New Member

Hi gang,

I have been on this list quietly for a few weeks and can no longer remain
silent.  I caught up today on all the messages about slugs, blenders, etc.,
What great fun.  It is so nice to see folks with a sense of humor.

A short bio:
I have been around bearded iris most of my 48 years.  My grandmother grew
them, (two varieties - 1 light-blue/purple & 2 yellow).  My mother got some
from her and still grows them.  I have always loved iris.

A year and a half ago I finally bought a house where I could have my own
iris.  I bought the house in July and started working on it the same weekend
as our local iris show (the house was really bad). My next door neighbor, a
member of the local iris group told me of the show, and I asked him to pick
out a "few" unusual and colorful plants for me.  He brought me a grocery
sack full.  I couldn't decide which ones I wanted, so I took them all!  TB's
MB's SDB's DB's,
rebloomers (which I had never heard of before) in every color imaginable.

My flower beds were so overgrown that I put the sack in the garage until I
could plant them.  What with one thing and another, the plants got lost
until the next May.  When we found them, they were all dried out and weighed
nothing.  Unfortunately most of the identifying tags had come off also.  My
roommate thought they were dead and wanted to throw them away.  I decided to
plant them in case even one or two were alive.  Within two weeks, all but
two were showing new leaves.  Several (probable the rebloomers) even
bloomed.  Now I am waiting for them to bloom again so I can try to figure
out what I actually have.  Two have bloomed already and 8 more have
bloomstalks up.  I cannot believe how incredibly tough these plants are.

Last summer, I bought about 40 more (and planted them this time).  In
addition, there were large clumps of dark purple iris already in the flower
beds.  I dug them up, divided and replanted and now have about 300 plants
total.  As they increase, I will start sharing them.

Another example of how tough and hardy they are:  While I was dividing the
old clumps, I had a pretty rough looking piece of rhizome left over that did
not appear to be good for anything at all.  Somehow it got dropped in the
flower bed and just laid there on top of the ground.  Late last summer I
noticed some new iris leaves where I had not planted anything - it was that
supposedly useless piece of an old tired plant!

I know most of you are probably cringing in horror at what I did to my first
batch of iris, and I am not really proud of it myself, but what a great time
I have had with them.  There is no other plant quite like them.  In Lubbock,
Texas, Zone ?, they are tough, thrive on total neglect and are almost
impossible to kill.

Thanks for a great group.

Jay
Jay Morrow
2006 33rd St
Lubbock, TX  79411
(806)747-4475
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