Four years ago this summer I retired and passed the torch to my beloved employees Vanessa, Rita, and Justin.

I continued writing the OHG newsletter and blog, though, to help them out and because I enjoyed it so much. But now that I have three young grandsons to play with plus a garden that calls to me every morning when I should be writing, I’ve decided that this post will be my last.

We launched the newsletter in September 2002 as a way to spread our love of historic bulbs and gardens and to help our readers learn how to grow bulbs better. In the 242 issues we’ve published since then, most of which we’ve posted here at our blog, I hope we’ve also made you laugh, given you something to think about now and then, and helped you feel more a part of that vast fellowship of gardeners that spans the globe and transcends time.

What’s next? Vanessa, Rita, and Justin are trying to figure that out right now, so stay tuned and keep your fingers crossed.

As for me, thanks for reading! I couldn’t have done it without you, and I’ll truly miss you.

Tom's crocus lawn

Our good customer Tom Duff of zone-6b Essex, Massachusetts, emailed us this spring with some happy news:

“After reading at your website about growing crocus in lawns, we planted 6 bulbs of Crocus tommasinanus 25 years ago. Now we’ve got a dense, 15-foot circle of them every spring, with some ranging up to 50 feet away from the originals. I’d say there’s at least 1000 of them.

“My mother-in-law tells me ants have been spreading the seeds, and she says it helps that we don’t spread lime or fertilizer. We always let the leaves have a few weeks to recharge the bulbs before we start mowing the area.

“I’m seeing it starting in the front yard now, too. Maybe 50 have ‘escaped’ there and spread up to 15 feet across the lawn in the last couple of springs.”

Thanks for sharing, Tom! And don’t you wish all of gardening was this easy?

Tommies are the key (since not all crocus set seed) and not mowing them for a few weeks after they bloom. You can order yours now for October delivery, and learn more at our “Crocus in the Lawn” page.