On 2020-03-01 23:33, michaelcmace@gmail.com wrote:

I went to the memorial get-together at Bill the Bulb Baron's farm today. I
was very happy to hear that the business will continue -- Bill left the farm
to the couple who had been working with him.
As I'm sure most of you know, there are far too many stories of bulb
businesses that either disappeared completely or were subject to desperate
last-minute rescue operations after the owner died. Bill planned ahead to
prevent that from happening, and I really respect it.
I hadn't realized how prominent Bill was in the breeding of Tazetta
narcissus. The American Daffodil Society gave him its gold medal last year.
The majority of plants at Bill's farm are Narcissus (past peak bloom,
unfortunately), but tucked away in various spots were all sorts of goodies:
Freesias scattered around in ones and twos, a few vivid yellow
Zantedeschias, a row of Watsonias in bud, a little bright purple patch of
Scilla peruviana (or whatever the heck we call them these days), and so on.
Plus I think about an acre of Amaryllis, with a few plants that looked like
Crinums at the edges. The plants all looked very vigorous and well cared for.
I'm told that Bill died peacefully at the bulb farm, taking a nap in his
truck. Not a bad way to go.
Mike
_______________________________________________
pbs mailing list
pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net
http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…