Navasota Blooms

Published Monday, February 11, 2008 by Bulb Hunter | E-mail this post

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.