It was a good day…..a day for the traditional Chrismas bulb hunt while visditing my in-law’s farm. I have been bulb hunting for over 25 years, and I am still like a kid in the candy store. The sight of old Oxblood Lilies or Spider Lilies near a dilapitated, falling down house makes my heart beat. The sandy soil conditions allow bulbs to thrive in this area. Most people I talk to find the naturalizing bulbs a nuisance…..some even call the heirloom bulbs “weeds”. Over the years, I have even had people bring me bags of their unwanted bulb garbage, and ofcourse, I like to be a good citizen so I gladly take their old bulbs. 🙂
Yesterday, after digging up some old Dewberry plants that my father-in-law had hacked down, I grabbed my shovel and some plastic bags. I was all set for my bulb dig.
There is absolutely no science as to how I find the areas I *might* be able to dig. I know the areas I need to scope out and hopefully find owners of the dilapidated homes….but I rarely remember what specific streets the houses are on. That’s part of the fun. I drive around like I am lost, looking for the old, abandoned Catholic Church, which is history in it’s own right. I get out of my car, take some pictures of the beautiful white church, then I start bulb hunting.
Yesterday was a good day. I randomly found the owners of an old house on my list of potential dig sites. There are a lot of Oxblood Lilies growing wild at old homestead sites. At the turn of the 20th century, the German and Czech-settled town was booming. I inherited my Dad’s love of old buildings and architecture. Ironically, old homesteads and old heirloom bulbs go hand in hand. Today, I dug at a little shabby shack that had a quaint walkway lined with clumps of old Oxblood Lilies. This old place was in the poorer part of town., not grand like Miss Margaret’ s house that had been torn down. This little place was in an area my Mother would prefer me not to go, but still safe nonetheless. There was only one man outside on the street today, working on his car motor.
“Excuse me, Sir. Do you happern to know who owns the old house at the end of the block?”
“Well, actually my wife’s parents own that house.”
Such luck!!!!!
I got permission to dig some Oxblood Lilies. Oh, Happy Day!!!! I dug up three large clumps of these old bulbs. There were countless clumps, but I dug up only three. My father-in-law admired my maturity and restraint. If the bulbs were Pink Spiders, I might not be as conservative. 🙂 I am planning on having these bulbs available for the 4th Annual Oxblood Lily Give-Away.
It waa a good bulb dig. A nice way to end the year. Today I will be putting these babies into the gardens at the Agape Haus Music Studio. Please email me at heirloombulbgirl@gmail.com if you’d like to be on the list to receive some bulbs.
Happy Gardening, my friends!