When I was a little girl I always looked forward to the irises that bloomed in a spot next to the driveway. I loved the beards. I loved fuzzy caterpillars and the beards always caught my attention. It iris smelled so good and I can remember my little fingertips could not wait to touch the beard to see what it felt like. After that I did not have any interest in iris until was in my mid 40's. I was at a farmers market in Kansas City looking for the best buys in produce. There was a vendor with blooming irises, complete with fresh roots and rhizome who was selling them. It was Comanche Acres. I saw my first pink iris that day and bought it as fast as I could pull out the asking price. It was called Love and Lace, if I remember right. The next spring when it bloomed several stalks with huge flowers of heavy substance I was totally hooked on having iris after that. The blooms took my breath away.
In a divorce I left that house and that iris. I kept the C.A. catalog that I had gotten. When my life changed and I moved to a house where I planned to stay, and had a new husband who loved gardening and me, I searched for other sources of iris. My husband and I visited Comanche Acres when iris where in bloom and we purchased our first iris for the yard that year and that was 2004. He loves blue ones and I make sure he has them.
K
