One of our favorite garden writers and long-time-friend of Old House Gardens recently talked with Vanessa about our company, bulb history, and her suggestions for growing bulbs -ranging from chicken-wire through animal-resistant varieties- and has gathered them in a lovely article which you can read here. We’re especially glad she shares our appreciation for both our small growers and customers, saying “The growers that Old House Gardens buys from share the commitment to keeping historic varieties alive, an effort that is passed along with each order into the hands of gardeners, who become part of that preservation chain.”

There are some beautiful photos of varieties that may be already favorites of yours or may be just what you need for that spot that was empty last April! But don’t wait too long to order – we’ve been flooded by orders since the article came out.

If you are new to Margaret’s work, her website AWayToGarden.com has lots more good garden reading to enjoy when it’s too rainy or hot to be outdoors, and her first book And I Shall Have Some Peace There Trading in the Fast Lane for My Own Dirt Road, a memoir of leaving the corporate world for a country life, remains one of Amelia’s (our eagle-eye order checker and proof-reader) favorites.

It’s also worth thinking back over your summer garden – our dahlias are particularly delighting us right now – and considering possible additions. All of our spring-planted bulbs are available to order now for delivery next April, including:

Dahlias – bee-favorite ‘Mrs. H. Brown’, velvety-dark-red ‘Natal’ and elegant ‘Lavender Chiffon’;

Iris – fragrant customer-favorite ‘pallida Dalmatica’, exotic ‘Frank Adams’, and iconic ‘Germanica’;

Daylilies – stunning ‘Black Falcon’ and extra-early, fragrant ‘Gold Dust’ (both unavailable since 2019);

Glads – fragrant ‘Abyssinian’ and hummingbird-favorite ‘Atom’;

Diverse – extra vigorous ‘Guinea Gold’ lily and exotically-fragrant ‘Single’ tuberose.

Somehow summer has once more gone quickly, and we’ve started making plans for our fall shipping season. We won’t be sending out a new catalog till January, so that Vanessa can research and add some new-to-us heirlooms. You can check out our website for all of our current offerings, including a number of varieties that are rare enough we didn’t include them in our print catalog.

In particular, we just found out we’ll be able to offer a number of rare varieties from the Hortus Bulborum, including ethereal ‘Rosamune Huykman’, Civil-War-era ‘Cerise Gis-de-Lin’, glowing yellow ‘Chrysolora’, fragrant ‘Duc de Berlin’, splendid ‘Duchesse de Parma’, dramatically-flamed ‘Lord Stanley’, and one of our favorite tulips for cutting, ‘Golden Harvest’. We also have a few of the ‘Philomele’ peony. Quantities are limited. We’ve gained a lot of new customers as gardening has touched the hearts of so many this past year (welcome, all!), so don’t delay if you’ve been waiting for any of these treasures.