heirloom bulbs from Old House Gardens

I came upon Old House Gardens while researching for next year's plantings. A couple of things appealed to me about OHG.

*User friendly format/website.
*Friendly, honest, and knowledgeable.
*The descriptions and photos of the flowers they offer are extremely helpful.
*Quantities generally start small depending on the flower, which is perfect for me.
*Ordering is easy.

Despite TH having warned me to not over do it with the plantings, I selected a few more bulbs to grow on the balcony. And seeing as I was not limited to buying 10 or more in a pack, I was not worried about over planting next year as I did during my first year.

With that said, I'm really excited about planting the bulbs I got from Old House Gardens. Firstly, they're super nice and professional regarding customer care. They kept me informed at each step of the my order being processed. Secondly, I love that they send and include handwritten letters. It just makes the relationship personable, and I appreciate these things.

The bulbs arrived safely and carefully packed in the box! The bulbs are packaged in brown paper bags with the description stapled to each bag. The lily bulbs was packaged in a plastic bag with some wood shavings. A kind hand written note was included along with planting instructions and a copy of their color catalog though more bulbs are offered online.

My order included the following:
(photos and description are from the Old House Garden website)

The Black Parrot tulip. I've seen other photos of the Black Parrot from other online bulb sellers but this one cried out to me. I thought this would be nice addition to the black and white theme for the balcony garden.

"The best parrot tulip of the 20th century and dramatic enough to be showcased on the covers of both Martha Stewart Living and Horticulture, ‘Black Parrot’ is a dark, glossy maroon, exuberantly ruffled and frilled."


Orange Favorite tulip. And then I saw this and the black and white theme balcony garden went out the window. Another parrot tulip with beautiful and complimentary colors.

"This deliciously fragrant flower is “one of the best of all tulips,” writes Anna Pavord in her monumental Bulb, although it’s “not for the faint-hearted.” (Does that sound like a challenge?) Its “exceptionally long” buds open into “stupendous,” glossy, ruffled blooms of orange feathered with wisps of rose and green."


Florentine tulip. I could not resist getting a few of these adorable yellow tulips. I love how the outer petals curl at the tips. The description certainly helped to seal the deal!

"Violet-scented and informal, this charming wildflower has small, yellow, almond-shaped flowers that nod in bud and then open wide in the sun."


Coral Lily. While browsing through OHG's website, I saw these cute lilies and I just had to have this in our garden!

"...this pixie lily has glossy, red-to-orange flowers that are bright but never gaudy."


And, I was pleased to learn in their recent newsletter that they would be including extra bulbs to orders that are shipped to areas affected by Super Hurricane Sandy. My package arrived with an extra bag of Brilliant Star tulip bulbs. I'm really looking forward to planting them and seeing them bloom!

"Its glossy red petals are pointed, giving it a star-like form, and when they open wide in the sun to reveal their bright yellow and black center, the effect is truly “grand, rich, and dazzling” "

I would definitely return to Old House Gardens in the future for spring planting flowers. They have a great selection. The prices are reasonable in my opinion. I recommend going to them if you're seeking some beautiful and unique flowers to grow in your garden especially if you want to set yourself apart from your neighbors.

The sequence of the photos are in the same order as they were packaged in the photo above.

preparing for winter and spring

I ordered some bulbs from Brent and Becky's Bulbs:

tulipa 'Paul Scherer'

Crocus 'Jeanne d'Arc'

Hyacinthus orientalis Fairly White

Iris-dwarf 'Pauline'

Brent and Becky's Bulbs are one of few vendors who sell bulbs in small quantities, and the prices are reasonable too. They have a great collection of flowers to choose from especially for tulips and irises. My orders arrived relatively fast so I was pleased. The bulbs are carefully packaged in plastic netted pouches with labels of the flowers which can be used as a garden label to remind you what you've planted. It came with clear planting instructions, and I got a catalog too!

When I finally got around to planting them, I layered some of the bulbs . I planted the bulbs in one of the Root Pouch containers. I layered the bulbs so the container will hopefully continue to flower from early spring into summer. I learned about this from a YouTube video that explained layering bulbs in a container.

I also tidied up the balcony. Most of the tomato plants have been tossed. Only Root Pouch containers filled with potting mix remain. Empty Root Pouches will be tossed into the washing machine.

The mini rose bushes are doing very well and continue to grow and produce flowers. Despite their growth and flowering, they continue to be plagued by green aphids. I am diligent about brushing them off the rose buds, which seems to be where they like to cluster or at new growth. I also spray the bushes down with an organic product that also contains neem oil. It seems to be more effective in ridding the mini rose bushes of the fungal infection it was having. The aphids don't like the spray and eventually die but return.

I noticed one of the galore punk strawberry plants have produced runners. I plucked them off and planted them in separate pots with used potting mix. One runner had small roots while another had longer roots. I have two pots with strawberry plant offshoots. Looking forward to next spring.

photos of the flowers used in this post is from Brent and Becky's Bulbs.

pickled with pickling

The tomato plants continued to produce fruit into October even though the temperatures were cooking down. Though the plants had tomatoes, they were green and given the cool temperatures, I doubt they would ripen.

I had read one of my favorite blogs that I follow, Garden Betty, and she wrote about pickling her green tomatoes. I thought it was a great way to make use of the green tomatoes from the balcony garden.

I collected the green tomatoes from the plants and pickled them during the first weekend in October. I used the basic brine recipe from Garden Betty. I also followed her instructions for a curry flavored brine. And I made my version of a garlicky and hopefully spicy brine by using one of the cayenne peppers in each half quart jar. And I also had enough to make a Thai inspired brine using the lemongrass from the balcony garden and the rest of the cayenne peppers.

After a month in the fridge, I tried them. To my delight, my first time pickling was a success. They tasted pretty damn good if I say so myself. The green tomatoes still had a crunch and a snap to it. The brine mellowed out. It wasn't too salty and the flavored vinegar permeated the green tomatoes.

TH also liked them!

I must say that the curry flavored pickled green tomatoes were okay. It has a peculiar taste but I think it has to do with the curry powder I used. I think I will have to use a different or higher quality curry that compliment the green tomato and try pickling again with curry powder.

planting for spring 2013

I was busy with the balcony garden, getting ready for next year. I planted the tulip bulbs I got from the farm; white tulips. I also planted the bearded Dutch irises too; Immortality (white) and Michigan Pride (yellow with a deep reddish orange accent). I also planted the pansy seeds too!

I have more bulbs to plant like the crocuses and irises i started the balcony garden with. I also plan to acquire more tulip bulbs. Not sure where else I can find tulip bulbs sold individually.

producing ever more

It is October and the temperatures have dropped. And yet, the tomato plants and hot pepper plants continue to produce flower and fruit. It's baffling to me, or perhaps this is not surprising to seasoned gardeners. In any case, it's great to see! The tomatoes have been very juicy and tasty! The jalapeño still lack the heat I expect but the cayenne does pack a surprising punch!

I am pleased that I will continue to have tomatoes and hot peppers into autumn.

sunflowers: week 10

I'm very pleased to see that the sunflowers have bloomed! TH explained that the bigger one bloomed Wednesday. The second one which grew crookedly is opening up.

Seeing the sunflowers makes me happy. I certainly feel more confident about growing flowers. For whatever reason, I thought growing flowers from seeds would be more difficult. Had I known how easy it is to grow sunflowers, I would have planted all the seeds and I would not have bothered to thin out what I planted originally.

Well, I have seeds for next year.

the Farm in Green Village

Last weekend TH and I went to The Farm in Green Village because I was told that they sell individual tulip bulbs. I eventually found out the Farm isn't literally a farm but a garden center.

The Farm is beautifully landscaped. There is a giant pond with fountains. Trees and plants are spread out around the property. The Farm keeps a limited number of animals. on the day we visited, we saw some peacocks and chickens. There were also roosters crowing away. There is a main building, a greenhouse of sorts, where more plants and garden accessories and supplies are set out for sale. Potted mums were plentiful at The Farm.

The Farm was also decorated for Halloween. A section of the parking lot was set up with gourds and pumpkins for sale. Even the main building had ghouls and skeletons hanging around.

There's even a koi pond filled with varying sizes of carp. The area with the koi pond was landscaped with an Asian theme. A pair of bronzed dogs sat diligently at the base of the steps leading to the koi pond.

as I mentioned earlier, we visited the Farm because I was told that they sold individual tulip bulbs as well as other flowers. The truth is, they sold a limited color of loose tulip bulbs (red, white, pink, and yellow) and iris rhizomes (a good variety). I must admit that I was somewhat disappointed there weren't more colors available as loose. We were interested in "black" tulips but they were sold in a pack of 15!

We enjoyed visiting the Farm. It's a very pretty garden center but I don't know if it was worth the drive out.