late introduction
- Subject: late introduction
- From: L*@aol.com
- Date: Mon, 26 Feb 96 07:11:50 MST
i enjoyed reading the list of biographies (from kathy?) and see that mine
isn't there. i sent one somewhere when i first hit the info hiway, but it
must not have been to this list. apologies to everyone for talking on line
so much without introducing myself.
My 'garden' is in east Tennessee where i have lived all of my life except for
a brief stay in montclair new jersey, where i recently learned i was exposed
in utero to the display garden of tall bearded iris in upper montclair (i
can't think of the name of the garden right now).
i live on 150 acres of mostly steep woods with about 15 acres of pasture,
wetlands, and streams with lots of excessively drained rich loamy gravel soil
for garden in full sun with some shade around the house (which is a patched
together 100+ farmhouse riddled with termites and rot). i work part time as
a research ecologist, just enough to make ends meet and leave plenty of time
to take care of my geriatric horse and enjoy the natural world, which
includes trying to grow tall bearded iris against their will. i experiment
with various kinds of plants every year, but usually only keep growing ones
that are a spectacular success without much input or care, and am obsessed
with tall bearded iris.
i joined ais to try to find out why some iris seemed to do so well for me and
others would either rot or waste away and to improve my ability to pick out
ones to buy that would live and bloom. about two years ago, we started the
east tennessee iris society which has grown to over 50 members already. we
nearly had a riot at our 2nd annual demonstration show when passionate local
gardeners showed up wanting to buy plants just like the ones we had on
display. to say iris are popular around here is an understatement. we are
thinking about starting another club centered closer to kingston where i
live.
linda mann
