Digging Up Treasures

 I have mentioned my secret garden before.  I love treasures and surprises.  Don't you?

 

All around the property we have found Paper Whites, Purple Irises, White Irises, Oxblood lilies, Amaryllis, and wild onions and even some old rose bushes that have been so neglected they no longer produce flowers.  We have huge old Oak Trees, Pecan Trees, Crepe Myrtles and some others. 

 

I love gardens.  My personal favorite look for many years has been what I would call an English Garden.  Gardens that are intentionally messy, colorful, and include cutting flowers.

At my previous home I had collected 11 antique rose bushes.  I knew the name of each one and lovingly cared for them.  I so enjoyed being able to bring the different colored, deliciously fragrant  flowers inside.  I had a tiny patch of Irises but that was it.

I had not thoroughly understood the wonder of the very sturdy, beautiful bulb.  Or tuber.

If you drive around the area of town close to our house you will see all of the same bulbs that I have. Irises and lilies are popping up in front of old homes in a one mile radius around our home.  I adore the idea of how long these bulbs have been here.  The thought of women over the years sharing bulbs and cuttings with friends and neighbors is magical to me. 

 And listen, these bulbs are HARDY!  The majority of our bulbs are nowhere near the sprinkler system.  The Paper Whites were covered with weed guard and still managed to poke their heads through and give us beautiful white blooms.

When we landscaped the front yard last year, we had a bunch of the Irises moved into the flowerbed across the front.  They have done beautifully. 

As the excavation team arrived to begin digging up and tearing down the old buildings and concrete, I suddenly realized that there were a ton of bulbs in harm's way. 

Now I am counting on them being hardy.  This was not the time of year to dig up your bulbs.  The alternative would have been for them to have no chance and be demolished along with the Kickapoo bathroom. 

Even my sweet architect got involved and started gathering up bulbs. 

I walked around the house and dug up all sorts of bulbs.  Now they will be stored and replanted when we move back.  I also passed out some of these bulbs to a few neighbors and a friend from across town who stopped by to check out the log cabin.  Just carrying on the tradition.  Fingers crossed that our bulbs survive my lack of knowledge and poor planning.

Some of the Irises were about to bloom so we brought them.

Hello Gorgeous!

I love the fuzzy yellow strip that looks like a caterpillar.  I've done a little research and I think they are Blue Rhythm from 1945.  I could be wrong but they look like it and the year would make sense.  Which means... worth digging up!

 

So, while I was digging up bulbs, the excavation team was digging up the house.  I kept teasing them about finding buried treasure.  They dug and dug and tore down the old parts of the house that weren't worth saving.  While they were digging, they found something I think IS worth saving. 

You may think it is silly, but I was so excited they found something under there.

The bottle may not fetch much money on eBay or Etsy, its worth about $10.  It is very old.  I did a little research.  It was made in the late 1800s and was a "blood vitalizer" or panacea.  The recipe was brought to America from Switzerland by Dr. Fahrney and produced in Chicago.  The bottle reads,

  "Forni's Alpenkrauter Blutbeleber."  Here's one link that I found.  The bottle was clear but with exposure to sunlight, it started to take on an amethyst color.

All cleaned up!  Isn't it darling?  

 It makes the perfect bud vase. For what else?  An Iris of course!

 

I love treasures.  I love surprises.  I love waiting patiently and finding that the flowers have opened up a little more each day.  I guess it is a good thing that waiting patiently for things to grow and change is something I enjoy, right?  Our house will be a treasure and while some of the surprises that we find along the way may mean delays or more money, I choose to focus on the excitement of watching the beauty of our new home unfold and grow each day!