For those tired of high-maintenance and short-lived plants, Chris Wiesinger, "The Bulb Hunter" shares his knowledge of versatile, sustainable, and low-maintenance bulbs. HEIRLOOM BULBS FOR TODAY introduces the best of the bulb world, addressing common questions and explaining the characteristics, history and ways to use each bulb, whether in the landscape or the home. Chris teams with landscape designer and award winning author Cherie Foster Colburn (OUR SHADOW GARDEN) to offer an innovative look at old-fashioned flower bulbs. While most garden guides simply tell the culture of the plant, HEIRLOOM BULBS FOR TODAY also tells the culture of the people who grew the plant, unearthing each bulb's past and those who loved it. Gorgeous botanical illustrations and vivid photographs by South African artists Loela Barry and Johan Kritzinger add rich flavor to featured bulbs found flowering with abandon in historic gardens, homes, and cemeteries, transporting readers on their own bulb hunt. With undeniable Southern charm, Wiesinger describes the adventures he encounters while collecting these old favorites, dubbed the "comfort food" of the plant world. Show More Show Less.

Definition of a bulb, after all? - Brian Mathew explains the principles of bulb growing. He describes winter and summer growers; bulbs for temperate regions; and tropical and subtropical bulbs. He considers buying and planting times; planting depths and distances; soils, potting mixes, fertilizers and lime. There are sections on the garden - the shady garden; bulbs in grass; borders and sunny wall beds; raised beds, the rock garden and bulb frames; pots and containers.

Dubbed the Bulb Hunter in a 2006 New York Times feature story, Chris Wiesinger took his passion for bulbs to vacant lots, abandoned houses, cemeteries, and construction sites throughout the South in search of botanical survivors whose descendants had never seen the inside of a big-box chain store. The vintage specimens Wiesinger sought came from hardy, historic stock, adapted to human neglect and hot climates, reappearing faithfully over decades without care or cultivation. Traveling back roads, speaking to strangers, looking for the telltale color of a remnant iris or lily, Wiesinger started digging, then began trying to grow and share the bulbs he collected. From its humble beginnings on an East Texas sweet potato farm, his Southern Bulb Company has now grown into a full-fledged business known throughout the world, propagating and selling the rare, tough, heritage plants Wiesinger still seeks out and champions. Nicknamed “Flower” by his fellow cadets at Texas A&M University, Wiesinger relates his adventures in bulb hunting, telling stories of the bulbs he has discovered and weaving in his own life story as a student, plantsman, and small business owner. He then teams with veteran horticulturist William C. Welch to provide advice on how to grow and appreciate the bulbs that have been rescued and reintroduced. This “primer” gives gardeners information on what bulbs to grow where, when to plant them and when they bloom, and how to incorporate them with other plants in the landscape. Finally, Welch describes how bulbs have enhanced his personal gardens and brought him and Wiesinger together in the common cause of heirloom gardening. Entertaining, informative, and loaded with beautiful photographs, The Bulb Hunter is sure to be a favorite of gardeners and plant lovers everywhere.

All gardeners have experienced the frustration of having a bulb flower in the first year after planting, but poorly or never again thereafter. Judy Glattstein shows how a more naturalistic style of planting can produce healthy and thriving populations of bulbs.