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An Interview with Scott Kunst
by Tovah Martin
Scott Kunst refuses to take a dewy-eyed approach to old-fashioned bulbs. Although the former school teacher now devotes all his time and energy to researching, collecting, and preserving heirloom bulbs, and providing them to the public through his mail-order catalog, Old House Gardens, he avoids romanticizing his mission. In his opinion, it's a flower's virtues that make it more valuable to gardeners over the long term than the myths and legends it has accrued along the way. "These are, simply, great garden plants," Scott explains. "They're tough, beautiful, distinctive, and they are freighted with the past.
"Heirloom bulbs are often tougher than their counterparts that have come and gone," says Scott. "That's one reason why they're still around. They can endure neglect, tough conditions, and a variety of climates. The same can be said for heirloom flowers in general. Have you ever wondered why Hemerocallis fulva can still be seen lining country roads? It endures because it's tough.
"Ninety-nine percent of their colleagues are gone," Scott says of the scores of bulbs that have slipped by the wayside, "but a handful of the best still remain." It's more than vigor that has kept a chosen few bulbs popular through the centuries, he points out. "It's often the unique individuals rather than the common, mainstream plants that have survived." One might call these botanical Babe Ruths. "Babe Ruth was one in a trillion. We've never found anyone else quite like him," Scott says. "It's the same with many heirlooms that have stood the test of time. They survive because their unique characteristics have not been duplicated." That's also what makes them so precious.
Scott illustrates his point with the 'Prince of Austria' tulip. "Introduced in 1860, it was sold as orange in the past, but today most people would call it red. Of course, there is nothing rare about a red tulip. But the fact is that 'Prince of Austria' is scented—it's the most sweetly fragrant tulip—and that virtue has kept it around." In fact, it was 'Prince of Austria' that launched Scott into the bulb-selling business. In 1990, when 'Prince of Austria' disappeared from the North American market, Scott felt compelled to take action, and so Old House Gardens in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was born.
Another unique heirloom, less endangered than 'Prince of Austria' but still hard to find today, is the hyacinth 'Distinction', which was introduced in 1880. "Its flowers are really too small to compete with its newer, larger colleagues," Scott says. "But no modern variety can match its deep maroon color and that attribute has saved it. The shade has been described as beet root, and it runs against the stereotype. There's nothing ho-hum about that hyacinth."
Subtle Virtues
Sometimes, a bulb's unique quality might not strike you as a virtue at first. Take Crocus vernus 'Grand Maître' from the 1920s. "It may seem like just another purple crocus," says Scott, "but it blossoms a bit later in the season—not what you would expect for a flower that's a classic harbinger of spring. 'Grand MaÎtre' overlaps in bloom with the earliest daffodils—beautifully. It's got that special gift, and that's one reason why it's still here."
The special gifts that heirlooms possess are not necessarily the qualities that garden centers or flower-show exhibitors value. "Heirloom bulbs often have a wildflower look to them. They're more graceful and subtle than many modern bulb flowers," explains Scott. "Take the poet's narcissus, for example. Narcissus poeticus, pictured in the English herbals of the 1600s, grows wild in alpine meadows. It has more grace and delicacy than most modern daffodils. 'Tête-à-tête' daffodils are terrific in their own way, but their flowers always look to me like they're made of wax.
"Most older daffodils are willowy, graceful. Their flowers bounce in the breeze like butterflies in the garden," he says. "Their petals may be narrower, their cups smaller, their colors less intense—no blazing oranges, for example. But there's something ethereal about them."
way down on the list of garden virtues, perhaps because it isn't readily apparent in a picture. And it's hard to breed for. At one time, though, a flower without fragrance was considered lacking." Scott points out that "fragrance can still add an exciting dimension to a garden."
Among old bulbs, there is often more diversity. The very old 'Duc van Thol' tulip, which dates back to 1620, blooms so early that you can combine it with hyacinths. Other old tulips have unusually long pointed petals, or colors in odd, soft "art shades." 'Zomerschoon' is one of the tulips traded for fortunes during the Dutch Tulipomania. Its tapestry of strawberry shades on a cream background put crude modern 'Rembrandts' to shame.
Everything Comes and Goes
Scott is quite aware that fashion is alive and well in the garden. "Style changes in the garden just as it does in clothing or architecture," he says. "There are times when bell-bottoms are popular, and then there are times when bell-bottoms are totally passé. Attitudes change. There were times in this century when Victorian houses with all their gingerbread were considered to be in incredibly bad taste, but now we love them again."
How does that translate to bulbs? In the floral realm, cannas have been punted back and forth. Imported from subtropical America into Europe in the 1500s, cannas received a hero's welcome, reaching their zenith when the Victorian bedding pattern was king. Valued for their statuesqueness as well as their handsome foliage and vibrant flowers, cannas made a perfect bull's eye at the center of circular beds surrounded by rings of equally brilliantly colored annuals. But they were sacrificed in a blink of the eye when annual gardens were superceded by the pastel perennial class="border"r. "Cannas have been scorned for the last few decades," Scott says, "but the British garden guru Christopher Lloyd and many others are now re-popularizing them. Their time is clearly coming again."
When that time comes, Scott Kunst will be ready. One of his proudest "finds" is 'Semaphore', which he tracked down in France to a family farm that has specialized in cannas for generations. He describes it as having "narrow bronze leaves, and slender flowers a radiant, golden saffron orange."
Cannas are not the only bulbs that have suffered the buffeting of fashion; many other once-popular flowers are out of fashion at the moment. For the last 40 or so years, gladioli have suffered from a stigma, possibly because they were too often found in funeral arrangements. But, according to Scott, "the first hybrid glads were created in 1837, and Victorian gardeners—including Monet and Gertrude Jekyll—loved them. Sadly, of the thousands that have been introduced since then, the oldest survivors in North America date only to the 1920s to 1940s." He is currently working with the Old Timers Guild of the North American Gladiolus Council to remedy the situation.The Enthusiast Network
Where does Scott Kunst find his older varieties? A good route is via other collectors. One of his most fruitful friendships has been with the holder of the National Collection of hyacinths in Britain. Once a potato farmer, his life is now devoted to hyacinths. He's in contact with a collector in Latvia who has many hyacinths long lost in the Netherlands. And so it goes, one enthusiast helping another.
As Scott Kunst sees it, one advantage of Old House Gardens is that it is a small company. "I can offer a variety when only a hundred bulbs are available; larger companies must have much more stock." And so he is able to get rare bulbs to other gardeners who value their special qualities, ensuring that those varieties will not disappear despite mass-market pressures and the swings of fashion. "I hate to see a great old variety go extinct," he says. "They'll linger somewhere in the alleyways, you can be sure. But they belong in our gardens. They're amazing."
Tovah Martin's interest in heirlooms began with indoor plants at Logee's Greenhouses in Danielson, Connecticut, where she spent more than 20 years caring for the vintage begonia collection. She is the garden editor of Victoria magazine and the Litchfield County Times. Her writing has appeared frequently in the Sunday New York Times, and she is the author of several gardening books, including Tasha Tudor's Garden (Houghton Mifflin Co., 1994). She is the guest editor of two previous BBG handbooks, Greenhouses and Garden Rooms (1989) and A New Look at Houseplants(1995).