learning about bulbs
May 21, 2007
I'm new to the world of bulbs. But enticed as usual by beautiful pictures in catalogs and memories of certain flowers from childhood, I've thrown research to the wind and bought bulbs of many kinds. In fact, probably too much bulb buying. I bought a bunch of cannas before I knew how big they got, without having the space (or sunshine) to plant them. They are towering plants, sometimes 7 feet tall, and certainly not a plant I want to put around a border.
Such is the life of my experiments. Buying things without a vision of where to put them. I'm particularly drawn by all the 'heirloom' bulb sites. The idea of having old fashioned flowers that were grown 100, 200, 300 even 400 years ago in some mediterranean climate, is so romantic.
My house was built in the 1930s, and we were able to meet the daughter of the man who built the house for his family. Many flowers which surround our house (such as the huge line of oxblood lilies down the driveway and the crowded clump of daffodils near them) had been planted in the 40s and 50s. I love that my doorknobs are from the 40s, and that my flowers may be, too. So anything that says "old-fashioned" "heirloom" or "antique" already draws my attention. (And thank goodness there are few "vintage" flower sites, a word which in fashion design is quickly becoming meaningless. The "new vintage"--whatever!)