-- Edna St. Vincent Millay, American poet, 1892-1950

Shipping Starts April 4

        We're raring to go but as usual we're waiting for warmer temperatures so we can get our bulbs safely delivered from our growers around the country and then safely shipped to you. It was 19 degrees here this morning, but Mother Nature assures us warmer weather IS coming. Hang in there!

Now Through Monday Only: Save at Our 15 x 15 Sale

        From now through Monday ONLY, you'll save 15% on 15 of our finest heirlooms for spring planting and summer glory:
        DAHLIAS
               Andries Orange -- flower arrangers' favorite
               Deuil du Roi Albert -- royal purple (despite our photo) tipped with silver
               Little Beeswings -- cute, cute, cute
               Mrs. H. Brown -- tiny flames for garden and bouquets
               Nutley Sunrise -- big, exuberant, cactus-flowered
               York and Lancaster -- mysterious crimson and pearl
        DAYLILIES
               August Pioneer – 8 weeks of graceful blooms
               Black Falcon -- dark and elegant
        GLADIOLUS
               Bibi -- small and speckled
               Green Lace -- ruffled, spring green pixie
        IRIS
               Flavescens -- moonlight yellow, tough as nails
               Quaker Lady -- one of the 20th century's best-loved
               Wabash -- vigorous, simple, stunning
        DIVERSE
               Crocosmia George Davison – amber great-grandfather of Lucifer
               White rain lily –"absurdly easy and prolific"
        If it sounds like we're trying to tempt you to order, we are! But you'll have to move fast. These prices are in effect until midnight, Monday, March 28 only.

New Today: Celebrate Love and Save 20% with Our Royal Wedding Sampler

        On April 29, His Royal Highness Prince William will marry the charming Kate Middleton as hundreds of millions of romantics around the globe watch on TV. In celebration, and at the urging of a couple of our in-house romantics, we've put together a Royal Wedding Sampler of spring-planted bulbs:
        1 lovely Spring Maid (gladiolus),
        1 handsome Prince Noir (dahlia),
        3 Pearls (fragrant double tuberoses),
        1 soft pink Luxury Lace (daylily), and
        1 long live the Crimson King (iris)!
        That's a total value of $40.75 but – since we're such big fans of spring, love, tradition, and happiness – you can have it all for just $32.50, a savings of 20%. Consider it our special wedding favor for you!

Bright Spot of the Month: Dahlias for Veterans

        Claudia Biggs has been ordering from us since 1999, but it was only recently that she mentioned that, in addition to the 150 dahlias she grows at home, she's also in charge of a dahlia garden at the VA hospital in Spokane. This spring, for the twelfth year in a row, she'll be planting and tending over 200 dahlias there. It's a lot of work, but she won't be doing it alone. Every year her husband Dennis and a dozen friends from the Inland Empire Dahlia Society help. And they're happy to do it. "The vets love the garden," Claudia says, and there's nothing better than "seeing the enjoyment on their faces." Learn more here.

Book of the Month: Sydney Eddison's Gardening for a Lifetime

        I started reading this book for my parents, who are gardening in their 80s. But by the time I'd finished the first page, I was hooked, and I realized it was a great book for younger gardeners, too. It isn't a dreary compendium of everything you'll have to give up in your garden as you get older. It's the very personal story of Eddison finding ways to change how she gardens so she can continue enjoying it instead of feeling overwhelmed by it. Busy gardeners of any age will find her tips -- and perspective -- valuable. Plant more flowering shrubs, she recommends, which are bigger and easier to care for than most perennials. Learn to accept imperfection – which is Nature's way -- and don't think you have to do everything yourself.
        It's Eddison's story and personality, though, that really make this book shine. "In the sliding glass doors to the kitchen," she writes in the preface, "I catch glimpses of an old woman hobbling around my garden, and I realize in amazement that it's me." Reading that, I knew I was in for more than just another book of garden advice. By the time I reached the last chapter, I felt like I'd not only found a Yoda-like mentor but a new friend.

Sydney Eddison's Favorite Iris (Order it Now to Plant in April!)

        "I am no longer a fan of the modern bearded irises which I once lusted after," Sydney Eddison writes in Gardening for a Lifetime (above), "because borers always wreak havoc with their foliage, chewing the edges of the leaves and coating them with slime. While the plants rarely die, they look so awful that you wish they would.
        "The species Iris pallida is a different story. Mine came with the house forty-eight years ago and can still be found in other old gardens. I recently saw it for sale in Williamsburg, Virginia, where the historic gardens contain only plants available in colonial times. This old iris can be easily identified by its bloomy blue-green leaves, which stand at attention throughout the season and are seldom ruined by borers. The three-foot flower stalks bear five or six modest blue-violet flowers that have a delicious scent. And after the brief flowering season in May, the foliage usually remains handsome all season."

Easy Tips for Making Your Spring Bouquets Last Longer

        A few spring flowers in a vase can light up any room, bringing the beauty of spring inside where you can enjoy it up close and without getting cold or wet. To make your daffodils, tulips, and other bulb flowers last longer in bouquets, check out our friend Linda Beutler's simple, expert tips at our "Bulbs as Cut Flowers" page.

Did You Miss Our Last Newsletter? Read It Online!

        Early March's articles included two new web-only iris, Hollywood dahlias, Christopher Lloyd on daylilies, tommies in the limelight, bomb-sniffing tulips, better bloom from your rain lilies, loving late-winter gardening, and more. You can read all of our back-issues -- by date or by topic -- at oldhousegardens.com/NewsletterArchives.asp .

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