Next to the name of each of our bulbs we give the date when this bulb was first grown in European or American gardens – as best as we can tell from the historic record.

These dates are often called “dates of introduction.” They usually reflect either the first published reference to that bulb as a garden plant, the date of its introduction into Western horticulture from other parts of the world, or the date when it was first offered for sale.

Please note that most of these dates are based on European documentation, so they so can only suggest when these bulbs were first grown in America. A related problem is that it was often many years after a bulb’s introduction – into a botanical garden in England, for example, or by a fashionable nursery in France – before it became available here, and often even longer before it became popular or common.

We’re always searching for better documentation and more accurate dates, and we’d welcome your suggestions.