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.

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!

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.

I am almost in Houston and am collecting pictures as I go along! Another wedding tonight and I will try to post pictures before then.

ATTENTION: We just released our spring line and are excited to offer so many WONDERFUL crinum varieties for the first time ever. Be sure to check out the line at http://www.southernbulbs.com/spring-bulbs/

Every day there is another story from the road, another bulb blooming, and another question I need to ask of somebody. Most of my time with questions revolves around horticulture and agriculture, and so I spend hours googling county extension offices, finding the local reps, and calling their offices. Extension agent information is free (or already paid for by my taxes) and I have long considered myself "in the know" when it comes to a good source of free, friendly university information from experts, PhD's, etc. Now the cat is out of the bag though. They have gone online with a brand new website eXtension.org. It's the electronic age, and now everybody will have access to this undiscovered resource that will be announced later this week!

Leaving for College Station tomorrow, and then down to Houston. Bulb hunting along the way. Many people have heard my talks, but they do not have the opportunity to enjoy some of the fun videos from the farm and from the road. Here are a couple videos. Enjoy!

It is warming up now and everything is beginning to bloom. In the field, our campernelles are really taking off. I am not used to their blooms burying themselves in the foliage like this and expect the blooms to grow taller. One of our Narcissus 'Golden Dawn' rows is blooming earlier than the other two. It was also planted later, and I am not sure if it feels like it is being forced up due to some unknown physiological treatment.Bulb Hunting adventures are to take me down through Central Texas to Houston this week! Looking forward to a nice drive. I'm hoping the rain will pass here after tomorrow and leave the world looking fresh. I came upon this interesting car the other day.

Thanks to Paige Phelps for such a wonderful article in D Home and Garden.

Last week a garden club was to come out, and something happened that has delayed me all week. I was cleaning up for them to do a work shop with pots and rain lilies in the cold frame. After I had piled some old wood and items to burn and clean up, I lit the pile on fire. That's when things went wrong.

I remember in college I would sometimes go through a little town south of college station called Navasota. That is, it seemed little, but I have traveled to many different places and always run in to somebody from that sleepy town or know someone that lives there. I passed through there with Brad once. We were in uniform and taking our dates to the ball that night to dinner in Brenham before returning to the campus for the festivities. It was during the Festival of Flags, and there was food, music, and dancing. That was almost five years ago and here Brad and I are still working together.

In Navasota are many old plantings of trees, roses, and of course…bulbs. I’m always sure to see a Byzantine gladiolus, or a Narcissus tazetta italicus. A gardening friends sent me this photo of the hardy amaryllis (Johnson’s amaryllis – Hippeastrom x johnsonii). It blooms in April, but on this friends journey last week, he noticed the planting of snowflakes (Leucojum aestivum) blooming in the same spot. It was the perfect combination, as the amaryllis foliage is not largely apparent in the winter (in most places).Sometimes, bulb combination plantings do not have to be combined with other perennials and annuals, but can be combined with each other!

If though, you might unconscionably want to combine your bulbs with something besides a another bulb, consider this perennial that was also blooming in Navasato right now. It is the lemon scented Lonicera fragrantissima (also called winter honeysuckle or sometimes called standing honeysuckle). I do not know the date of introduction in to Texas, but is documented to have been introduced into Europe from China in 1845 by Robert Fortune.

I will conclude by saying that one can not talk about antique heirloom plants in Navasota without mentioning one of the original rose rustlers, Pam Puryear. She is no longer with us, but her memory lives on through her contributions to the horticulture world.

When I tell people that I was born in Louisiana, they usually look at me inquisitively and respond “Oh really?” They either assume I was born in Texas or California, the two states where I have spent most of my life. The truth is I was born in Lafayette, Louisiana. We moved when I was young, and I never really knew much about the town. Last fall I was invited to speak at the Louisiana State Master Gardener Conference in Lafayette. That is when I saw how advanced Lafayette was becoming, with one of the nations largest supercomputers (LITE) and a plan to lay fiber optic lines to all parts of town (I know of few other towns doing this such as Shafter, CA). They were wonderful discoveries in my old home, but the best discovery of all, was made in the little town next door by the name of Breaux Bridge (pronounced “brō-bridge”), LA. Here is the home of Robert Smith, nationally famous antique collector and owner of Au Vieux Paris Antiques (“ah vō pa-ree antiques”).

The event was special in so many ways, as it turned into a personal walk around the grounds and amongst the structures. It became evident that his collection of 17^th, 18^th, and 19^th century of French furniture, decorative and fine arts was not to be matched by many (if any) in the South. In April of 2001 Architectural Digest listed him as one amongst the top one hundred and nine shops and dealers around the world with pieces of quality and excellence. Normally he hosts decorators, dealers, private collectors and museum curators so to spend a couple hours walking and talking about all the pieces in a general way was one of the best experiences of the great fall 2007 bulb speaking circuit.

Scattered in a decorative way around the garden were originals of the famed vases d’Anduze-they also go under vase Anduse. Such vases come from the Anduze region in France and were first created in the 1500’s. Their use continued to increase over the following centuries. One large spike in popularity occurred when the orange tree became popular, and needing to bring them in during the winter, they would plant them in these vases to be easily transported. There are companies attempting to remanufacture them, but I assure you it is hard to compare to Mr. Smith’s originals.

DOORS! Wonderful doors. They lead to so many wonderful places, hiding secrets and opening secrets. Just seeing them all together fills my mind with an explosion of creativity. One day, I think I might build a structure completely around a door. At Au Vieux Paris, many of the doors can be found with original keys! This is even more fascinating, as those keys were carried by people living out their days hundreds of years ago.

From the door collection, we moved to a tour of the garden. It is spectacular and has lived a life of high maintenance and low maintenance. Lately it has transitioned into a low maintenance beauty! The result is the showcasing of the sustainable plants in the most artistic and natural manner. That would include air plants such as Tillandsia usneoides (Spanish Moss) and heirloom bulbs such as Blue Roman Hyacinths. Mr. Smith shared some of the hyacinths with me. His site is a good example of the amazing range of Roman hyacinths, as his location is below Interstate 10!

His personal residence at a nearby lake is apparently spectacular, but unfortunately that will have to be reserved for a future encounter. Bulbs adorn not only the landscape, but also the inside where some beautiful modern selections are forced. Some of the bulbs are forced in his antique French forcing vases. Crinums are not excluded, and the cut flowers of a Crinum asiaticum relative are nicely displayed from the home image.

Thank Robert Smith for a wonderful event and we hope you are enjoying your time in France.