Re: shipping bloomstalks?
- Subject: Re: shipping bloomstalks?
- From: J* R*
- Date: Sat, 20 Feb 1999 05:37:40 -0800
From: "Julia Rankin" <breckenridge@bnis.net>
Thanks, John.
Quite a bit of trouble to go to, but if it works, what could be nicer!
Julia
-----Original Message-----
From: John I Jones <jijones@ix.netcom.com>
To: iris-talk@onelist.com <iris-talk@onelist.com>
Date: Friday, February 19, 1999 7:39 AM
Subject: [iris-talk] Re: shipping bloomstalks?
>From: John I Jones <jijones@ix.netcom.com>
>
>Julia Rankin wrote:
>>
>> From: "Julia Rankin" <breckenridge@bnis.net>
>>
>> I would be very interested to know how a bloom stalk is shipped and at
what
>> stage of bloom -- or pre-bloom -- it ought to be picked to arrive 'just
>> right'.
>
>Well since I have already been "outed" on this, I will be glad to tell you
how
>I did it. Actually it all started the a couple of years before. Gail and I
>were going on a trip to Italy with some friends only she and they were
going
>for 4 weeks and I could only go for two and so was going to catch up with
them
>there after the first two weeks. I won't bore you with all the stories
about
>faxing to Italy...
>
>I had a gorgeous stem of a red gladiola I wanted to take to her. So I got
one
>of he FedEx square tube boxes (about 6' square and 40" long), cut one side
>loose and made it triangular in cross section. I got a small jar, filled it
>with some of those water holding crystals that had been "reconstituted"
into
>the jelly like stuff. Then I got a piece of rubber glove, stretched it
across
>the top of the jar, rubberbanded it in place, and cut a small hole in it.
Cut
>the glad to length, inserted the stem through the hole, taped the stem to
the
>jar with masking tape, and lowered the whole works into the box from the
top.
>Filled in with coarsely chopped styrofoam, and voila! It worked like a
champ.
>I carried it on the plane with me to Milan, the bus to the train station,
the
>train to Venice, and the water taxi to the hotel. The "rubber glove gasket"
>kept any moisture from leaking out. I presented it to her once we got to
the
>hotel. It was in perfect condition, and well I'll leave the rest to your
>imagination, this is, after all, a family list... :>))
>
>Skip forward in time, it was still winter in Buffalo (is it ever not?) and
>our erstwhile Irisborer was in gloomy mood. I had met Kathy at Maryott's
when
>she was in CA for the AIS convention in Sacramento, and she had done
several
>favors for me so I thought I would send her (her hubby Leonard) a bit of
iris
>spring. At the moment I can't remember which iris it was, but the only
>difference in shipping (aside from the fact that it was an iris not a glad)
>was that I cut the stalk just after the terminal was breaking open (not
more
>than 1/2 inch) and wrapped each bud snugly in toilet paper, and then
wrapped
>the entire stem in it. I didn't want vibration to tear the edge of the
petals
>or fans.
>
>I shipped it priority mail (I had turned the FedEx box inside out), with
>instructions to open from the bottom.. Kathy related that it arrived in
>excellent condition and opened shortly after warming up. I think it lasted
the
>normal amount of time for a cut iris - which in my experience is at least
7-10 days.
>
>Anyway, that's the story...
>
>John | "There be dragons here"
> | Annotation used by ancient cartographers
> | to indicate the edge of the known world.
>
>USDA zone 8/9 (coastal, bay)
>Visit my website at:
>http://members.home.net/jijones
>
>To reply to me personally click on
>/*@ix.netcom.com
>j*@ix.netcom.com
>Fremont, California, USA
>
>President, Westbay Iris Society
>Director, Region 14 of the AIS
>
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