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YARD AND GARDEN

Antique bulbs will set your garden apart

Many antique fanciers may be surprised to learn that they can afford to buy antiques by the dozen — or the garden. And the price won't even set you back.

More than a few of the hundreds of popular tulips and other flower bulbs sold for planting each fall are actually antiques that have been gracing elegant European and American gardens for several centuries.

Dave Robson

Like antique furnishings and clothing, antique flower bulbs have an appeal and a legacy that sets them apart from their modern counterparts.

In the early 16th and 17th century, certain tulips were so coveted that a handful of bulbs could bring a commission worth $80,000 in 1998 dollars. In fact, their popularity spawned a scandalous bulb-buying frenzy in 17th century Holland known a "Tulipmania," which essentially ruined the Dutch economy for centuries.

The allure of these glamorous flowers generated an economic uproar that seduced — and, when the market collapsed in 1637, eventually ruined — many of Europe's affluent society.

What makes antique flower bulbs as interesting as they are captivating is the fact that unlike preserved objects from the past, they are a result of conservation, rather than restoration.

For example, Dutch growers have cultivated the Keizerskroon tulip, a popular antique bulb, since 1750, while the "Rubra Maxima" fritillaria has been grown unchanged since 1574.

In fact, the art of conserving and cultivating bulbs is a century-old Dutch tradition. Many of the Dutch growers, like so many French wine families, have handed down their craft from one generation to the next. The fact that certain flower bulbs have stood the test of time for so many years is a source of great pride for the original grower's family.

Today's gardener can find many antique bulbs that have been preserved in the same form for more than a hundred years, and even several centuries.

For the novice "collector," tulips offer the greatest number of old-fashioned cultivars. Those referred to as "botanical species" or "species" are so described because they closely resemble the flower as it is grows naturally in the wild.

They are quite delicate looking and most don't grow higher than a foot tall, with several small flowers on each stem. They come in different colors, including yellow, white, bright red, ivory and pale lilac.

Those referred to as "botanical" tulips are the handiwork of early hybridizers. These older varieties — which include Kaufmanniana, Fosteriana and Greigii type tulips — differ from the tall, cup-shaped soft-hued tulips commonly seen today.

Generally early-flowering and low growing, botanical tulips often have longer, pointed petals of bright red, yellow or a combination of primary colors forming starshaped flowers when open.

Among the types of tulips which would have been familiar to gardeners a century ago are: "Keizerskroon" (Single Early Tulip), "Couleur Cardinal" (Single Early Tulip), Tulip kaufmanniana (Kaufmanniana tulip), "Plaisr" (Greggii tulip) "Red Riding Hood" (Greigii tulip) and Tulip turkestanica, Tulip Praestans fusilier and Tulip tarda which are species tulips.

So why should you grow these? Many bloom extremely early, giving the garden some color just after the snow has left. Some are late bloomers, finishing up when the iris and peonies start.

Some of the bulbs' colors haven't been matched by anything else on the market. The intensity of the reds and yellows are breathtaking.

The key to any bulb planting is making sure the depth is correct. Larger bulbs such as tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and fritilaria should be planted six to eight inches deep with a similar spacing, though spacing bulbs four inches apart does result in an attractive display.

Smaller bulbs such as crocus and grape hyacinths are planted three to four inches deep.

Mix some fertilizer into the soil when planting. Water bulbs thoroughly after planting and mulch for the winter. Bulbs are best planted by the middle of October to allow for good root growth before winter's cold sets in.

David Robson is an Extension Educator, Horticulture, at the Springfield Extension Center, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Illinois. You can write to Robson in care of Illinois Country Living, P.O. Box 3787, Springfield, IL 62708. Telephone: (217) 782-6515. E-Mail: robsond@idea.ag.uiuc.edu

16 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING OCTOBER 1998