Bulbs

Scott Kunst doesn't save landmark buildings from the wrecking ball, or hoard valued collectibles. A landscape historian, Scott seeks out rare flowers that have been passed down quietly for centuries, and supplies them to gardeners.

"Like endangered species, historic plants are worth saving," says the former schoolteacher from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Gardeners can discover the beauty of all-but-forgotten varieties of hyacinths, crocuses, tulips, daffodils and other bulbs in Scott's Old House Gardens catalog.

Self-propagating bulbs traveled from their origins in the Mediterranean, Near East and South Africa to Europe. Settlers crossing the Atlantic tucked the tidy bulbs among their belongings. Few of the oldest varieties exist today, but Scott has made it his life's work to find them.

For one "Bulb of the Year," Scott selected the 'Clara Butt' tulip from 1889. 'Clara' was named for a 17-year-old British contralto with a glorious voice who was eventually named a Dame of the British Empire.

The dainty-cupped 'Conspicuus' (1869) and apricot-pink 'Mrs. R.O. Backhouse' (1923) rank as Scott's favorite daffodils, and he raves about the richly fragrant 'Prince of Austria' tulip (1860).

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