see our main Newsletter Archives page.