Bulbs

Eudora loved bulbs, both large and small-flowered. She collected crocuses (above left), French Roman hyacinths, and many daffodils (Welty called the above right variety the seventeen sisters), ordering them both from established nurseries and from farm women who advertised in the Mississippi Market Bulletin. Crinums, dahlias, Easter lilies, jonquils, montbretia, ornithogalum, oxalis, oxblood lilies, spider lilies, rain lilies (zephranthes) and tuberoses are among the bulbs and corms the Weltys planted.

"Beds — no. Borders — yes."
(Notation in Chestina Welty's garden journal)

"Beds — no. Borders — yes."
(Notation in Chestina Welty's garden journal)

Chestina designed a perennial border to include flowers blooming in succession. Early tall bearded irises formed the backbone of this garden, including 'Dauntless,' 'Indian Chief,' and 'Souvenir de Madame Gaudichau,' in addition to the 'old cemetery whites,' Iris albicans. At the beginning of the twentieth century a handful of breeders using a dozen wild species began to introduce hybrid daylilies. Chestina hybridized some herself and also brought back daylilies from visits to the Mississippi coast and Bellingrath gardens in Alabama. Welty daylilies growing in the garden today include the following, often fragrant, typically yellow or orange daylilies: 'Hyperion', 'The Gem', 'J.A. Crawford', and 'Mrs. W. H. Wyman.'

 

 

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