In Houston today visiting gardens, garden centers, and staying in touch with all of the friends of Southern Bulb. We redirected the address for the blog and all of the pictures point to the wrong place at the moment, so the pictures will hopefully be up sometime soon. We are all glad to have the fourth of July coming up and look forward to a break somewhere in there.

All of the bulb boys and the bulb girl are scattered around until about next Thursday, when we all reconvene for a large weekend. There just isn’t enough time!

The Watermelon Thump was awesome. It seems as though everyone within a couple hours of Luling looks forward to Thump Weekend. There are events for everyone and it is very family friendly. Also, my brother Sam was able to work the festival with me.
The Grand Champion Black Diamond watermelon sold at auction for $8,200. The locals really support their farmers even though this was a drought year. The auctioneer got everyone excited and said, "come on, let's do bi-nesss!" to those who were on the fence of upping the ante. Very entertaining. Under the same pavilion Saturday night my friend Bret, my brother and I saw Robert Earl Keen put on a good show.

Also on Saturday, the world famous watermelon seed spitting contest took place on the official spitway in an alley between two buildings downtown. The rules are a little strange, but everyone had a great time spitting and the bleachers (yes, the bleachers) were full. Did you know that the world record was set in Luling in 1989? 68' 9(1/8)". Thats a long way. The parade had good floats and there was a classic car show on Sunday.


Whats more, we were able to help many families add perennial color and longevity to their new gardens in the Austin and San Antonio areas. They loved that our bulbs were Texas grown and held true even in the southern heat.

Grant and Sam returned from the Watermelon Thump yesterday. Apparently the Watermelon Queen waved at Grant and he fell head over heels. They have promised me they would blog about the event and share some pictures. We are so excited to have Sam here until Friday and hope he enjoys the experience that we call The Southern Bulb Company.

Last week I really needed some flowers to take pictures of, but NOTHING was blooming. I say nothing, but have we forgotten the basic pleasures of a simple milk and wine crinum. They were putting on their second bloom of the season following a good rain. Often dogged for their smaller blooms and messy foliage, these were the only true show stoppers last week. Yes, many tiger lilies and spider lilies (Hymenocallis ‘Tropical Giant’) are coming into bloom now also, but let's not forget these treasures.



In certain areas, rain lilies were making quite a show. On one abandoned lot there were some Zephyranthes grandiflora surviving in a semi-shaded area, and in the full sun at a house in college station, Habranthus robustus was really making a show. Below is a picture of Cynthia Mueller with an impressive display at her garden.


It is definitely hot right now, but the mornings have been cooler. It is the little things, like this morning light filtering through the trees along an old country road that really make us stop and enjoy our surroundings. No doubt it will be a scorcher by the end of today, so we better get to it!

Gone...everything is gone. No hope of recovering 2 years of high resolution pictures, all of my e-mails, all of my contacts, completely gone. I am somewhat lost right now, but there are other things I can be working on. My hard drive and computer weren't even a year old, straight from a well known company.

Just for all of you gardening fanatics though, here is a picture of a Crocosmia sp. being grown in part shade in Houston. There is a whole lot of foliage and a little bloom. It would probably do better in the sun with less fertilizer to induce more blooms and less foliage.


Also, I wanted to share a picture of my favorite little garden friend the anole (Anolis carolinensis). When I was a kid I would make them open their mouths and then clamp down on my ears and use them as ear rings. It worked fine until I used a really big one that clamped down and drew blood. My grandmother, whom was babysitting me, became so frightened that she called my mom out of an important meeting at work. I no longer use them for ear rings, but do admire them for their important use as a biological control and for their brave nature that allows you to come right up to them. This one is showing its dewlap probably telling me that this is HIS area.

Last week I had the good fortune of enjoying my book while taking in the slight, pleasant fragrance of the Crinum 'Mrs. James Hendry.' There is always much debate about Crinums (some people hate them and others love them), but nobody can deny the clean foliage, beautiful light pink flowers, and fantastic fragrance of 'Mrs. James Hendry.' Furthermore, the bulb continues to produce several scapes throughout the summer, giving a repeat bloom when most plants just give up!



But one doesn't have to look up 4 feet to find a pink flower blooming. All along the borders of this grand garden bed were the wonderful blooms (third of the summer) from the pink rain lily, Habranthus robustus. When thinking rain lily, don't think small blooms.
These large pink trumpet shaped blooms make up for the not so spectacular foliage that just lays across the ground. Look for the blooms a few days after a rain, and then look for the seed pods once the blooms have finished. This rain lily is a must and we look forward to carrying it someday soon.

While in the neighborhood, I had the good fortune of visiting with Mr. and Mrs. Still. I don't think you could meet any better Aggies (Texas A&M) and I also don't think you could meet many better gardeners. There Vitex tree was finishing up, but their Esperanza was in full bloom and looked spectacular. Mr. Still shared a wonderful story of his "blind date" with Hurricane Audrey on June 27, 1957. At the bottom, I included the opening excerpt from the January 1959 issue of Texas A&M Engineer--thrilling story.



“All my life I have avoided blind dates; however, my blind date with Audrey on June 27, 1957 was different because I asked for it and didn’t have sense enough to be afraid until it was all over. Some blind dates end eventually in marriage. It was pure luck that my date with Audrey didn’t end in death….” YOU MUST READ MORE!!!

As many of you know, I spent quite a bit of time in Houston last week. There were many beautiful bulbs in bloom, but one of my favorites was most certainly the Philippine Lily (Lilium formosanum) blooming at MD Anderson. All of the lilies were blooming at a similar height and at the same time. Apparently all of the bulbs preferred the raised bed in which they were so elegantly presented. I particularly like the contrast of the pennisetum in the back ground, along with the rest of the landscape. To me it shows how beautifully and perfectly bulbs can fit into well manicured landscapes-- even those in an urban setting!




We (the proverbial we) had some great discussion today over the use of organic material today and its use on bulbs. The general consensus was that all bulbs prefer a well draining sandy loam soil and don’t respond so great to organic matter. Of course that is a GENERAL rule and can loosely be applied to our bulbs, many of which perform well in all types of soils and environments. Some of the largest spider lilies (Lycoris radiata) I have seen were from areas with several layers of leaves covering them, and most crinums I know grow exceptionally well in the gumbo of Houston.

Leaving tomorrow at 4:30 in the morning and will be busy most of the day, so I am posting the blog tonight. Hope you enjoy! (P.S. I am trying to respond to all of the e-mails, but my computer crashing doesn't help...please forgive me.)

Last night I had the good fortune of sitting down at my office after a week long absence and found my computer with its firewall down, downloading all sorts of updates and acting strange. Needless to say, my hard drive crashed! All of my beautiful pictures! It is undergoing surgery in Tyler right now to fix the problem and hopefully recover all of my lost info.



However, I still have all of my pictures from the last trip and will try to write about them in sequence as the days go by. I had a wonderful visit at The Arborgate Nursery in Tomball. Beverly and Pheobe were so kind to show me around as we discussed all of the fun and amazing possibilities in Horticulture. They had a wonderful display of a burgundy form of Crinum 'Queen Emma.' This beauty was at least 5 feet tall and I wonder how much more it had to go! If you are trying to make a statement or want a centerpiece for your garden (Gulf Coast regions) then you might give it a try.



Also blooming were some of our favorite summer bloomers the Tiger Lily (Lilium tigrinum/lancifolium) and Gladiolus natalensis. It is amazing to note how the environment can change bloom times. Our parrot glads finished such a long time ago and so had many of theirs, but these were tucked away in an area next to a structure and in a cooler patio area. Mother Nature always has fun with those sort of things!



One of the most special areas of the nursery was the herb garden, dedicated to Madalene Hill. Madalene Hill had such (and still has!) an influence in the world of herbs and I would do it injustice to ruin her great legacy by trying to write about it on my short blog. I had the pleasure of meeting her last year at Festival Hill at Roundtop while speaking at the Oktober Gartenfest and had a wonderful visit. The inscription reads "This garden honors Madalene Hill...herbal mentor & educator...dedicated February 6, 2005."



The Arborgate was beautiful, so if you live near Northwest Houston, stop on by sometime. They will be carrying our bulbs this fall and I will be speaking there on Tuesday October 10th, at 10AM so come on by! You might even get the normally quiet mariachi band to play you a tune...

Just had a wonderful walk around the MD Anderson Center hear in Houston and saw some wonderful plants. One of my favorites had to have been the Near East Crape Myrtle planted by the fountain in the LeRoy Melcher memorial area. It had a nice magageable size with a weeping habit and was covered in beautiful pink blooms. Apparently it doesn't do so well north of hear.

Another favorite was the stand of Philippine Lilies in a raised bed along with some ornamental grasses. I didn't think they would be in full bloom yet, but there they were! I left with a promise of some seed when they mature in early fall. Philippine Lilies thrive throughout zones 8 and 9. Dr. Welch was pleased to see the large planting of lilies and has been growing Philippine Lilies for at least 20 years and thinks they should be much more widely grown and available.

I find myself in Houston once again! I drove to Dallas last night to cut my trip to Independence, Texas in half. After spending the morning there, I traveled to The Arbor Gate in Tomball near Houston. If you live in the Northwest Houston area, you MUST visit Arbor Gate. They have a great website and an even better on site location. I took some great pictures, but I am staying in a place where I cannot download my photos. I will post them as soon as I can and share the beautiful sites and flowers from the day. On Tuesday October 10 at 10AM (10-10-10!) I have the honor of an invitation to visit with and share bulb stories to the great customers of Arbor Gate. Be sure to come on by!

We were extremely busy at the office today with customers. With the publicity we have coming up, I hope we have enough bulbs for this fall. Propagation is the word and quick’s the action!

All of our hats go off to Ben today who created his own little dust bowl in the field. It was a noble cause though, as he was harvesting our Byzantine gladiolas. They are a site to behold, with some monsters weighing in at a size twelve. Not nearly are all of them that size, but they will be a good stock for propagating our future inventories.



I will be honest; I went on a small vacation with my brother last week. Unfortunately my dad was tied up and couldn't make it. Thank you Mr. Hyde for such a wonderful boat and help through your store over the past 5 years. I saw a moose, several beavers, a weasel, and had an osprey attack the fish on my line. I have never seen an osprey more confused then the one I saw dive into the water, grab my trout, and not be able to fly off. He sort of sat there in the water for awhile, looked to the left and to the right--as if to ask the rest of the animal kingdom if they saw what was going on--and tried one more time to fly off with my fish. He gave up and I got my fish!

Last fall, I was provided with the honorable opportunity to plant the vast majority our bulb stock. The results were informative and educational to say the least! A little background before I go further though. As a pilot, I make a living off of characteristics such as keen attention to details, an ability to understand and follow intricate directions, the belief in pre-planning and lastly, portraying a ‘can do’ attitude, (which sometimes can easily spill over into, and be interpreted as, arrogance). Unfortunately, as a farmer early one fall morning in East Texas, I took the negative aspects of all my aviation qualities and applied them to our fall planting. At 2 in the freezing fall morning, standing knee deep in our wonderfully newly plowed East Texas sandy loam soil, I came to the shocking reality that I was not prepared. Having neither completed adequate pre-planning and/or sought detailed instructions on the plant, I was in trouble. All of this of course was spurred by my ‘can do’ attitude, which at the time leaned heavily towards that negative characteristic mentioned above as arrogance. Not to be deterred of course! My planting continued one incorrectly placed bulb at a time. The result; tens of thousands of bulbs placed deeper than we would have liked. After months of jeering and friendly arrows delicately directed at my ‘can do’ attitude, something quite impressive unfolded at the time of harvest this year. The, bulbs, did amazingly, even unbelievably well! There were healthy, large, and they even managed to propagate. The depth at which the bulbs were planted of course, (for reasons of protecting what pride I can salvage), will remain a secret. The one thing that can be said though is what a testament my faulty pride is to the durability of these bulbs. If, as a gardener, experienced or new to the art, you find your green thumb plagued with pride, untimely ignorance and a dangerous ‘can do’ attitude with respect to the ground and the bulbs that make their living in it, these bulbs are for you…they are truly, ‘pilot proof!’

Well, after breakfast this morning with the Southern Region Master Gardeners, we headed to Atlanta. Instead of driving all the way back to the farm and arriving sometime early morning (1-3AM) we decided to visit John and Erin's new apartment. We will cut out sometime early morning and try to make the drive back to Texas and arrive at a decent hour.

We wish all the Tennessee gardeners the best of luck with their new bulbs!

We are sorry to see it go, but our Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) by the entrance is coming to an end. I'm sure the plant will live through this draught we are having, but the fiery orange blooms are not as striking as they once were. Staying true to its described culture, it is a volunteer wildflower in our bar-ditch. I wouldn't mind if the whole ditch was filled with them.

Our ditch might not be here much longer though. Highway 69 is set to expand to four lanes, and it will take out a nice chunk of our front acreage. A survey crew came by today working on preliminary markings of boundary lines. The new highway will be nice, but we will miss the large front pasture. Life's about changing nothing ever stays the same.

John and Erin left today. We no longer have a place to do laundry, relax on a sofa, watch TV, etc. Something will have to be done; otherwise, I am afraid we might hurt each other. It is only so long before a bunch of “20 somethings” start to have personality conflicts! I say that in jest, but it would be nice if we had a place to relax.

Grasshoppers are plaguing our land. I am glad that we don't have too many of our summer growing plants out in the field, or they might not have any leaves left. I have even seen grasshoppers eat the actual bulb! Our crates have been dusted in sulphur to ward off any would be pests, including mice and grasshoppers.

Most of us leave tomorrow morning for Chattanooga, Tennessee for the Southern Region Master Gardener Conference. If you would like to hear great information about bulbs for warm climates and bulbs for the South, mixed in with some adventurous stories, please stop by!

Well we are all back in the swing of things. Harvesting continues to go well with the single row sweet potato digger working nice for us. We applied sulphur to the bulbs that have already been harvested. Ben has taken all of his OSHA classes and is really doing a great job with the requirements put forth.

We are losing Michael today and wish him well. He has been such a great help over the past couple of weeks. He is such a hard worker not to mention his great sense of humor. We also call him the bass-slayer.

Grant arrived home last night after a successful weekend at the Shrimporee in Aransas Pass. We did really well as we continued to promote a successful product even for the Gulf South. Grant is another incredibly hard worker that continues to drive on even when the feelings stop and discipline kicks in. Thanks Grant.

We are loosing my brother to Atlanta. It is hard for Delta Connection pilots to commute sometimes and still have the extra time for everything else in their lives. He will no doubt remain an invaluable help to the business, but he and Erin will be greatly missed. They really had the only stable place for all of us to relax. We might need to do something new now.

All of us are headed to the Southern Region Master Gardener Conference this weekend in Tennessee. Should be a lot of fun.

We have some people in our thoughts and prayers today. Not everyday can be "great".

I have been out of town for about a week. Lots to do in the office and then some great updates from the front lines!