Great beginnings, Dee. I was going to ask you how you got started. I thought probably you moved to Oregon to open the business.

No Polly we moved to OR to retire and enjoy the animals, weather, less traffic and no smog, the business evoled because I could not keep my hands out of the dirt.'

First business was a greenhouse Aunt Dee's Greenhouse, that did not work because I did not want to use all the chemiclas to retard the growth of plants or make them grow out of season and my location., Had that from 93 to 96l with little business.'

D

I had a casual intrest in Iris.They seemed to be a lot of bother I ordered 3 when we moved here in '07.
Last summer I recieved and ordered more because of a gardener we all know who grows iris and is an enabler.
I believed it was possible to have more iris when I stopped thinking they needed to be in long rows and raised beds. I plant them in the perennial garden just as I would any plant.
I went nuts on Dee's sale,well not like some of the iris gardeners but 12 plants is a lot for me.
My head is full of images of the new babies in their places with companion colors.
Now the hard part,wait 2 years to see the blooms.

Jo Ann....I get a high % of bloom the first year...of about 30 I planted last year only two didn't bloom this spring. 2 years is a long time to be patient. Back to the subject of this thread...soon after I became interested I learned that there was a couple who lived only a few blocks from my home. They grew about 400 varieties and ordered new ones from Schrieners each year to update their garden. They sold rhizomes each year and put that money back in newer iris. We became good friends and pooled orders for many years, mostly to Schrieners and Keith Keppel. We would dig and share increase the next year. They and their garden are gone now. I drive by their home and garden occasionally and it makes me feel a little melancholy. My sweet wife tried to order Beverly Sills the year it was introduced to surprise me but it was sold out so she ordered it the next year. I still grow it. At the first show I entered I had the runner-up to best specimen......a Schrieners ...Post Time. That was a thrill. Good memories.

Paul: Most of the iris I have were planted last year.
We had a bizaar spring and not too many of the old one bloomes and some of but not all of the new ones bloomed.
I chalked it up to freezes in April.
I guess I was a bit dramatic when I said 2 years on my new ones for 2012.I will see blooms I know.
There will be photos too.

Photos

Ohhh yeahhh

Paul, those are some good memories.