Re: Need help & Introduction--Julie Hyry

Thanks for the advice on moving my Iris.  I''ve gone ahead & put the gems
into big pots, thankfully I had enough big pots.

Since after posting my question I noticed that I'm supposed to introduce
myself to the list & have already caused some confusion (Carolyn I think you
were directing your comments from Donna to me & not Julie Allen...)
Anyway...

My husband of 15 years & I are living 20 miles S. of the Canadian border in
Ferndale, Washington.  We bought a small, 2 bedroom house in town with a
large yard, about .4 acre.  Since we moved in (3 years ago) we have put in a
number of perennial beds, with roses (a mistake--we have deer!), delphinium,
bee balm, jacobs ladder, peonies, lots of stuff, including "mystery iris" I
received from my cousin who lived near Jackson & Perkins in Medford, Oregon.
 At the end of the year they closed out leftovers, so I received a number
from them in the mail.  I also scrounged some from the lady who owns the
office building where I work, and from friends.  I planted them everywhere,
anywhere I could find room, with a healthy mulch of mushroom compost (which I
now love.)

It was exciting to see across the yard an incredible, huge, purple iris
blooming in my abandoned vegetable garden (left unplanted since I knew we'd
be moving.)  This poor iris had been left to the slugs & barely watered all
summer.  I couldn't believe how incredibly beautiful it was.  Deep purple,
with an even deeper purple beard and gold inside.   I wished I hadn't let the
slugs eat holes in the leaves.  Anyway..it will be treated like a queen this
coming year!  

We had many other wonderful surprizes from our iris plants.  Gorgeous...don't
know any of their names.

My husband got a job in Issaquah (Near Snoqualamie Pass to E. Wash.) in his
field (computers.)  So we are planning to rent our house & be out by Oct. 1.

One little bit of my garden that I'd like to tell about has to do with a trip
my mom and I made to Aitkin, Minnesota last fall.  My mom (76 years old)
decided to take me back to her home town for a visit (I'd never been) on the
greyhound bus (Ugh!)  When we got to the "old homestead" it was just a field
with some trees and not much else.  The neighbors were all gone, most of
their houses uninhabited, etc., kind of sad.  Anyway, while walking around we
found a (very old) bed of iris, an old peony, an old rose, and some Live
Forevers (now I know why they're called Live Forevers)  Nothing was blooming.
 We didn't have a shovel, of course, so we dug up a few of the iris rhizomes,
a piece of the peony, a few small Live Forevers, a piece of the rose and a
very small Sumac bush.  We were just hoping we'd get something that would
survive the 2 day trip back to Washington, so we'd have a really meaningful
keepsake.  

Well believe it or not, everything lived!  The iris and live forevers even
bloomed this year!  The iris are smallish, and yellow & purple with some
brownish veining in the yellow.  (you can tell I'm new to growing Iris!)  The
Live Forevers are a dusty rose.  The little rose piece is about 2 feet tall
with 3 branches.  The Sumac is about 18" now.  My mom keeps bugging me about
the peony, so I'm going to give that to her & some Live Forevers.

Anyway, I can't think of a better way to remember our trip to N. Minnesota.
 Or anywhere for that matter.  
Hopefully this gives you all a picture of who I am.  

I really appreciate all of the great Iris information on this list.  Thanks
to all of you!!

Julie Hyry
whyry@aol.com
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