Southern Bulb Company

A Little Rain

2008-07-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

We received a little rain last night (0.04 inches and are thankful for it), but the clouds would not open up and give us the amount of water that we really wanted or needed to revive the land. We remain dry. Here is a nice picture of today's sun!

The Byzantines are selling fast, as we just launched an e-mail campaign. Be sure to get them while you can.

The crinums are surviving the drought, but they have looked better! This burgundy Crinum Ellen Bosanquet is blooming, but you can see how it is not in it's peak condition.

The Crinum 'Summer Nocturne' is doing much, much better. The fragrance is out of this world.

The wax myrtle shrubs we planted for a natural screen seem to be doing the best. They are a native (Myrica cerifera)and explains their adaptation to this long dry period.

Grasshoppers are a problem this year, but we have some natural controls. I would like to formally thank the cardinal society for their contributions to our ongoing efforts to keep our streets clean of overeating grasshoppers.

Harvest Day 7: No Rain

2008-07-22T21:44:00.000-07:00

It was another day of harvest and clean up around the farm, with a fresh batch of Byzantine gladiolus corms coming in.

Perhaps really the only exciting thing to happen was the killing of the brown recluse that was hiding in a box I had in storage. I posted the picture in case any body ever needs to identify a brown recluse (I have other angles if needed).

Again, no rain today and the elephant ears could use some.

Below is the row of Byzantines I've been working on. Below that picture is the video explaining why the field is "dying" and an answer to the UPS man's question"What's happened to all of your bulbs?" The UPS man has always been a nice break during the day. They have a show called "Taxi Cab Confessions." I think I'll start a newsletter for small business owners titled something like "UPS Driver Confessions: What a UPS man can tell you about business."

The end of the day is always nice, and here are some pictures of the pond at the farm and the cabin from today.

Rain

2008-07-22T03:44:00.000-07:00

So far July 9 and July 13th are the only days that we have had rain here. Yes, we are in the middle of harvest, but we could use some rain. That is especially true for our elephant ears, which unfortunately have suffered severely. I have changed my mind on what I said about rain in an earlier video. If you live in a rural area long enough, you will always here farmers say there is too much rain or not enough rain...very few times is it just right.

Byzantine glad harvest continues. Another 120 were dug yesterday evening and about three times that yesterday morning.

Harvest Day 5

2008-07-19T19:33:00.000-07:00

The harvest continues with more Byzantine glads. It's going to be 103 on Monday! We could use some rain.

Harvest Day 3

2008-07-18T05:13:00.001-07:00

Another 104 Byzantine gladiolus are out of the ground. The moon was blood red coming up over the field last night. I do not believe the picture fully captured it. The sun rise was fiery red coming up this morning.
And in case your wandering how a bulb farm looks in the summer (minus the crinums and elephant ears) here is a picture for you. I would not come and visit right now.

Harvest Day 2: Another Batch of Byzantines

2008-07-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

In case you missed out on the first sell of Byzantines, we had another 108 come out of the ground today. Here is the link to Southern Bulb product page.

The moon was rising over the Southwest corner of the field as I was finishing up today and though that it made a nice scene.

Harvest Has Begun: First Bulbs are Available!

2008-07-15T22:09:00.001-07:00

The Byzantine gladioli are available and for the first time this year, and we are letting you have the chance to purchase them, AS THEY BECOME AVAILABLE. I dug them myself today and will continue dig bulbs over the next three weeks. As I dig them, I will let you just how many we have for sell, and customers will be allowed a first come, first serve purchase option. We sell out every year, so now is your chance to get them right away. Plus, during harvest you can get them for only $10 a piece...that is the cheapest this rare bulb has ever been offered!

We planted the gladioli in wire this year to deter the gophers from eating them. Below is the progress of harvest.I took some video today and some pictures so you can watch the progress. The AC is out on the office trailer, and that is where I am staying tonight. After working in the field all day, I feel as if I am becoming acclimated to the heat though. Our AC has been out for a couple of weeks but it should be fixed tomorrow which is wonderful news!

Hymenocallis Blooming

2008-06-23T15:39:00.000-07:00

We have an early blooming Hymenocallis that we are looking at in our fields. The most common Hymenocallis in gardens around the south is the H. ‘Tropical Giant’ variety, and the most common Hymenocallis found natively in open fields, swamps, etc. is the H. liriosme.

Based on it’s aggressive growth (look at the roots above after only one month of growth) and early blooming period, I do not believe it to be one of those two. As we observe it grow over this season and the next, we will hope to come to a conclusion and will be sure to let you know!

Pink Crinum powellii and a Swim!

2008-06-11T07:25:00.000-07:00

It is warming up out here, letting us know that summer is upon us. The grasshoppers are beginning to show up everywhere! I took a walk through our old field where I have left some bulbs including a row of pink Crinum powellii. Enjoy the pictures. I am going to weed eat around our wax myrtles today, and make a trail to the catch pond through the tall grass...then I think I will jump in and cool off! I'll let you know if the water moccasins get me.

For some reason our server went down and it took me a while to post this e-mail. I have since gone swimming in our catch pond and it was quite delightful! Now it is on to other tasks, and you will hopefully hear from me tomorrow.

Derelict House, Not Derelict Bulbs

2008-06-06T08:49:00.000-07:00

It remains hot, windy, and dry...the perfect recipe to dry out leaves and stress plants. Looks like we might have some rain on the way though.

A lady recently read about our story in the Southern Living Magazine and wrote in:

"If you're still looking for bulbs there's a remarkable farmhouse - now-derelict and abandoned - behind a gas station and fast-food restaurant in XXXXXX on the southeast quadrant of the road. There's a truck stop we eat at when going to Houston called Sam's Cafe on the northeast side of the intersection. Lots of signs will tell you to exit for Sam's. Good down-home cooking.
We happened to stop at the cafe during daffodil/narcissus season one year and were captivated by the old house absolutely surrounded in blooms - a sea of yellow and white - still glorious. I took several photos."

Thanks Susan for writing us and sharing your photos!

Crinums in Bloom

2008-06-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

I seem to be on the road even more these days, but I am back at the farm keeping things clean. My lack of time on the farm is a testimony to the strength of the bulbs. Even in the now drier weather, they grow and bloom without irrigation...and what a show they put on!

Blooming right now is one of our Crinum 'Milk and Wine' varieties.

Also beginning to bloom is our Crinum 'Bradley' bulbs.

We have some black-eyed susans (Rudbeckia hirta) making an appearance amongst our elephant ears. They are a wonderful wildflower brightening Texas Highways, parks, and any other open space where they can colonize.

Short Iris x albicans ( cemetery white ) story

2008-05-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

After losing my camera on my last traveling experience, I have been hesitant to take it with me on flying trips. Lately I have had to do a lot of flying which means no camera, but I should have my nerve up soon!

Yesterday I heard from a lady in Texas about some bulbs that have been in her family for several generations. We hear many of stories and I thought I would share this one with you:

" I am in the process of selling my great-grandmother's land and have rescued some bulbs from the land before the sale. I'm guessing they are irises because those were always her favorite....I think this would be a wonderful tribute to her because she loved bulbs so much. The land the bulbs were taken from is in Teague, Texas. We sold the house that was on the land long ago, but I got out there with a shovel this past weekend and waded through the high grass until I found the slab and the area where she had her garden and found two large areas of bulbs. There may be more out there. I remember seeing either a TV special or reading an article on you guys... and thought, 'I wonder if they'd be interested in those poor abandoned bulbs my great-grandmother cherished so much'.

Her grandmother had the very fitting name of "Flora."

I think she was mentioning Iris x albicans (the old cemetery white iris), especially if she was talking about the Teague area and surviving on their own for several generations.

Thank you for thinking of us! We do care about the bulbs. Please send us some pictures once their blooming and good luck!

-Chris

Spring Orders are Closing Today

2008-05-12T06:27:00.000-07:00

Today is the last day for spring orders! Some of the crinums we have for sale will not be for sale again for a long time as we move to propagate them to larger numbers.

Ann Swan has finished her latest piece, and many are pronouncing it their immediate favorite. The drawing is a fabulous rendition of the South's famous spider lily, Lycoris radiata. Thank you Ann, for helping us preserve our gardening history through your fine pieces of art.

Texas State Master Gardener Conference

2008-05-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

Last week was a busy week, and it started with the Friday before with a talk at the Texas State Master Gardener Conference in Conroe, Texas. The master gardeners have a fabulous display garden that the entire group pitches in to help with.They also had some Byzantine gladiolus blooming, but it looks like they were planted late or squashed by something because they were a little stunted. They will overcome that by next year.

This week is another week on the farm. Ann Swan's spider lily prints have made it here and I will begin to ship those out to the customers who have pre-ordered them. The renovations to the lake are completed and it is beginning to fill up with water!

Camera in Hand for Byzantine Gladiolus Weekend!

2008-04-21T06:01:00.000-07:00

Well, a special thanks to my new ebay friend "1wgw1" who sold me an excellent camera and shipped it immediately in nice packaging. It arrived just in time for our Byzantine Gladiolus Weekend. SOOOO, pictures and blogging is back!John and Erin came were absolutely wonderful as we prepared for the four hour open house.The Byzantines were just opening up, even though they are blooming about a week later than normal for us. We were also selling the last of our crinums that we had for sale before we put them in the ground later this week or early next.Brad was here sporting his Southern Bulb shirt and keeping things going in all the areas that we needed help.Some of the tour later joined us for a trip to the cabin.

Overall it was a great weekend. I drove to Dallas afterwards for another event that evening. I slept late the next day, Sunday. I took the day off and am now back at the farm. There are MANY e-mails stacked up, and I will be working through those today and the rest of the week, and I am sorry if you have not heard back from me yet. Hope everyone has a great week.

Camera

2008-04-07T09:02:00.000-07:00

It looks like my camera is gone, gone, gone, and what a mental blow it does to my blogging desires. I still have a few pictures left over of some recent bloomers, and I will share those with you. In the meantime, I will be in the market for another Canon EOS 20D...I might need to buy a used one if anyone has any leads, my e-mail is chris@southernbulbs.com I will also let US Airways know about the incident.A couple weeks ago it was a our species tulips that ruled the day. Their colors were amazing, and they have now come back for us three years in a row, blooming wonderfully and propagating even better.The hoop petticoats also made an appearance and are always a delicate delight.

Lost Camera

2008-03-24T07:19:00.000-07:00

I have been taking a lot of pictures, but I am afraid I left my very nice camera on my US Airways flight in Phoenix and they are yet to find it. It was a Saturday flight and they sent the plane back to the hanger after we unloaded. My camera was up in the overhead storage. They assured me they would go look for it and call me back......

I am back in Texas now and spring came out overnight. Just two weeks ago we had snow. Last week it warmed up and we began shipping all of our orders out. The rest are shipping out this week.

We now have about a month to enjoy spring and then no doubt summer will be here. At the farm, an Ipheion 'Alberto Castillo' is blooming nicely. It was a gift from my host in Alexandria, VA when I spoke to the Potomac Chapter of the Rock Garden Society.

On the Hunt

2008-03-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

The tulips are really coming into bloom. Here they are accented by the Narcissus tazetta 'Grand Primo' bulbs in a shot I took yesterday.Monroe continues to impress me. They wrote a nice piece about my speech there a couple day ago titled "On the Hunt."

While having dinner in Monroe, I visited with one lovely lady who was diagnosed with West Nile about 10 years ago. She had to relearn everything, including how to speak. When her grandmother was a child, the local Episcopal church burned down. Her grandmother rode her bike by the church and the men who were repairing the church asked the then young girl if she would like some of the irises that had survived the fire. She said yes and carried them home on her bike, and the irises have been in the family ever since.The lightning lit up the sky last night in a fabulous storm that kept me up for awhile. Then came the rain, which I actually did not want as it will make for a muddy harvest today! We are almost done harvesting the bulbs and will begin shipping orders out on Monday!

More on Monroe

2008-03-13T06:20:00.000-07:00

Monroe was a wonderful town and welcomed me with open arms! I even had a daffodil cake which I just could not get over. It tasted delicious, but we did pull the daffodils out. Thank you Mrs. A for making it and giving me a wonderful tour. Your potted plant combinations were fun and your bulb hunting adventures along the bayou were fantastic. This site of Ipheion on the bayou was unbelievable.

Working in the fields today, harvesting some bulbs and cleaning up other rows. The birds are already active chirping away and we have more frogs out here then ever. They are LOUD at night right now. It looks like it is going to be another beautiful day!

Monroe

2008-03-12T09:39:00.001-07:00

Made it back from Monroe at 2am. Spent the day speaking and bulb hunting! More to come.

Cold Weather and Dallas Arboretum

2008-03-10T06:31:00.001-07:00

I have made it to Monroe to speak to the Monroe Garden Club today. That makes my visits to Monroe twice in two weeks!

This morning I managed to make the pictures work for yesterday's blog.

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Last week was a busy week down and the cabin away from internet, so I apologize to all of the blog readers. We had snow and rain and it made for some wet times.

By Friday I had made it to the Dallas Arboretum with my guests. It was the day before they opened for "Dallas Blooms," an event that draws large crowds from around the world every year. Jimmy Turner, director of plant research and Mr. Creative himself gave us a wonderful tour. Being the day before the Dallas Blooms opening, I don't know how he kept his nerve and dedicated the time to us that he did.

At another home in Dallas, the little grape hyacinths were coming into full bloom as they are around the South.

Englishmen, Bulbs, and Louisiana

2008-03-03T06:19:00.000-08:00

I had a guest every day last week, with about one hour in between each one. The week ended with a trip to Louisiana. Much of the time I did not have internet access, so here is a quick recap.

At the cabin I had a group of Englishmen. They were a delightful crowd and we had a wonderful time. They enjoyed some time fishing by the cabin. Martin sure knows how to cook an English breakfast.

After the crew departed for the rest of their trip across Texas, I had time for a short little bulb hunt. This site with an old barn was home to some campernelles, but down the road was an open pasture that was full of campernelles (Narcissus x odorus) and Texas star jonquils (Narcissus x intermedius).

The next morning I left for a trip to Shreveport, Louisiana where I stopped for a talk at Garrisons Greenwood Nursery. Mark, one of the owners, was a delight to work with and is doing wonderful things drawing in speakers and large crowds to their nursery just west of town and off of Interstate 20. The crowd was engaging and nice, but I threatened that if any of them lost interest I would use one of the nursery’s giant elephant hears to keep them awake. They had lots of questions at the end, which I always enjoy.

Continuing down Interstate 20, I saw numerous bulbs scattered across the median between the roads. These were more Texas stars. Traveling through Monroe was a delight and it is to be noted that the Penthouse belonging to the old Louisiana State Representative Shady Wall is under renovation.

After Monroe, I went South to a little town of Mangham.

Dr. Bill Welch has a home. The flower bulbs, forsythia, saucer magnolias (Magnolia x soulangiana), and more were making a spectacular display.

Narcissus trevithian, Narcissus tazetta ‘Grand Primo’, blue Roman hyacinths, and pink hyacinths made a nice bulb border. Here is the same border from the reverse angle.

Snowflake bulbs (Leucojum aestivum) are sometimes not fully appreciated until seen in mature clumps. Here they can be seen making a nice border.

The same holds true for the ‘Grand Primo.’ Here a mature clump adds an extreme splash of color. Albeit white, it still makes an impressive impact.

The forsythia was in complete bloom.

The Roman hyacinths (Hyacinthus orientalis) and snowflakes went well together.

Last Freeze?

2008-02-27T07:03:00.000-08:00

Last week I brought crinums up from Houston. They were happy growing down there, but I'm afraid this freeze that we had last night will knock their foliage back down. We always seem to have a freeze right when we think the cold weather might be over.

I drove by this site last week. This tree and these jonquils are no longer there. Thank you to the contractor who allowed us to dig.Sun is out now and the day should warm up nicely! That is good because there is a lot of work to do in the fields.

Morning Light at the Farm

2008-02-25T07:03:00.000-08:00

I made it back to the farm late Saturday night. Sunday was a restful day, and today I have been answering customer e-mails. This morning I stepped outside to get a few shots of the farm in the early morning light. The birds are active this morning, making their presence known through their song and color. I already have the doors open for what is to be a beautiful day.

The light shone through this jonquil in an attractive way.

The campernelles are beginning to make a nice showing.
The Narcissus 'Golden Dawn' flowers are making a good showing, but these are blooming earlier than than normal.Here are some of my friends who accompanied on my walk of the farm this morning.

Yes, it is going to be a great day!

Bulbs in Houston

2008-02-23T08:25:00.000-08:00

I have successfully made it to Houston, with the trailer and all. In case any body was wondering, the toll for a truck and trailer on Beltway 8 is $3, and if you stay at a hotel in the Galleria area for a wedding, it's best to find a place to park the trailer because the valet guys won't touch it.

Along the way down, there were many bulbs blooming in run down home sites. One of my favorite sites of bulbs, is this patch of jonquils that sits below a billboard in Buffalo, Texas. The jonquils weren't quite in full bloom yet. Since the jonquils set so many seeds, there are populations of different types of species floating around the South, and this grouping always blooms a little later than others.

In College Station, one avid gardener was employing a nice technique to enjoy Narcissus tazetta 'Grand Primo' blooms. After the blooms are over, most of the foliage stays hidden behind the Ilex vomitoria 'nana' hedge. Later in the spring, the lantana that has been trimmed down for the winter will grow up and cover the yellowing foliage.Along the trip down here, I passed one of my favorite trees and one of only three trees that I know of in the state that is host to a hanging moss variety of Usneoides. Spanish moss is Tillandsia usneoides, a common variety in coastal areas, but this true Usneoides seems to do well much farther north.Once in Houston, I visited with Heidi Sheesley of Treesearch Farms. She grows Crinum asiaticum bulbs at the farm, and she took my picture next to the specimens she has growing by her lake. This species of Crinum really becomes a small tree. Heidi has some beautiful flowering magnolias in bloom at the moment and is one of the best sources of knowledge and product in the Houston area. She also had some beautiful snowflakes (Leucojum aestivum) blooming at her place.After a long day of battling the roads in Houston, I finally made it to the hotel. From my room, I took a picture of the traffic I was glad to not be in.