Mary Ann, I could go on and on about how great I am but that would deprive you of finding it out for yourself.

grannysgarden said:I hope you can too, Tom. What was your Grandmother's name? Will you name it after her or a name she was know by?

Her name was Frances, I'll use it some how in the name I'm sure if I'm lucky enough to get a good one.

Wonderful thread! I'm so loving all the stories!

Growing up, my aunt and her family lived next door. She had 2 patches of irises bordering their large veggie garden, 1 of I. pallida, the other I. flavescens. I loved all flowers as long as I can remember, but those irises captivated me. The blue smelled like grape to me, and the yellow like lemon, which I thought was so cool. Then at about 8-10 years old I was at my grandmother's house, where there was a creek running through the back yard, with a little bridge over it. Across the creek was a fenced area I had only seen full of weeds and wild growth, where my grandfather (who died before I was born) had grown a vegetable garden. The creek and that weedy area were wonderful places to play, and one May I saw huge white iris blooms poking out among the growth. This was the first large flowered iris I had seen, and I was blown away! One of my first endeavors as a budding gardener was to retrieve some of those precious white irises from Mamaw's yard (yep, Mamaw is what so many Kentuckians call grandmothers, LOL).

As a teen, I met the lady who gardened a few miles down the road, where my mother would drive me to see in spring because her yard was such a colorful explosion of blooms. In high school I happened to become friends with this amazing gardener's grand-daughter, and upon seeing her garden up close, my fate as a gardener was sealed! That's where I saw true modern irises in colors I never knew existed. Her family rolled their eyes when they spoke of her paying $50 for a single iris, like she was nuts, LOL I knew she was a kindred spirit!

How wonderful, Neal!

I could hear the ripple of the stream under the wooden bridge, Neal.

How wonderful, Neal!! I think that the people who fall in love early in life -- whether it's with Irises alone, or gardening in general -- are very lucky because they get so many more years of pleasure.

Celia --

To be honest with you, I never really cared for Iris. Then about 2 years ago I saw a black iris called Black is Black in a catalog and decided to order 3 of them. One for my daughter who collects black flowers, one for my other daughter and the third one I would keep. When it bloomed, I was amazed at its beauty. I never bought any more until the following summer. Then someone in this forum mentioned Schreiners and I ordered my first dozen. Some will bloom this summer and I am very excited and can't wait for them to bloom. I now wish I had more room to plant others but my 300 plus daylily collection takes up the majority of my yard. I don't have room for any more flower beds and even if I did I probably could not take on any more work. What I have now is really more than I can handle.

It's amazing what a single flower can do. Daylilies and irises fascinate me with their ability to create so many different combinations and colors.

That's for sure!!!

I fell in love when I was 4 or 5 years old. I spent a lot of time with my great aunt in Kansas. She just lived a few blocks from us and I was with her as much as possible. She had a few irises, a couple of peonies, some pansies... We lived in town but in a rather rural community so we spent a lot of time driving around on the back roads. There were always irises of all colors in the bar ditches. I thought that was just the neatest thing!

I could never wait until spring when the irises would bloom. I could stand there for hours looking at the petals wondering how all of those colors got there like that. There were lines and dots and velvet and wax, I was enthralled.

The remainder of my life I would marvel at the irises when they would bloom. I would make people pull over when I would see them growing in masses either in the wild or in someones garden, I just had to look at them and take in the beauty. There was always something so majestic about them.

It was not until I moved into this house about 10 years ago that I had an iris of my own. When I got here there were 4 clumps of a NOID peach self; I was so excited. I started searching the net to find out what to do with them; found a gardening site and the rest is history. I started trading a few of my NOIDs, I would grab the "for postage" offers and here I am!!

Interesting, Cindy. It was a single Iris -- out in a field -- that hooked me too. It took me another twenty years to have my own gardens where Irises could be planted -- and it was an order to Schreiner's that set me on my life's course!! Before the internet, only Iris catalogs let us peek into the wonderful world of Irises, and their catalog filled me with excitement -- and still does!!

And we're so glad that you are, Lori!!

Yes Mary Ann, just a single Iris got me interested. My mother-in-law had a lot planted at her place because the deer wouldn't touch them. After she passed and my husband inherited her small cabin on the lake, I tried to dig them out, with not much success. They kept coming back. They are probably more the historic type because they have been there for over 20 years. I will have to try and get some pictures of them this summer. I was never much interested in flowers as a teenager. I was actually more fascinated with the veggie garden and all the different types of tomatoes, squash and beans that one could plant.

These stories are great!

Cindy, I have some daylily seedlings happily growing away in the nursery bed. I'll be sure and post pics for you over in the daylily forum when/if they bloom this year.(Thanks, Arlyn!)

Yes, please do post them when them bloom Celia!!!!

If I may interject something here, the thought occurs to me that some of us have had a very long love affair with the iris.........and some have become 'enchanted" just recently.....but lets give a little thought to those , who as yet, haven't developed our "fixation on the flower".........kids, of ANY age, whether they are ours, the neighbors, or the kid down the street.....maybe they aren't even born yet !......but, anyway, it's part of our "duty" to introduce them to , perhaps, something that THEY will tell stories about, someday !

Hear, hear.

At every opportunity, and no matter the age, I love to share my love of irises with anyone willing to stand still long enough to become the owner of one.

The kids are our future in more ways than one. We have to keep them interested until they have gardens of their own.

Yes they are, Lucy.