Rescued bulbs

We were recently asked by a member to add a new (to us) nursery to the GWD, Dixie Bulbs. And so we did: http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/7855/

As I was looking around their website, their "rescued bulbs" section caught my eye: http://www.dixiebulbs.com/heirloom_bulb_rescue.htm

It sounds like a huge undertaking, and my heart goes out to these folks.

Has anyone purchased these bulbs from them? Are there any other similar sources of heirloom bulbs?

If all goes as expected, we're moving in a few weeks, and I'm planning to leave my established clumps of daylilies and daffodils along the driveway for the next owners. The new house had some tulips and hyacinths pop up, but I haven't seen any daffodils, so it would be a good opportunity to rescue some bulbs and give them a new home.

Terry, good luck in your new home~~I hope you have lots of space for a garden, and then tell us all about it! (Surely you will take some starts from your old garden along...?)

I remember hearing a little bit about Dixie Bulbs a year or two ago, but I can't recall any of the details. They seem like an interesting group and it would be fun to try some of their rescues.

Why don't you run a trial and let us know how they worked out for you?

Good luck. t.

Terry,
Investigating your links led me to realize that I have been harboring a Dixie bulb (maybe). I always called it a jonquil. It blooms late in the daffodil season. I did not buy this bulb. I dug it up.
Cibarius

It comes as a single flower, a double, and a triple. Here's a picture of the twin flower. I did not choose to bring this daffodil home. I was digging up what the locals call butter cups (twenty years ago), and I thought I was only collecting yellow daffodils. I'm sure you are familiar with them. I think they are actually Narcissus February Gold. These jonquils came along with them. The funny thing about them is that they have steadily multiplied faster than the February Gold. So now I have about equal amounts of both.

And here is the three flower form. The blossom is about 2 inches in diameter and the flower stands about 22 inches tall. If you know this wildling, please tell me what it is. It had been growing at an old home place just off US Rt. 231. I went in to dig some butter cups and promptly met the owners of the property. After talking, they gave me permission to continue digging. Years later, the highway was widened, and all that colony is now in fill dirt somewhere else.

How cool are those! I'm not sure what variety they are but I'm quite familiar with the drive on Hwy. 231 between here and Lebanon (my husband's family is over that way.) We just moved to the 'boro ten years ago after a 15-year stint in Oklahoma. Until a few years ago there was a place next to our current subdivision that was torn down to put in a new CVS. There were yellow buttercups planted there, but I didn't get a chance to rescue any before they started construction. It's a regret I still have. I'm glad you got these bulbs, and I hope you get them ID'd!

*G*. Terry, that wasn't fair....
But thank you. I have plenty of room, and if those rescues can be relocated successfully into my yard, they shall be. I started to "naturalize" daffs this year, and of course, there are never enough.

Oh, what have I started......

Did I start something? Oooops!

I need advice on who to contact about identifying the jonquils shown above. I can dig some of these up and provide them to anyone interested in cultivating them - but only a few, because they are difficult to pry loose from tree roots and soil. (I have them planted around the trunks of maple trees.)

Terry, I can't blame you for _starting_ this project, I did that by myself *G*. But I DO put you in the Aiding and Abetting category. You were quite successful. I didn't think I would have to worry about this at least until fall (I still have summer bulbs to plant), but I'm off and running, I think.

Cibarius, was that an offer? Just askin'.....


smile ;)

I have long been an aide and abettor (abetter?) "offered aid and abetting" to my gardening friends . ^_^

And these bulbs are like puppies and kittens - they tug at your heartstrings. But DH won't mind nearly as much if I rescue abandoned bulbs...

Please don't bring up puppies and kittens....tis the season :(.

Yes, rescued bulbs are far easier to explain. Of course, I can't claim they followed me home...


Can I??

Actually, you bury the evidence, and when they come up next spring, act surprised.

Well, of course. How stupid of me. We haven't been here very long, and the former owners seem to have tried to eliminate the "old" stuff and plant new things to increase "curb" appeal, so new things pop up all the time.

That'll work fine...:)

Yep - I'd go with that.

Yup. Enabler *G*

Guess the shoe fits....

I believe I've found Cibarius's daffodil. I think it's a form of Narcissus poeticus. Take a look here: http://www.daffseek.org/query/query-action.php Look through these and see if any of them look like yours, Cibarius.

You could also ask someone in the Middle Tennessee Daffodil Society: http://www.daffodiltn.org/

This message was edited Apr 16, 2011 4:50 PM

Also, Scott Ogden, at page 111 of his "Garden Bulbs for the South," discusses a Narcissus which also looks a lot like yours. He says,

catmad,
Yes, I can get you some of these, but they may have a few February Gold mixed in with them. How many do you need?

Cibarius, what do you think about the possible ID of your daffodil?