Heirloombulbgirl

Author: Heirloom Bulb Girl

  • Are You My Mother?


    Many moons ago, I had chickens, pigeons and ducks at my little music studio. A little unorthodox, but children loved it. Early on, before the gardens were planted at the Agape Haus, the fowl were the ones who told the stories. I had chickens raising ducks and a pigeon who believed I was his soul mate. It was so cool to drive up to the studio each morning, greeted by a pigeon who actually recognized my car, and flew to me. The children at the studio felt like the Agape Haus belonged in a Disney movie.

    Then there was a little Momma pigeon, Penelope, who loved to take over chicken nests. I’m not sure why she didn’t just hatch her own eggs, but each day I had to pull chicken eggs out from under her. The chickens typically laid eggs in strange places, even though there were plenty of nesting boxes.

    A few weeks went by and I hadn’t seen Penelope sitting on a chicken nest.

    “Finally! She’s moved on!”

    Then one day, I walked into the coop and heard chirping. I looked around and couldn’t see a hen in sight, or the baby chick for that matter. I looked up into the rafters and..what in the world?

    Sweet Penelope Pigeon actually hatched a baby chick!

    Penelope not only hatched a chicken egg, but somehow fed the little chick with pigeon milk. The beautiful baby chick was over a week old, completely fat and happy. I had seen a lot of things with pigeons and chickens, but never did I imagine something like this. I carefully lifted the baby chick out of the rafters, away from her foster pigeon momma. I knew that Penelope would soon start flying lessons, which would not end well for the chick. I found a chicken with a new clutch that graciously accepted the baby chick as her own. To this day, I’ve never seen a fatter baby chick.

    Penelope did eventually go on and raise two beautiful baby pigeons, but only after more chicken nest experiences.
    Raising up the next generation is certainly one of the most noble ambitions anyone can have.

    Motherhood is beautiful, even for a Pigeon named Penelope.

    Life is amazing.

    Happy Gardening, my friends!

  • My New Favorite Thing

    I’m completely obsessed. I finally found some plant markers that are cute, economical AND gopher-proof. (I’d like to see those little rats try to eat these markers). After marking 200 native plants and heirloom bulbs, I realized I greatly low-balled the Amazon order. I really need 20,000 plant markers. In less than a week, I’ve become a plant marking fool. My newest garden obsession is to mark EVERY SINGLE PLANT in the garden.

    Garden obsessions are not new to me. Oh no, quite the contrary. I’m like a Forest Gump when he is first shown a “ping pong” ball. I get completely locked in. I go after my newest and latest gardening obsession like a starved dog that attacks a bone. I’m all in. If I have spotted an old teardown with a bulldozer near by, I will dig the bulbs in the pouring rain until every last bulb has been saved. If I decide to move rock to line pathways, then I move literally every single rock on my entire property. Later, if I decide I don’t like rocks on the pathway, I obsessively move all the rocks back to who knows where (just off the pathway) in record time, I might add. Unfortunately, garden obsessions are not synonymous with common sense. I’m hoping the new plant markers will bring a level of garden mainstay.

    Garden obsessions can be very helpful, especially since gardens are seasonal. If we behave like garden-slugs, and don’t complete our gardening “to-do” list, sweet seasonal rewards are missed. If wait too long to get our potatoes in the ground, then we reap no potatoes. If we wait too long to sow wildflower seeds, then we reap no Spring color. If we wait to plant a Live Oak Tree, then our grand-children will have no shade to play under. Garden obsessions get the garden chores completed in the season you are currently in. There is no “Tomorrowland” in gardening. Seasons wait for no one. The train has left the station, and you are either taking a beautiful ride or you are left behind in the dust.

    And that, my friends, is why it is nice to have a little healthy garden obsession. I prefer to ride the ride. I want to eat fresh potatoes and have wildflowers bloom in my butterfly habitat. I want beautiful pathways with plants and bulbs outlined in pretty rock circles. I want all my plant babies labeled and cared for. And I want the gophers to go somewhere deep down in the center of the earth, with fire and brimstone. Too much?

    Happy Gardening, my friends. It is time to get locked in.. Spring is coming! What is YOUR newest garden obsession? Send me a message and I will send you a little package of my favorite bulb..the Oxblood Lily 🙂

  • Gopher Baskets 101 (and how to not break your pitchfork in the process)

    Yesterday was the day I decided to try out my gopher baskets. I was excited to plant some Antique Roses, and had not planned on moving any existing plants. Gardening-Fate, otherwise known as ADHD, had other plans. While relocating the large rock on the pathways to other locations, which I do at least once a season for no reason, I soon discovered that my Pink Spider Lilies were looking a bit droopy. Definitely not normal for this time of year. I gave them a drink and sure enough….a d&@!m gopher hole.

    Gophers feast on the roots of cherished plants and bulbs. Gophers are telepathic and know exactly which plants are your favorite. Apparently, your favorite plants taste the best. Unfortunately, you won’t know that gophers are feasting until it’s too late. One day, the plant or rose bush looks great. The next day it’s wilted, falling over and you can lift the bush right out the ground with your pinky finger.

    I grabbed the 5 gallon baskets first. After all, I bought four boxes worth. Let me just put this out there… The 5 gallon basket was really a .5 gallon basket. And I have small hands.

    So I went back inside, lost my gloves for the third time, and grabbed the 10 or 15 gallon baskets. Those would do. I started to dig. It was a sludge pit from all the water I tried to drown the sweet gophers with. In less than 5 minutes, my pitchfork snapped. My bulb-digging pride was a bit hurt. I only break shovels on large Crinum.
    I told a few people of my first gopher basket experience, and their response was all the same…

    “Would you like to borrow one of my shovels?”

    “You’re missing the point. I broke my shovel on SPIDER lilies”

    They didn’t get it, and just stared at me blankly.

    With shovel #2 and gopher basket #2, I finally got the lily bulbs out of the sludge. I filled the basket partially full with soil and aged leaf mold compost. I put the bulbs on top, careful not to disturb the roots. I dug a new large hole under a deciduous tree and planted the entire basket. I still need to mulch around the basket to hide the wire mesh, but for now everything is good to go. I think the lilies will be happy in their new location and I am satisfied knowing these lovelies won’t be chewed on any longer.

    My “take aways”….

    *First, I’m not a professional gardener. If I was a professional, I would’ve planted these bulbs (and all the other plants) in gopher baskets long ago.

    *Second, don’t water the plants you are moving until they are cozy, nestled in their new basket of protection. Mud is too heavy to stuff into a basket. And shovels are too expensive to constantly replace.

    *Third, don’t order 5 gallon baskets. The small baskets are for child’s play. Get the larger baskets.

    *last, Gardening is a humbling experience. It’s ok to admit defeat and try something new. Remember, the only one who knows everything is the gopher, so keep on keeping on.

    Happy Gardening, my friends!

  • A Garden on the Inside

    Years ago, I fell in love with antique china. I’m not one to brag, but I have a borderline obsession and hoarding instinct when it becomes to beautiful vintage dishes. I felt justified in my collection of dishes when they survived our catastrophic flood. I realized why heirloom dishes were so special and given as wedding gifts. They endured. They told stories. The dishes on display spoke many moments of dinners around candlelight with cherished family and friends. Of course dishes would survive. Dishes have the soul of memories.

    My husband (who attempts to be a realist in the relationship), once asked about my random assortment of dishes.

    “Do you really need so many? We can’t possibly use all these plates and bowls.” (As if antique dishes are only to be eaten upon).

    ”Oh contraire, mon frere! Antique dishes are like a garden on the inside.”

    It was that statement that opened his eyes to my love of these gorgeous 100 year old plates. I could’ve beaten him over the head with some cast iron, but explaining about an inside garden was much more logical. And I’m so logical.
    So the collection of dishes stayed.

    Yesterday, I was gifted the beautiful floral china by some students. I had been watching the dishes at an estate sale for weeks, but simply couldn’t afford them. Fun fact, I had sent Chelsea (a violinist) a picture of a single teacup that I had found. The estate sale was from a 100 year old woman, who had also loved beautiful sets of dishes. Ironically, the sale had the complete 12 piece set of my little teacup! Not one piece broken. This week, a few students surprised me with the set of dishes at Chamber Orchestra Rehearsal. After gently unpacking the dishes, I noticed two small teacups with very old lipstick marks. Moments of special times had between friends. Most definitely, my favorite part of the set.

    Many great memories are held within antique dishes. My Great-Grandmother had Blue Willow China at our cabin in Wyoming. Honestly, who has bone china from England at their cabin? As a child, I found this utterly divine and completely fascinating. When I got older, my dear Aunt Mary gave a few of the girl cousins some pieces of the cracked and chipped pieces that were no longer used. Treasures. It is so special to think of the countless relatives that have dined upon these dishes since the 1940’s.

    Even my husband, who is a self-claimed non-sentimentalist, loves his Mema’s pattern of Dessert Rose. Mema never used her china because the dishes were too precious. At family gatherings, we only used paper plates for efficiency …but not anymore. After I inherited her collection of Dessert Rose, I use her dishes anytime we have special moments with his family.

    I’m also drawn to unique patterns, that add a little zest and color to the inside garden.

    Finally, my Danish china Royal Copenhagen. I’m always on the lookout at thrift stores due to the expensive nature of this set. The tea cups were my Christensen side. Danish through and through. The teacup to the side was hand painted by my Great, Great Grandmother Simmons for my Great Grandmother Ethel. It was a wedding gift. How completely precious. Only one teacup remains. The memory lasts forever.

    The inherent beauty of antique and heirloom dishes fills our home with many memories. The collection of heirloom dishes is one of my favorite parts of being stuck inside, unable to get my hands in the dirt. It is truly nice to have a garden on the inside.

    Happy Gardening, my friends!

  • Gopher Baskets for the Roses

    A fairly unknown fact is that I once had a rose garden that was featured in a 3 page article in the Dallas Morning News Garden Section. True story! I absolutely adore Antique Roses. My Dallas garden was home to over 43 beloved Antique Rose Bushes, intermingled with fabulous Heirloom Bulbs. It was my joy. My little neighborhood watched the garden transformation through all three of my pregnancies. My husband was often questioned by neighbors if I really should be jumping on a shovel at 9 months pregnant in the heat of August. Those were good rose-growing times! Fresh flower bouquets of big and fluffy cabbage-style rose blooms. Children learning about the different varieties of Antique Roses, and my husband losing all control over his front yard grass.

    I now live in the Texas Hill Country (enough said). Over the last decade, I have tried to grow over 40 bushes in the gopher-infested land. All I did was create a gopher buffet. It’s not *if* they will eat my roses, but when. The gophers have wiped out every single rose bush I have planted…except one. Not great odds are in my favor. I’ve tried everything, and I mean everything. I even have a useless barn cat.

    This last week, I have stepped up my gopher-game. With a little click on Amazon, I ordered a nice supply of wire mesh gopher baskets. I had no idea gopher baskets were even a thing. Why didn’t someone tell me I didn’t have to make my own out of cut chicken wire?!! I’m quickly learning that Amazon is like Christmas every morning. The baskets arrived yesterday and I’m SO EXCITED! I have 5 bushes, saved in the nick of time, currently resting and regrowing roots in terracotta pots.
    Before Spring hits, I plan to basket up all the roses and the nice, young specimen plants I’ve recently planted. I will have to re-dig and re-plant.
    Typical.

    I also plan to basket up many of my bulbs. Gophers enjoy eating the roots of Spider Lilies, but will leave the Oxbloods alone. (Oxbloods are supposed to be toxic).

    With the water well and the gopher baskets, it will be SO enjoyable to watch the gardens finally take root. I often tell folks that gardening is like learning music, it is a journey not a race. But it’s also nice to see a completed garden project. A job well done is quite satisfying.

    I wonder if I will ever experience the thrill of a finished project? Take a look at my gardens and you will quickly find out the answer! 🙂

    Happy Gardening, my friends!

  • The Backwards Garden

    “Mr. Privilege, It’s a Laramie… No, that’s not right.”

    ”You’re upside down, Sir.”

    The iconic scene in the 1970’s movie ‘What’s Up Doc’ is a perfect way to describe the gardens at the Agape Haus Music Studio. I am the first to admit that I did everything backwards. It is now the 8th Winter after the flood, and I am *still* finding, moving and discovering plants and bulbs that were hurriedly dumped at the music studio. Call it a continuous Easter Egg hunt for adult gardeners. I also like to move plants around like other people move their furniture, so no plant is safe from my shovel.

    I garden backwards…

    I’m upside down.

    I am the upside down gardener who creates nothing out of something, and I like it. I like the challenge of being completely unorganized and nonsensical. I like having a garden full of only foliage, questioning my own sanity at any given moment. Basically, I just really like my sweet little backwards garden. 🙂

    If you are up for the challenge, here are a few illogical steps to create your very own backwards garden. Trust me, it’s fun.

    1. Get some flower bulbs (the more the better) and plant them anywhere in your yard.
    2. Don’t mark your flower bulbs because that would be too logical. If you do happen to mark the random clumps of bulbs, make sure to use labels will either come off or get rubbed off. If your markers *do* last an entire season, invite the gophers to chew up your wooden markers (the ones that you hand painted). Spouses with weed-eaters work well too.
    3. Once you fill up your yard with randomly planted bulbs, the bulb foliage will go dormant. This is when the fun really begins! Make sure to forget where the bulb clumps have been planted. Now, you are able to dig in your yard and completely disturb your flower bulbs every single time you put your shovel into the earth.
    4. As you dig, debating about the specimen plants that should’ve been planted FIRST in your garden, you will accidentally hit some random bulbs that you forgot about. That’s normal when you’re upside down. Now you will have to wait an entire year until the bulbs come up. Thus, another year goes by without specimen plants. (You remind yourself that you should’ve marked those darn bulbs with appropriate markers, but you will do it next year with more useless markers).
    5. Always hand paint artistic gardening signs on surfaces that will peel. This is huge. Signs are best when you can’t read them.
    6. Most of your flower bulbs will be happy in their new home, but always second guess nature. Spend your time moving your bulbs here and there (randomly ofcourse), giving sun-loving bulbs plenty of shade and visa-versa.
    7. Enjoy every single moment spent in your much loved, backwards garden. 🙂

    Happy Gardening, my friends! I’m off to go dig!

  • The “Self Care” of a Nurturing Garden

    When I read this quote, my favorite hobby was immediately catapulted into a whole new level of appreciation. I now have a good and justifiable reason to buy that new antique rose bush….it’s “self care”. I have an excuse for being 20 minutes late from surveying the gardens….it’s “self care”. I have a reason for trashing my car out with plant debris or dirt.

    ”Ma’am, are you SURE you don’t need me to put plastic down to protect your car?”

    Well, maybe NOT a reason for the messy car, but I’m sure you are tracking. I couldn’t be happier that my beautiful time-consuming, thought-provoking, money-spending, body-aching hobby is actually considered “self care”!

    In case you aren’t a gardener, an example of non-gardening “self care” is a manicure (or so I’ve been told). A lot of women find manicures relaxing, soothing and a beautiful time to recharge. Manicures aren’t super expensive, and there is an entire sub-culture that receive manicures on a regular basis. Society doesn’t question this past time or even find slathering some hot pink fake nails on tips of fingers illogical.
    Unfortunately, as a violinist, I had to find an alternative solution to reset my soul. Even before I was a professional violinist, I never got into manicures. Occasionally, some of my teenage students come into violin lessons sporting their hot pink fake nails. Students quickly discover the displeasure I have for “fake” and the shade of “hot pink” (unless it’s a Zinnia). Alas, some of us are simply doomed to find other ways to soothe our souls.
    Thank goodness that gardening is a great source of soul-soothing “self care”!

    The idea of “self care” became a conversational topic in the 21st century. I honestly can’t remember a time when my parents talked about their need to for “self care”. They just grinded away, focusing on grocery lists, daily chores and keeping my brother and I from licking Peony sap. My brother and I walked home from school and/or music lessons to an evening of free time and good food to eat. Our home was small and we had a relatively quiet, stress-free life. We played outside come snow or sleet, rain or fog, sunshine or cloudy days. There was no need to talk about “self care” because we had no cares in the world. Life was simple, and we liked it that way.
    Then, everything changed within a few decades. Homes were bigger, children were scheduled, jobs were stressful and the idea of free time became akin to lazy time. No time was left unspent. Hurry here, hurry there! Then came the internet, and well, the world changed in the click of a mouse. Just like that, the desperate need for “self care” was born.
    Again, thank goodness that gardening is such a soul-soothing self care!

    I am grateful for the quiet moments when I can escape the stresses of life.

    I am grateful to simply plant a seed potato that may or may not even produce.

    I am grateful for the natural beauty that washes over me and rejuvenates me.

    I am grateful for my little plot of earth that restores my soul.

    Gardening isn’t just about the end result of a well-manicured landscape. Gardening is the restorative process that is found in the moments spent in peace. Within the quiet moments of placing your hands in the dirt, you will begin to feel the nurturing effects of nature. Gardening is nurturing something that isn’t about yourself. In those moments of nurturing, you become nurtured. And that, my friends, is a way better way to “self care” than any hot pink manicure could ever give…….

    But I’m a gardener so I’m biased. 🙂

    Happy Gardening, my friends!



  • Simple Pleasures

    Not much to see here… Just one of the greatest composers of the 20th century feeding pigeons in a park.

    When I think of Antonin Dvorak, pigeons rarely come to mind. I recently performed his masterpiece, the “American Quintet”. This quintet contained so much color and rich musical ideas, almost as if Dvorak was describing his experiences through musical words, directly to his listener. His expressions of life were rich, haunting and profound. There was no shallow thought in Dvorak.
    I wish I could say the same…

    I have found the distractions in our fast-paced, social media driven, frenzied world gets in my way on a daily basis. Instead of sitting and feeding the pigeons, taking time to simply ponder and think, I look at the dumb phone for notifications. I have been rattled endlessly with an overstimulating amount of nonsensical useless bits of information. Deep down, I don’t really care about keeping up with the Jones, but yet there I was..checking my day to day stats on my Instagram reels. Honestly, who cares if someone I don’t even know likes my little reel on my baby Oxblood Lilies I started from seed? Where’s the depth? Where’s the time to just sit and ponder? Where are the pigeons?

    So I deleted Instagram and Facebook off my phone.

    No more checking. No more reels. No more stats. No more trying to impress all the unknown readers or viewers. No more time suckers and no more brain rot.

    Just quiet.

    It’s amazing the difference I already feel. I actually have moments in my day to ponder and reflect. Heck, I might even put some piles of music away in the studio (let’s not get crazy!) I feel a sense of calm that I haven’t felt in a while. Let’s face it, trying to “keep calm and carry on” is virtually impossible when every second of every day is completely accounted for. How mentally exhausting! So for me, someone who desperately needs the simple pleasures in life, I started the elimination process with the first main distraction culprit. The dumb phone.

    My next goal is to get a watch. Again, let’s not go crazy. I am, after all, a product of my artist-Father who never checked the time a day in his life. Baby steps….

    Anyhow, love to you all. If you need me, I will be finding the time for the simple pleasures in life. I’m going to buy more bird seed today, hoping to woo some pigeons back to the Agape Haus Music Studio.

    Happy Gardening, my friends!

  • A Southern-Style Blanket of Ice (even ice storms are bigger in Texas)

    When I looked out the window, I would’ve thought I was back in Montana. Everything was a blanket of white. The neighborhood kids had their sleds and parents stood by in their warm fluffy coats. I even noticed my husband within the gang of sledders. I stayed inside, happily sipping on hot cocoa, nestled under a cozy blanket with my pup.
    Texas winters have a few deep freezes, which are commonly described as “chill-to-the-bone” Arctic blasts. I don’t quite understand how frigid these storms really do feel. I could snow ski in shorts in Montana, and yet unable to walk outside for fear of frost bite in a Texas freeze. But alas, here we are….another Texas freeze in the books. Most of Texas was covered in ice, and we were all stuck inside for days. Schools were cancelled, shops were closed, fires in fireplaces roared and it felt like Christmas all over again.

    For years, I debated about whether or not to cover my plants and bulbs. I grow Heirloom Bulbs after all, and they are tough old gals! Quite honestly, it’s a lot of work to cover everything, and I’m lazy. Over the last few years, I’ve changed my tune. I realized that even though most bulbs will not be killed in a freeze, the foliage is hit hard. Foliage is the energy for the next year’s flower, and I’ve decided I am through with waiting an entire year for my beloved blooms…so I got to work. I spent about three hours covering bulbs and favorite perennials with flower pots.

    When I ran out of pots, I piled straw on top of the bulbs to completely cover the foliage, creating a natural trough for the local deer. That wasn’t one of my finer moments in the garden. In fact, the first day back after the freeze, I arrived at the studio to find a fattened young buck hanging out in my Crinum bed. He looked at me as if I had just interrupted something. Eventually, the deer realized that this was MY house and garden, and left the same way he came in…effortlessly hoping my fence. The young buck left some nice piles of poo-pellets in my pathway as a flex to show me who is really in control. Next Spring, he will definitely have the last laugh as I am pulling up all the weeds he left in my pathway.

    I’ve spent the last few days taking the pots off the plants and giving the plants fresh air. Everyone in the garden did well, except the store bought chives. I left one plant uncovered as a test run of hardiness, which was the only chive that looked remotely happy after the freeze. Plants are weird…..

    This weekend, my goal is to remove all the straw and toss it in the natural butterfly and bird wildflower habitat I am trying to create. Maybe the deer will get the clear understanding that they are not welcome back in the gardens for dinner.

    I hope your gardens fared well throughout the freeze. I’m definitely ordering freeze cloth for the next go around. 🙂

    Happy Gardening, my friends!

  • The Texas Pomegranate

    Some of you know, but most of you don’t, the disgusting soil I have to work with at the studio. Even the word “soil” to describe the studio grounds is being grossly negligent as a writer. Perhaps I should describe my land in politically correct terms…the land is “soil-deprived”, or an “enriched-deficient” plot of horror. Most gardeners would run and hide from the catastrophic elements that are continually at war against gardening. Whether it be moles and gophers, rock and rubble, thermal hot spots in drought conditions or just a plain thorny sticker crop. I simply can’t catch a break. Except in the rare moments when I get to look upon a job well done. Inspiration overrides all seasons of exhaustion and frustration, and I simply get to hold the fruit of my labor. And oh, how sweet it is!

    The Texas Pomegranate is truly something to behold. I call it the Texas Pomegranate because I honestly don’t know what variety this beautiful tree is. I received the tree as a gift when I first bought the music studio. Apple John, a dear friend and mandolin extraordinaire, has an Apple Orchard deep in the Texas Hill Country. John also cultivates Pomegranate Trees. This tree was one of the first plants that found a home at the studio. The Pomegranate became a landmark in the garden, planting all shrubs, flowers and Heirloom Bulbs around it. When cherished plants died in times of drought, the pomegranate grew only stronger.

    ”Is that all you got?!”

    The Texas Pomegranate is also unscathed by destructive critters that lurk underground. For a few years, I had a beautiful antique rose that nestled herself up to the pomegranate tree. Then one day her roots were completely chewed up. Once again, the Pomegranate grew only stronger. It honestly doesn’t make sense how the palate of a gopher can be so refined as to distinguish between the roots of a salvia or rose!

    I’m not a gardening expert on much, but I do take notice the drought-hardy plants that thrive in lousy soil. The Texas Pomegranate is one of those jewels. For great native plants, I shop at Greensleeves Nursery in Pflugerville, Friendly Natives in Fredericksburg, Backbone Nursery in Marble Falls, or The Natural Gardener and Barton Springs Nursery, both in Austin. I love each of these shops for different reasons. The mainstay is to shop a local plant nursery that focuses on native plants for your area. DO NOT SHOP BIG BOX STORES FOR YOUR TEXAS POMEGRANATE TREE OR ANYTHING FOR THAT MATTER. (Notice all caps? I’m a bit passionate about supporting small garden shops!)

    Happy Gardening, my friends!