Bulbs bloom into business

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — For Chris Wiesinger, a love of gardening goes back to his preteen years. But it was when he first saw papery, brown, rock-like items in a box with a picture of beautiful flowers on the front that he was smitten.

“I was enthralled by the idea that something that looked like rocks could turn into flowers, so I bought some, planted them and forgot about them,” Wiesinger remembers. “Then some red tulips came up, and they were beautiful.”

Those tulips died, but Wiesinger’s love for bulbs flourished – leading to his nickname “Flower” while in the military corps at Texas A&M University. He then went on a search for heritage bulbs across the southern U.S. from California to North Carolina and established the Southern Bulb Co. north of Tyler, which raises and sells them.

Now Wiesinger has a book, “The Bulb Hunter,” that blends his personal adventures into the tale of his company. The book, published by Texas A&M Press, is co-authored by Dr. William Welch, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service horticulturist who encouraged Wiesinger from his college days.

Click here to read more.