Introduction

I have felt the urge to de-lurk and chime in on several subjects since I
subscribed to this list. Hopefully you will all forgive me for not doing
this sooner but I can plead only that I was overwhelmed by the volume of
mail for at least the first two weeks. Now I've dug my way out and have
15 minutes of uncommitted time so I'm just going to DO IT!

I am an expatriate Canadian from Calgary, living near Chicago for the
past 4 years. I am fluent in English (British and Canajun, eh?) and
American ('mer-cun) ** translations performed for a nominal fee** as
well as a smattering of French. BTW have you ever heard French spoken
with a Texas accent? (Hint: work in the Canadian oil industry for a
while.)

For the birthday list, which I enjoyed very much, I am 41 (not dog
years), born 17 JUN 55 (US 6/17/55), married to a "Windy City" native.
We have two boys at home (15 and 23) consuming a lot of groceries and
not producing much return on investment yet. I support my gardening and
equestrian habits by playing with all the new toys in the world of
computer technology at a large advertising agency in "The Loop".

I have always loved iris but have only ever grown Siberians (think about
it -- Zone 3, 4000' elev., semi-arid, sub-alpine). They grew like weeds!
I was so impressed. I have now received my first 10 (unidentified) TB's,
planted last weekend on top of a drainage swale slope and await my 5
(unidentified) Siberians for the opposite (low side) of the same swale.
Over time, I plan to "walk" the iris beds from this beginning along the
length of the swale, about 150' varying from 4' wide to as much as 10',
incorporating whatever varieties seem suited to the spot that needs
filling. I'm dying to try some Louisiana's in a particularly boggy
section of this bed and some Japanese where it runs along a fence line.

I will close now and send this off.

Jane Mattei
jmattei@mail.leoburnett.com
IL/Z5
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