OT: BIO, long

What a serendipitious moment, coming across this group by accident!  I look 
forward to learning from all of you; a quick scan through your archived posts 
has shown me how much I still don't know.

I'm the Accidental Irisarian (although not yet worthy, of course, of the 
noun.)  I really didn't mean to have things turn out this way.  I just 
thought, well, my wonderful neighbor's in a bit of a funk, and he loves his 
iris, and a project might be good for him, so perhaps I'll ask his assistance 
in getting a little bed started here on my property.  A dozen or so.  I could 
till a small section in the side field, so he could see them from his yard.  
Not a big deal.

Eighteen months later, I have four hundred.

It's truly been one unexpected event after another.  A friend bought the 
stock from a small iris business in our area.  Could I help her move it?  I 
could take one of any iris I wanted in return.  That became my crash course 
in dividing and planting and checking for rot and borers.  And that's where 
the first hundred came from.  Got the tiller out again, and this time - on a 
hunch - I tilled and prepared several more beds as well.  I helped my friend 
research the iris she'd bought and was introduced to the AIS and the 
registries and many, many websites in the process.  

A member of the local society had dug up a quantity of iris for the annual 
sale, but hadn't managed to get all of them labelled in time and didn't want 
to replant them.  Would I like to buy them at a reduced cost?  Er, sure.  A 
hundred more.  

The last windfall came about - I promise I'm not making this up - when a 
woman I've never met, who has a problem with compulsive spending, bought 
hundred dollars' worth of iris at, presumably, a club sale in her state.  She 
sent the excess to a friend who couldn't use them, who sent them to someone 
else, who sent them to.....me.

I discovered that not only is my neighbor a knowledgable irisarian, but the 
small dead-end valley in which I live was once home to three devoted 
collectors; the other two, lovely people, have since knocked on my door 
during visits "home" and introduced themselves, expressing their happiness 
that the tradition continues.

Sometimes you just look at the way things fall into place and realize you 
might as well go along with the flow, you know?  I've completely fallen under 
the spell of these wonderful flowers and I look forward to increasing my 
knowledge of them as well as my collection. Due to some health issues my 
husband has, I've recently left a time-consuming job as a high school band 
director and I now teach only two days a week, which gives me time, finally, 
to tend to things properly here.

There are many things that the iris have taught me already about patience - 
not my strong suit - and many more things, I can see already, that I will 
learn from this group.  Good to meet all of you!

katie college
south central pa




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