[sibrob] A long story of a gardener's legacy and what to do with extra Siberian Iris?

Hi all--I've been lurking here for a month or so after removing  four huge,  35- year old patches of Siberian Iris from the garden of my newly purchased home.   I still have some S Iris left that I haven't replanted or given away.  I even mailed some to relatives!  I'm keeping the remaining ones  well moistened under large pine trees.   Some of the foliage is starting to yellow slightly now.  So, I'm going to fill you in on my ideas and see what you think. But first, a  bit of background so you'll know who you are communicating with:  I am a novice gardener and benefit only from having grown up with a mother who was a master gardener.  So I've heard of things like bone meal and know  that lime isn't just a type of citrus fruit.  She used Latin names, so I find I recognize those more easily than common names.  However, she did not allow anyone but herself to dig in her garden, so the only real experience I have is weeding!  
 
 The last day that I saw my mother alive was last September in her garden, which was in the Kalamamoo area of Michigan.  She was so weak and anemic from the meds for heart disease, she believed,  that she had to plant herself in a spot and then reach here and there to dig up her perennials, which she was dividing to share with me.  At 38, I had finally bought my first home and was planning to create a garden with my mother's help and expertise.    She shared as generously as she could without harming the "mother plant"  because she and her husband had decided to retire to Maui where life could be a bit more carefree without the chores of a large home and garden.  I wanted to help her dig because she seemed so weak and I felt guilty that she was doing all of that work for me when it seemed that she should be lying down on a couch.  She insisted that no perennial gardener would allow anyone to dig in his or her garden because they are the only ones who know what is underneath!   (I thought it was interesting that she cared so much about what was underneath, when the house would soon be sold and the prospective owners hadn't shown much interest in gardening.  Obviously, I hadn't had the experience of loving a garden. )  She painstakingly dug and divided from dawn til dusk.  Late that night, with our truck heavily loaded with perennials, furniture and garden tools, my husband and I  hugged my weary mother goodbye and drove off with a part of her garden back to Wisconsin.  I felt sad that she was leaving the midwest and would be so far away in Hawaii.  At our newly purchased home, I healed all of the perennials into a large dirt pile and novice that I am, didn't even mulch the poor things for the winter.  Everything survived except for a poppy that had been special to her...I'm hoping that one of her friends or a relative in Michigan will have the same poppy from her that I'll be able to get a division from.  She had made a special point to tell me that it was no longer available in the catalogues or nurserys.  I guess they don't transplant very well.  Last  December, my mother was diagnosed with leukemia and on the first day of spring of this year, she was gone.  It turned out that the anemia had been related to the leukemia and she'd been sick with leukemia that day in the garden.  Naturally, the perennials she shared with me have taken on a whole new importance...
 
 Overcome with grief and the need to feel connected to my mother,  you can imagine what a driving force it has been for me to provide a home for my mother's garden plants.  Despite  busy times and financial stresses,  I have undertaken what I consider to be a huge task for a novice gardener and I feel overwhelmed at times.   I know I'm doing the right thing, though.  My mother has re-assured me in a rather unique way. 
 A few days after I'd called a digger's hotline and paid a woman to come and til the bed, my husband discovered that the electrical outlets in the garage weren't working.  Oh, I thought, THAT's what that cut  cable was that the woman had shown me.  In the garden, I felt burdened by the coming electrician's bill and cried with frustration that maybe I shouldn't be doing this big project when we really don't have the time or money.  Suddenly, at arm's length there appeared a large white moth.  You know the type that every garden has in the summer during the day?  This one seemed extra large and within a split second, I recognized my mother.  Doubt vanished and I was swept with reassurance  and an immediate sense of certainty about my purpose, and my thoughts were her thoughts.  She told me "It's all worth it, you're doing fine--now just get some water on these" and she flitted unafraid--near and far from me-- throughout the garden bed, visiting each of her plantings before departing.  I had never seen a white moth in my yard before.  The following day, she returned while I was watering.  Again, she was unafraid of me, coming very close.  This time, it was a happy visit.  I said "Well, hello Mom, you're back..."  and I enjoyed her presence as I watered.   She has not been back to visit again, but I feel her spirit and am especially thoughtful of her when other moths and butterflies come to call.  In retrospect, I am not surprised about her visit....Shortly after my mother passed away, I was given the task of writing a synopsis of her life story for her memorial service.  The last sentence I had written was my wish to her:   "Rest in peace, Doraldyne, may your spirit find a lovely garden."  Thankfully, she has chosen to visit my garden, although it is very much a work in process.  Perhaps she is in your garden today, as she is very appreciative of beauty. 
 
Thanks for allowing me to write about that.  I did not plan to do that when I logged on--it just sort of developed!  Having told you all this I must now reveal that she had not one single Siberian Iris!  I really don't know why not.  But, I've been left without "immediate access" to my teacher and I need your help! 
 
The Siberian Iris that I have were on this property when we bought it.  I have made 2 large gardens as well as a couple of smaller ones to be home for my mother's perennials as well as the iris.  At this point I have put numerous S Iris into the beds and have no more space.  Also, time is an issue.  I'm very busy trying to get these new beds established while doing my regular job, etc...What do I do with the rest of the Siberian Iris?   I have a long, mostly sunny ( shady at each end)  strip (50' long by however deep I'd like) at the back of my property line which borders on an overgrown farm field edge.  We just cut down four old, very ratty looking cedars to make that space and allow for the view of prettier trees on the other side of the property line.   Can I naturalize this strip with daylillies and S Iris?  Will they do ok in soil where cedars lived for at least 35 or more years?  Do I have to get rid of the grass first, or could I just dig holes here and there, amend the individual hole with whatever the soil may need, and plant them, letting nature take its course?  The grass is thin--even nonexistant-- in some of the strip because of the previous cedar trees.  I really don't have the time or energy this year to properly prepare a whole additional bed.  Another idea is, could I collect all of the seed pods and wait until I DO have time, and then plant the seeds.  If that's possible, what is the best way to insure the seed will be good?  OR, should I just heal them into a big dirt pile, mulch them for the winter and replant them where I  want them when I have time for a new project next year?  Any suggestions about soil requirements or planting of the iris would be greatly appreciated.....the simpler, the better...thanks again, for allowing me a place to share my mother's gardening spirit....mary
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index