1959: Inspired by my grandmother and love of nature, I plant my first garden at seven.

1980: I buy my first old house and discover a single white peony and other garden relics. Wanting to know more, I end up getting a master’s degree in historic preservation.

1983: I launch Old House Gardens, offering research and consulting in landscape history.

1985: Old-House Journal publishes my first article, on carpet-bedding. 12 more follow.

1993: Appalled when the last US source drops ‘Prince of Austria’ tulip, I mail 500 copies of my first tiny catalog. Complete strangers send me money and encouragement.

1996: Sales zoom, Garden Design spotlights our tulips, and giddy with optimism – and the support of Jane, best wife ever – I leave teaching for full-time bulb selling.

1997: The Hortus Bulborum shares its first three bulbs with us. I lead the campaign to include awards for Historic Daffodils in all ADS shows, and they become a hit.

1998: A local teen helps us launch a primitive website. Bill Finch of the Mobile Press-Register calls us the best source for Southern bulbs – as he has every year since.

1999: Charlie the cat comes to work, and before long he’s gained hundreds of fans.

2002: I plant bulbs with Martha Stewart, Horticulture features my “Tulips with a Past,” we email our first Gazette, and we offer our first rarities from Alan Shipp, Noah of hyacinths.

2003: My sister Marcy upgrades our website. Now customers can actually order from it!

2005-6: I lecture at the Boston, San Francisco, and Philadelphia Garden Shows, and The Christian Science Monitor dubs me “the Indiana Jones of Heirloom Bulbs.”

2008: After years of collecting them, we add peonies, iris, and daylilies to our tiny ark.

2009: Colonial Williamsburg asks us to supply all bulbs for their historic gardens. We sadly abandon all but one of our incredible cannas due to world-wide virus problems.

2010: Ending our search for a farm, we commit to urban micro-farming on scraps of land in Ann Arbor. “I love this company,” writes Southern Living’s Steve Bender.

2011: We move out of the house into a new “green” office in our historic barn/garage.

2013: I plant bulbs with Martha again (it’s fun!) and Toby the rat terrier joins our crew.

2014: Country Gardens spotlights our micro-farms and editor James Baggett, a long-time supporter, praises us as part of a “new generation of sustainable farmers.”

2016: I finally bring myself to tell my crew I’m retiring . . . and a few days later they tell me they want to keep OHG going. Life is good. Save the Bulbs!