Re: OT: BIO, long

Welcome, Katie College!  (Is that really your last name?  How 
wonderful!)

Your tale doesn't surprise me a bit.  Some things adopt you instead 
of the other way around.  Iris are mighty adopters!

The only part of the story I think you might regret is that, once you 
get the almost inevitable hybridizing bug, you won't know the names 
of many of your irises you want to cross with others -- also 
unnamed?  That will only matter if you want to introduce something, 
of course, and the odds are not good, they keep telling us.  And some 
intro'd list both parents as unknown.  But being a fiction writer, I 
love to know those names.

Welcome!  You will learn MUCH here.  Every year I learn more.

Patricia Brooks
Whidbey Island, WA, zone 8



--- In iris-talk@y..., hutchison7@a... wrote:
> 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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