A good, old friend sent me on my way with cheese grits to last a lifetime, telling me they were a good complement to fish. Just a few miles after leaving though, my eyelids grew rapidly heavier, so I pulled into a gas station off Old San Antonio Road. The cashier graciously told me to feel free to park at the station and take a nap in my truck, and I obliged.

A photo of good ol' OSR, a remnant of the state's El Camino Real de Los Tejas (via ilvisu's Flickr photostream).

With a power nap under my belt, I was able to make it to Davis Feed Store in Buffalo, Texas, where Mr. Davis has taken a run-of-the-mill feedlot and turned it into a full-scale gift shop with flowers and more. I dropped off some cut flowers, Crinum Powellii “Album” and “Roseum” varieties from our Southern Living Plant Collection, along with a display for the locals to enjoy. Buffalo brings to mind fond memories of my first Thanksgiving away from home in California, when as a college student I stayed with a friend’s family and cut down a Christmas tree with them.

I continued northeast to Garden Style in Tyler to pick up my bucket from the flower display. The rain lilies I left for the staff had opened up and looked perky and striking in a blue mason jar next to the register.

They may not be bulbs, but this pretty arrangement of hydrangeas in a pewter vase lifted my spirits after a long day!

Labels: bulb, bulb-hunting, crinum, cut flowers, iris, rain lily

Come back soon to learn how friends and strangers take care of a weary bulb farmer’s need for food, sleep, and lodging!

Labels: bulb-hunting, cut flowers, iris, rain lily, spider lily

It’s amazing what a little aromatherapy can do. Despite last weekend’s drudgery of pulling out ragweed, Black-eyed Susans, and bull nettle from the field, I’ve been rejuvenated by the intoxicating smell of gardenias blooming all over the South right now.

I spotted a beauty in Louisiana and clipped it for a shallow water dish in my bedroom that evening. The next morning I took a picture of another bud and bloom on the bush, and collected a cutting that I am trying to root out and turn into gardenia plant for the farm.


While that gardenia plant is just beginning its life cycle, the crinums here continue to amaze with their robust blooms. The grasshoppers are doing their best to interfere, so I am considering bringing in guineas again soon – if I’m able to find a way to protect them at night.

I’ve been feeding the bass fish in the lake at the farm, and they are also impressing with their growth.

Speaking of growth, I have been encouraged by the new opportunities coming Southern Bulbs’ way from local nurseries and florists.

A friend pointed me to a charming Tyler, Texas-based floral shop, Garden Style. With a crinum flower from the farm in hand, I decided to see if they might be interested in buying cut flowers from Southern Bulbs. They are eager to explore this avenue, as am I; since I often drive to Tyler two or three times in any given week, the arrangement would certainly subsidize some of my gas expense! Not to mention, it would give me the chance to share these stunning blooms as cut flowers on the local level.



Breedlove’s Nursery & Landscape, a local Tyler institution, just ordered spider lilies yesterday, and I was able to deliver them the same day directly into their lovely little display.



Unfortunately, not all of my sales efforts were as successful. Another, smaller nursery in Lindale, Texas refused Southern Bulbs, saying simply, “We don’t carry bulbs.” I don’t do hard sales, so I thanked them and left. If they only knew how special the spider lilies were that I had in my hands and how many customers ask for them!


::: Warning, shameless plug ahead! :::

As always, your orders are crucial to Southern Bulbs’ growth. Please let me know if I can answer any questions as you consider adding our exquisite offerings to your landscape.

Labels: bulb, crinum, cut flowers, fish, spider lily

A sawfish at the Dallas Aquarium (via oddharmonic's Flickr photostream).

I recently ran across an article about a man who cracked an egg hoping to prepare dinner, and instead of finding egg whites and yoke, he found a fully formed gecko. Unfortunately, I could relate to that man’s situation, since I cracked an egg at the cabin last week only to discover an unfamiliar, semi-solid goop inside… gross.

A fully formed gecko inside the membrane of a chicken egg (via The Daily Telegraph).

Last year I planted a row of what I thought were Crinum Ellen Bosanquet bulbs in the field, but I suspected some culprits of another variety might have sneaked into the row. Sure enough, when they bloomed last week I realized I had planted a mix of Ellen Bosanquets and the Crinum Walter Flory variety! The bulbs and foliage look nearly identical, but as you can see, the blooms are quite different, and the Walter Flory bloom much earlier than the Ellen Bosanquet. Walter Flory trumpets are more open and a softer pink, with gentle gradation toward the edges, while Ellen Bosanquets are a bright, bold magenta or burgundy, and the trumpets stay a little more closed.

Crinum Walter Flory blooms in the field. Though the bulbs and foliage resemble Crinum Ellen Bosanquets, the trumpets are quite distinct!

Crinum Ellen Bosanquet's spunky trumpets provide a beautiful pop of color on our farm, as well as in the home garden.

The trumpets of the Crinum Ellen Bosanquet remain narrowly open; a shyness that betrays her bold hue.

A random assortment of crinums in a bucket on the farm hint at the potential of these showstoppers in a flower arrangement.

Joining Mr. Flory and Ms. Bosanquet on the farm is Mrs. James Hendry, who has made an appearance next to my old truck.

A Crinum Mrs. James Hendry keeps my old truck company.

As I alluded toward the end of my last post, we hope to have Crinum Mrs. James Hendry available for sale very soon!

I’ll post more news from the farm before departing later this week for a bulb-hunting trip in Houston. Until then, I hope you’ll allow me to share some “housekeeping” updates. We have re-enabled the blog’s RSS feature, so those of you who would like to follow us in Google Reader or other feed readers may do so. Also, the comment function (next to the post title) has been restored, so please share your thoughts! I’ll look forward to reading them.

Labels: bulb, bulb-hunting, crinum, fish, planting

Click here to read Part 1

The Pickens are sixth-generation German Texans, and gardening truly runs in Mary Anne’s blood. Not only is she the former president of the Southern Garden History Society; her grandfather ran a nursery in the region. As a result, Mary Anne maintains a beautiful collection of naturalized, heirloom oxblood lilies, several hundred of which she kindly allowed me to take back to the farm.

A haphazard congregation of oxblood lilies

The Pickens began telling me about a giant crinum blooming nearby. It turns out it was a Crinum Powellii "Roseum," which Southern Bulbs sells, along with the white Crinum Powellii “Album” variety. As I listened to Mary Anne share her hope of one day digging up the nearby crinum and making a home for it, I couldn’t help but think of the pile of broken shovels I have amassed trying to liberate several crinums whose roots have grown and strengthened to the point that extraction becomes impossible.

Rest assured, if you plant one of these lovely, Southern bulbs, it will gladly establish itself, even in poor soil.

Another garden friend in Southeast Texas shared this photo of blooming Crinum Powellii "Album."

Reenergized by such a pleasant visit, I stopped and said "hello" to another gardening friend in the area, whose stunning Crinum Mrs. James Hendry supply was in full bloom. I was tempted to steal a few, but again, visions of the shovel graveyard danced in my head. We are working on having more of the Mrs. James Hendry variety available soon, once I invest in a double-reinforced titanium steel shovel.

A "glamour shot" of a Crinum Mrs. James Hendry

A Crinum Mrs. James Hendry in Southeast Texas. We're working to build up our inventory of this stunning bloom.

Expect more news from the farm soon, as I have just returned from a business trip to Mississippi where I stayed at a 1920s home a few miles outside of Monroe. The fireflies illuminated the dusk on Thursday night as this small town’s entire population filled the stands of a modest baseball field to cheer on the high school team.

A crow perched atop the old Mississippi home where I stayed

It was difficult to leave such a Rockwellian scene, but duty called. I returned to the farm to rebuild the cold frame that succumbed to an accidental fire last year and last seasons devastating winds.

Lucky for me, crinums are much easier to plant than they are to extract; I am spending the remainder of the week planting crinums in our field.

Labels: bulb, bulb-hunting, crinum, oxblood, planting