Re: OT: iris hunting

From: "Bill Smoot" <Billsmoot@email.msn.com>

Dennis Kramb wrote

>I'll be in Greece later this month and will have some opportunities to go
>hiking and camping on the mainland as well as on some of the islands.

     Been There!  Done That, but didn't get the t-shirt...    Seriously
though, I tried the same thing a couple of years ago without too much
success.  Don't forget to look in the cemetaries.  Irises are freqently
planted at gravesites.   There aren't too many botanical gardens as such,
but most cities/town have parks with an array of plant material.  They are
not usually kept up to our standards.  Don't be afraid to ask someone at a
flower shop.  Mostly local flowers are sold and they may be able to direct
you to an area.  Again, language may be a problem so take a picture of an
iris with you.  Several of the bookstores have paperbacks which list the
particular plants on the islands - especially the ones that cater to
tourists.
     Greece is very hot this time of year and most of the irises wll be
dormant , at least they were when I've been there this time of year. If you
go to the Island of Korfu, be sure to go to Achilleon - the palace of the
Empress of Austria.  I did manage to find one small clump or rhizomes there.
Most of the cities have public parks and you will find pseudachoris there in
the pool areas.  I collected seeds at the King's garden in Corfu and in
Herkeleum.
     BTW expect to have problems with the language.  All of the signs and
roadsigns are written in Greek.  They have roadmaps in English, but it does
not often compute when you have an English name and the roadsign written in
Greek.
     Don't know about customs.  I brought mine back aboard a ship...  Hope
this helps out.  Contact me privately if you need directions to Achilleon -
that was quite an experience!

Rots of Ruck,
BillSmoot




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