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“The earth throws back her slumber-robe,
And, kissed awake by showers,
Reaches her emerald banners out
And laughs a wealth of flowers.”
– Sara L. Vickers Oberholtzer, 1842-1930, American poet, editor, economist and activist, ‘A May Parable,’ Souvenirs of Occasions, 1892
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Spring Shipping is Almost Over…Now Out to the Gardens to Weed!
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It’s been a great spring season – thanks! – with lots of iris, daylilies, dahlias and glads heading off to new homes. We’ll be shipping the very last orders this week and then heading out into our growing fields to fight back the weeds that have sprung up in the past couple of weeks combining warm weather and showers – perfect for both a beautiful green May and for everything to get growing!
This is a good time to note what changes you’d like to make next fall – were there bare patches where you could tuck a few bulbs? Did you have a favorite tulip, peony or daffodil that you want to increase or give to a friend? We have many of our fall-planted varieties available already at our website, including some we’re offering for the first time (see below!), and you can place an order now and add to it (or make other changes) into September. We’ll be adding more as we see how our growers have done, so sign up for a wish-list email alert if we don’t yet have the one you want.
We hope you’re enjoying spring as much as we are and taking time to appreciate the beauty and abundance in your garden as the late daffodils and tulips give way to peonies and iris for us, summer has already arrived in warmer areas and the ground is finally warming further north!!
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We’re Seeking These Missing Gladiolus - Can You Help?
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We love working with small American growers for as many of our dahlias and gladiolus that we can: often they are just as interested in historic varieties as we are. Unfortunately, several of our favorite sources were hit with serious health issues or had disastrous weather conditions and are no longer able to continue offering corms. We were able to rescue some and are increasing them here - in fact we had enough ‘Dauntless’ and ‘Starface’ to offer them this spring - but there are some gems from the past that we love and have lost. If you’ve ordered from us for years and live in a warm zone, your glads may well have multiplied over time to a point where you don’t need them all. If so, check our wish list below: we’d love to buy/give you OHG credit for some which we could propagate and add to our ark. If you’re not sure what they look like, our photos are here. Interested? Please send us a photo of them in bloom along with a rough estimate of how many you could share with us this summer. Thanks to those of you who’ve sent us corms in the past, who responded to our call last year for lost dahlias, and to you all for helping us to Save the Bulbs!
(and we have a good customer wishing for Grey Wing too!)
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New Heirloom Tulips Now Available for Fall Planting
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The response to last month’s tulip announcement was so enthusiastic we’re going to try some more varieties for the first time this fall! We hope some will be just what you’ve been seeking…or new favorites!
Two of them are reported to be likely to return in future years:
• Fragrant, glowing scarlet-orange ‘Ad Rem’ (1960)
• Early, classic white ‘Purissima’ (1943)
Tulips in the Triumph class may also return where happy, and come in a glorious range of colors:
• Luminous deep rose ‘Don Quichotte’ (1952)
• Cardinal-red ‘Leen Van der Mark’ (1968) with a contrasting rim of first yellow, then white
• Deep purple ‘Negrita’ (1970) with its hints of lavender and lilac
• And sweet rose-pink ‘Carola’ (1986)
And these varieties bloom late, extending the tulip season:
• ‘Avignon’ (1966) gloriously mixes red, fuchsia and apricot
• Lovely lily-flowered ‘Marilyn’ (1976) is a dramatic white with red flames
We don’t know if we’ll be able to offer them again, so don’t miss this chance to get the ones you’d most like to try, and let us know what you think!
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Tips for Making Your Peonies in Bouquets Last Longer
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Lush and romantic, peonies are fabulous in bouquets. To get the most out of yours, here are some tips from Dr. Patricia Holloway of the University of Alaska, as quoted by Debra Prinzing in her 2013 Slow Flowers:
“‘Cut peonies during the coolest part of the day. Cut once you see the true color of the flower with one or two petals separating at the top [the “soft marshmallow” stage] – or any time after that. Then the flower will continue to open in your arrangement.’ If you cut prior to this stage the buds either will not open or they will be stunted. Fully-opened blooms can also be harvested, but their vase life is shorter. . . .
“Dr. Holloway also offers this commercial growers’ tip; ‘Once cut, your flowers should be chilled in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours and up to one week before putting them into a vase. That chilling very definitely extends vase life.’ Wrap the peonies in paper towels and lay them flat in the crisper drawer, away from the refrigerator’s other contents.”
We’ll also remind you that for future growth and bloom it’s best to leave as much foliage as possible on the plant. This is especially important during the first two years after planting, and in fact many experts recommend that you cut NO flowers the first year. We know how hard that can be, but your patience will be rewarded.
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Summer Peony Spritzers, and Good News for Our Local Customers
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We really enjoyed last fall’s issue of the American Peony Society’s Bulletin and held on to this recipe to try once we have peony petals to use. It comes from APS members Steve Smith and Larry Leger who brought it back from a local garden party. Steve suggests starting with blush or pink petals; he tried red and was not impressed, but you can experiment!
Begin by making a Peony-Infused Simple Syrup as follows, You’ll need 1 cup loosely packed peony petals, washed in cold water; 2 cups of sugar or sugar substitute; 2 cups of boiling water; and (if using blush petals) juice from a half lime or lemon.
Pour the boiling water over the petals and let steep for at least 8 hours.
Strain the liquid into a saucepan, heat it while stirring in the sugar, simmering till it’s completely dissolved, then let cool.
If you’re using blush petals, the syrup may look yellowish – if so add the lemon or lime juice to brighten the color.
You can keep the syrup in your refrigerator for up to a month and use it to sweeten lemonade, tea, cocktails and mocktails. For a glass of Peony Spritzer, start with 4 ounces of seltzer water or Prosecco and stir in 1 ounce of your chilled simple syrup and ½ ounce of lime juice. Add ice if you’d like, and sit back and enjoy!
And an unrelated note for our southeast Michigan neighbors: we’ve heard your requests to be able to pick up your orders instead of having them shipped, and we’re going to experiment with offering that option this fall. To deter porch pirates, we’ll have a staff person waiting with the orders on two designated dates. When you place your order, you can indicate that you’d like to come get it at the Washtenaw Food Hub on either Wednesday, October 15 from 4-7pm or Saturday, October 18 from 9am-noon..Please note that because we’re paying for someone to provide this free service, only request it if you can commit to picking up your order on the date you’ve chosen. Any orders not collected will be shipped at the standard charge. (It still doesn’t make our accountant happy, but we want to give it a try and hopefully have lots of happy customers instead. Fingers crossed!)
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