Old is the new new

Photo courtesy of Old House Gardens Heirloom Bulbs

With customer profiles and demands evolving, forced bulbs could benefit from a reboot. These days, customers are looking for more unusual and exciting plant choices and your forced bulb selection is not immune from such scrutiny.

Both antique and heirloom plants and bulbs are becoming more popular with experienced gardeners and newbies alike. Many are looking to recreate the nostalgia of gardens past, while some are invested in the preservation of plant genetics. Most want to be inspired and hooked by beautiful plants with a better story.

Go retro

Unusual and exciting doesn’t necessarily mean new. When it comes to what’s hip right now, old is new, you know. Recycle, repurpose and go retro. If there is one word you should be paying attention to it’s “heritage.” Heritage grains, heritage chickens, heritage seeds. There’s a focus on salvaging what we already had that was good before it’s lost forever. Heirloom plants and bulbs fall into this trending “heritage,” or "conservation," category. If you want new customers to be enticed to buy your forced bulbs at retail, a good approach is to offer them something unusual or heirloom. Better yet, unusual and old with a good story to tell.

What classifies as an heirloom bulb? Typically, they are open-pollinated varieties that have survived over several generations. While you’ll get varying definitions from different experts, it’s commonly accepted that an open-pollinated plant is an heirloom if it dates back to before 1950.

Shopping for heirloom bulbs myself, I came across Old House Gardens Heirloom Bulbs, a specialty bulb mail-order company in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their bulb manager, Vanessa Elms, discussed what their customers are looking for and how trends are changing. Elms said the most noticeable trend they’d seen in the last couple of years was a growing interest by customers forcing their bulbs indoors. So much so, they had to expand their educational resources online to meet demand.

Photo: Leslie F. Halleck

Loosen up

Landscaping and plant choice trends are shifting to a looser style. Cut flower bouquets are becoming a bit wilder within the field-to-vase movement, incorporating more unusual plants, wildflowers and even fruits and vegetables. Perhaps a shift from the typical tiny and tight pots of tidy tulips is also in order. While packaging and shipping concerns continue to rule plant choices for many growers, aesthetics and customer wants also need to be taken into consideration if you’re going to boost sales.

If you have a local active cut flower market, know that florists are on the hunt for unusual, heirloom and local cut flower options. Many heirloom bulbs make wonderful additions to arrangements, and provide a story that florists and their customers are looking for.

Break it up

While most growers will be resistant to introducing actual broken tulips into their forcing program, one cannot deny the appeal these unusually colored and shaped tulips have for consumers. What are broken tulips? They are the tulips with brightly colored stripes and feathers that were highly prized from the 1600s well into the 1800s. They were often referred to as Rembrandt tulips. The cause of the fanciful “broken” colors was a virus that was spread from bulb to bulb via aphids. Holland subsequently banned the growing of any such virus infected tulips in the early 1980s. But some are now back in the trade in limited quantities.

Tulip ‘Zomershoon’ dates back to the Tulipomania days of the early 1600s, when collectors traded fortunes for this very variety. It’s a striking beauty with long pointed petals striped in strawberries and cream colors. It’s a customer favorite at Old House Gardens, says Elms.

To provide more unusual, but virus-free, forced tulips, there are a number of modern varieties that mimic the look of true Rembrandt or broken tulips. Some are still referred to as Rembrandt tulips, or also bizarre tulips. ‘Princess Irene,' ‘Mona Lisa,' ‘Olympic Flame’ and ‘Sorbet’ are a few that come to mind. Parrot, lily-flowering and fringed tulip varieties can also give you that wild and retro look in a pot.

Photo: Leslie F. Halleck

Your grandmother’s hyacinth

When I asked Elms what heirloom bulbs were most popular with Old House Gardens customers, she directed me to a page on their website where they update the most popular customer choices each year. One of their most sought-after heirloom bulbs is the Roman Blue hyacinth (Bellevalia romana), a variety that dates back to 1562. Varieties of this species can also be found in color variations of dark blue, white and light pink. Flowers offer up a unique cinnamon scent. The blooms are displayed in a more open and airy presentation than that of modern Hyacinthus orientalis cultivars. Put forced specimens on sale side by side and I’d eagerly snap up the Roman Blue in a heartbeat.

Fragrance

Fragrance is one of the most powerful influencers when it comes to impulse plant purchases. Modern hybrid hyacinth are the go-to for bulb forcers, and now perhaps you’ll try your hand at some Roman hyacinth. However, if you want to offer up fragrance from an unexpected source, give some fragrant tulips a try. Elms advises that ‘Princess Irene’ and ‘Generaal de Wet’ are especially nice fragrant selections for forcing indoors.

Indoors to out

For existing or budding gardeners, their first experience with growing bulbs is often from buying a pot of forced tulips or forcing some paperwhites or amaryllis indoors. Many want to then plant them outdoors in the garden. Transplanting the forced bulbs outdoors after they’ve finished blooming is a recommendation your retailers can make to customers that brings a value-add to the purchase.

Elms reminds us that replanting bulbs outdoors after forcing can be a little tricky, no matter the type of bulb. She advises to educate customers that they may have to wait an extra year for the bulbs to start blooming again outdoors on their normal schedule. Choosing varieties to force that have an easier time making the transition is a good idea. Until it’s time to plant them outdoors, Elms says, “Keep growing them in a bright window after they’re bloomed. Once the foliage turns yellow (or before if needed), lay out the bulbs in a shady spot (or indoors) to slowly dry and go dormant.” At this point, the customer can store the bulbs someplace cool and dry to replant in the fall or replant them in your garden. It might be handy for your retailers if you provided instructions or detailed label information on just such post-forcing garden care.

Photo: Leslie F. Halleck

Is this local?

Again, because many shoppers will purchase forced bulbs with the intent of later transplanting them to the garden, regional adaptability is important. One of the questions most often asked of me during my time selling bulbs was “does this naturalize here?” Offering forced bulbs that are also better for perennializing or naturalizing in your area helps make the purchase feel like a better investment.

For example, certain narcissus species and hybrids don’t thrive long-term in heavy Southern soils and humidity. Heirlooms such as ‘Early Pearl’ was rediscovered in old gardens of the Southeast’s “Spanish Moss Belt,” according to Old House Gardens. This tazetta performs best where summers are hot and flowers produce a fresher scent than many other paperwhites. It’s an heirloom with a story, a better indoor fragrance, and better garden performance. That’s a win/win for Southern gardeners.

I asked Elms if she had any favorite heirloom bulbs for forcing. “I’m a big fan of double blooming daffodils like Erlicheer” she says, “As well as ‘Mary Copeland.’” When she gets tired of forcing hyacinth, she opts for the more unusual snake’s head fritillary. She also prizes the historic Madonna lily for its delicate and dazzling white flowers as well as its evergreen foliage.