Bulbs for Southern and Texas gardens
Oxblood lilies
How many of you Southern gardeners have planted bulbs that made a poor showing and never came back? I know I have. Our climate’s summer heat, humidity, and mild winters are the undoing of many of the flowering bulbs shown in glorious sweeps of color in gardening magazines. Some devoted gardeners solve the mild-winter problem by treating bulbs as annuals and replanting dozens (or hundreds) every year. That’s just never going to be me.
And yet bulbs fill a special niche, blooming early in spring before the perennials have filled out, or in autumn when they reinvigorate the tired summer-perennial beds. And what magic resides in a bulb that makes us gardeners covet them—a misshapen lump that lies quietly under the soil for most of the year and then, when you’ve nearly forgotten about it, pushes up through the dirt and unfurls into trumpets or bells or cups of color. I can almost understand the Dutch tulip craze of the 1600s.
In a comment on my recent post about oxblood lilies, Max turned me onto the Southern Bulb Co., which sells heirloom bulbs that thrive and naturalize in the South.
The 3-year-old company rescues bulbs from old, abandoned homesites or long-forgotten gardens across Texas (with permission), propagates them on a farm in northeast Texas, and sells them directly to customers via its website or wholesale to nurseries (including, as of September 15, Austin nurseries Natural Gardener, The Great Outdoors, and Plants and Pots). According to a July 2006 New York Times article, 26-year-old founder Chris “The Bulb Hunter” Wiesinger runs the business out of a trailer, and he and his handful of employees sleep on mattresses on the floor of a nearby cabin. “Every night the group convenes for dinner in the cabin, often eating the bass they catch in the lake out back. Because they live in a dry county and know no other single people their own age, they read Patrick O’Brian novels before bed and go to sleep early.” Folks, these young people are dedicated to southern bulbs.
The Bulb Hunter follows in the footsteps of the Texas Rose Rustlers, who 20 years ago began rescuing heirloom roses—taking cuttings from cemetery roses that had long been neglected but still thrived—and reintroducing them to the public. G. Michael Shoup, owner of the Antique Rose Emporium, joined the Rustlers in 1984, and his passion for saving heirloom roses led to the creation of the Rose Emporium’s gorgeous display gardens in Brenham, Texas.
It would be wonderful if Southern Bulbs, like the Rose Emporium, eventually offered a public destination garden featuring the bulbs they sell. Catalog orders are a necessity for far-flung gardeners and for business owners with little money to spend on storefronts and display gardens, but there’s something about seeing a plant actually growing in a garden that makes me pull out that credit card.
Until then, their attractive website does a great job of inciting plant lust. Check out their Texas tulip, Tulipa praecox , a fire-red tulip that has been naturalizing quietly in Texas for over a hundred years. Wiesinger promotes it with these magic words: “No chilling. No digging. This traditional red tulip thrives in the south.” I’m telling you about their Texas tulip in the spirit of purest generosity because I have not yet placed my own order. Save some for me!
They also carry the fall-blooming oxblood lily (shown at top of page), a passalong plant that is hard to find in stores.
And if you want more from the Bulb Hunter himself, check out his blog. Now we know he’s a kindred spirit.
Oh wow! What a great post – thank you for sharing all of that. I, too, have failed at some bulbs and have since limited myself to daffodils and an occasional hyacinth. Bursts of daffodils scattered around bring Spring to our garden for quite some time – with different bloom times and cycles. I do have some sort of oxblood lilies (i brought them from my previous garden because I couldn’t bear to part with them), though they are red all the way down the stem when they bloom – unlike the one in your photo. I will be buying some bulbs this Fall for sure!
What kinds of daffodils have you had success with, Diana? I bought some ‘Avalanche’ and ‘Ice Follies’ from Brent & Becky’s Bulbs a few years ago. They are supposed to naturalize here, but mine have declined rather than spread. Of course, I probably need to divide them at this point . . . —Pam
Thank you for the this one, too! I want some of those Butter and Eggs daffodils (among other things!)! What a neat sounding company/group! Okay, I think I just might have to try an Oxblood lily, too!
Who could resist that name—‘Butter and Eggs’! Yes, it does sound like a company worth supporting. If you order, I hope you’ll let us know what you get and whether you’re pleased with the service. —Pam
Don’t forget about Tejas Native Bulbs either.
Thanks for the link, Bill! —Pam
Old House Gardens also has R. bifida, along with another bulb that seems to do well in the south: Lycoris radiata.
They’ve been discussing Rhodophiala on the PBS list recently, where I learned that it does not do well in northern California, so I guess it’s better that I forgot to order them. I’ll just have to admire yours from afar.
I’m sorry you can’t grow the Rhodophiala. That’ll give you a reason to visit the Austin garden-blogs though. 😉
And you’re right about the Lycoris radiata. I have several red spider lily bulbs in my front garden that I brought from my last garden, where I’d inherited them from the previous owner. They should be up soon. —Pam
And as long as you’re spending all this money, you’ll also want to buy Garden Bulbs for the South!
I’ll second Max’s suggestion to buy (or at least to read)Garden Bulbs for the South. Scott Ogden is one of my very favorite garden writers. Plus the book is written in a chronological fashion beginning with “Rain Lily Day,” that time in late August/early September when all the rain lilies bloom at once after a big rain.. So this seems like the perfect time to start it.
Rain Lily Day seems to be Rain Lily Week in my neighborhood. They’re up all around the ‘hood wherever neighbors haven’t been diligent about keeping the grass short. It pays to procrastinate sometimes. Thanks to you and Max for the book recommendation. —Pam
Just discovered another TX bulb source: Bayou City Bulbs.
Max, are you specializing in Southern bulbs/plants from afar? You seem to know a lot of resources for this part of the country, and you way out in California. ;- ) —Pam