Yes, it is 4Am and we are still up. Cheers to all nighters--I feel like I'm back in the corps of cadets and I an studying for a final. Brad is in the shed packing orders; I'm working on a presentation. I used to tell my outfit in college that the world lived and died by deadlines...

There is no slowing down around the Southern Bulb Company. Monday morning Ben and I left College Station at 4AM, headed to Rockwall, and made it back to the farm about 9:30AM. I spent all day doing catch up and preparing for the week ahead. Brad arrived back around 8:30PM at which point we began our discussions. After all was said and done, I was up until 1AM. Probably should have been later, since when I woke at 6AM, I worked until 8:30 just to finish preparations for my trip to Dallas. I never even made it to the cabin; just slept in the office.

Dallas was busy, and I had to prepare for the speech to the Fort Worth Organic Club at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. It was really just another typical day in my bulb hunting life. The first thing I noticed as I pulled up to the botanical gardens were all of the rain lily seed pods that were bursting all over the place. After getting over the bulb stuff, I realized I had to shave and change clothes. So, there I was as always, sneaking into a nice restroom with my docket. After I found what I thought was the most remote restroom, I began to shave. Of course, somebody walked in. A little taken back at what was going on, all the person could say was "I hear you get a pretty close shave using a straight razor."

"Yep, at least I think so," I responded. After our short dialogue he left and I resumed my shave while listening to muscitran instrumental remakes of popular hit songs.

It was with these humorous thoughts that I walked into the hall and gave my speech to about 75 people. They all seemed to like the presentation. I really feel like Indiana Jones sometimes, leaving the bulb hunting adventures to come give a lecture after cleaning up as best I can. Now all I am missing are the pretty girls in the front of the room with something written on their eyelids. Actually, the ladies last night were all very pretty, they just didn't have messages written.

Stayed at a nice home in Dallas--thank you very much to my gracious host. Was busy in Dallas all day, and made it back to the farm at about 9PM. It's now 12:04 and I have a clean desk and am organized. I have to pay bills, and write a speech before I leave for Houston tomorrow morning, so I better hop to!

I have all of my old pictures back from my old computer. Here's a fun one recently taken by Farmer Arcuni showing oxbloods at the base of a tree.

We had a busy week. In fact, I am just now being able to check my e-mails and am waiting for 198 to download. Not a lot for some of you, but many of these I have to respond to. What a wonderful week it was and more will come on it later.

We have just released the first piece of work from Ann Swan titled "Bulbs in a Line." It is truly amazing and we are proud to offer it first on our website. Next week she will be in Texas to observe more of the bulbs in bloom and be introduced to some of the other varieties. What an honor it will be to welcome her here to our state and show her what we are all so proud of.

I continue to read about the British during the Napoleonic Wars, a time when botany was alive and well. In some small way, with this series of drawings, I feel a unique link to our past when the old world met the new. Perhaps that is the best way to describe our company. An "old world" company with a new world edge. There is still a sense of adventure in all of us, something that doesn't go away simply because there is no new land to discover. Such a capital thought.

One of our favorite bulbs continues to bloom. Ben took this nice picture of one of our Sternbergia clumps from South Carolina, a state where they seem to thrive. I was told yesterday by a Houstonian (where I am right now) that Sternbergia will actually perform really well down here. I haven't seen any blooming yet, but perhaps I am a little too early!

Many thanks to Home Grown who has graciously agreed to reschedule us for October 24th at 9:15AM. We are very much looking forward to the show. On another note, I just received a note from a viewer of the blog. She says she is stuck all day in the office, and enjoys following our adventures. The note was probably sent a month ago, but I am just now sitting down at my desk after being on the road for so long. Thank you for the nice note and I will try to keep my posts more consistent!

Today we saw our first Sternbergia lutea bloom. Ben took this nice shot of it. Also beginning to bloom are the red spider lilies. This picture is from Forth Worth. We hope all of our customers are enjoying their bulbs. Please let us know how your deliveries and bulbs arrived!

Sometimes I still have this dream, that I am in college and as I come to the end of my semester, I realize that I have missed this class that meets every Tuesday and Thursday, and I am going to flunk the course.

Today I did flunk. What seemed like a quick trip to the bank took my mind off my morning's appointments. I missed my interview with Martha Stewart Radio on Home Grown with Andrew Beckman. I ask their apologies and apologize to anyone else who might have been looking forward to the interview.

Most Sincerely,
Chris

When temperatures drop from 100 to 90 degrees, it almost feels like you should wear a coat to protect yourself from the artic air. While we don't have the 70-80 degree weather my brother and dad have today as they fly fish Idaho, we are enjoying the cooler weather. Yesterday I saw my first nice stand of spider lilies (Lycoris radiata) in Fort Worth and an impressive display of Zephyranthes candida at the Dallas Arboretum. There is much to do this week with orders continuing to ship out. If you have purchased oxblood or spider lilies, plant them now! The others you might be able to wait on for awhile. In just over a week, we have Ann Swan coming to Texas from London to draw/observe some of the first bulbs of the series. We will release the full story of Ann Swan and her first drawing with the airing of Central Texas Gardener on September 16th. In the mean time, here is a taste of what is to come. Be sure to listen to Sirius Satellite 112 on Martha Stewart Radio this Tuesday as we visit with Andrew Beckman on "Home Grown!"