Somebody Just Shoot Me!

As many of you know I tried to finish up my trading and so forth before it got so dad-burn hot here in East Texas. The end of June was my deadline because July and August is always a killer to be trying to work in your yard, flowerbeds, gardens, and so forth. I know you've seen the weather and how bad things are here.

Anyway, 2 weeks ago I received a box full of WONDERFUL IRISES from someone I had forgot about wanting to trade with. Thank you so much for sending your end of the trade! I came out like a bandit on my end. I just finished getting them all planted this past weekend. I'm still working to get them their irises as I can't take the heat at all. I nearly passed out while trying to dig them this past Monday. I was worried about having a heat stroke or something even worse like a heart attack. I'm praying for some cooler weather later in the week to finish digging their end of the trade.

Today the mail lady brought me another HUGE Box. I knew it had to be more irises as that's about all I ever get. I just wanted to SCREAM. It's too hot! How in the world am I going to get all the irises in that box planted in the next week? I had forgotton that I ordered like 50 some odd irises from Greenhorn Valley Irises when they had them on sale for around $2 the first part of Spring. I was very pleased with the size, most were huge and the packing was great too. Have any of you ever ordered from them?

Anyway, don't get me wrong, I love adding new plants/irises to my collection. But sometimes I forget things like this and then I'm in a pickle to find a place that 's not already running over with irises. I can plant them on the hill I'm making but they will not receive as much water in the dry months when they need it once a week or so. (arghhhhhh) I can add them to the beds in the front but I'd have to till another row and make it that much wider for the irises and the bermuda grass (LOL) FROWN.

I'm thinking my best bet would be to plant these suckers in pots and then plant them in the ground in October when it's much cooler. What do you guys think? Even that will be alot of work for me. But at least I could do about 10-15 a day until they are all in pots. I'm thinking it would only take me about 45 minutes a day that way and that's if my body can take the heat for that long. At least I can do all that in the shade. I can make the labels in the house where it's nice and COOL! Shoot, I may get one of those plastic drop cloths and bring the pots into the kitchen along with the dirt and do all the stuff in the house. Hey, I maybe onto something there. Then I'll just wad up the drop cloth and toss it in the trash. I wonder if that would work?

Let me know what other suggestions and so forth you all would do if you were in this sutuation.
Best Regards and Happy Gardening, Marian

Oh, I forgot to mention that we're having our meeting Monday to purchase irises from a couple of Hybridizers that our club purchased them from. As members we get VERY GOOD deals for new irises. Should I miss the meeting or go and purchase as many as I get the opportunity to buy. LOL

Somebody help me, I have Iris-itis and I can't beat it. Gotta have more, always need more, it's too good of a deal not to buy the newer plants, yadda yadda yadda.

Lovely, I think putting them in pots would be a great idea. I had some under attack of the dread borer in the spring and they didn't produce bloom so I potted up some and trashed/sold/traded others depending upon size and quality of rhizome. Tonight in the cool of evening I planted some of those plants and they had amassed healthy large roots that I was able to plant without disturbing the roots (pop it out of the pot and pack the dirt around the pot shape). I planted 24 irises in less than 30 minutes that way.

I put them (once potted) under the edges (dappled sun) of a red bud tree. They are able to get either morning or afternoon sun (depending on side of tree) and water during rain. I water them thoroughly every few days while they are in the pots right after planting but then after two weeks, let nature provide it.

I collect rain run off from the house gutters/downspout and use that to water the plants during no rain time -- saves the water/sewer bill!

I usually use a mixture of 1 part miracle gro potting soil to 2 part fine pine mulch (recently Garden Pro Pine Bark Mulch from Home Depot). Because MG is getting so expensive and I got a free truck load of top soil from my church's back lot, I'm using 1 part top soil to 1 part Leaf Gro compost to 2 parts pine bark mulch. I'll report back as to how the new mix is working later. but my 1 to 1 mg/mulch worked wonderfully -- I just had to watch the mixture because too much MG and it's bye bye iris due to soft rot!

I also found a new location for my potting table on the Northeast Side of the house where it is shaded and cool during the high humidity days and only work for 30 minutes at a time max. When I have to dig for trade/order, it's usually very early morning or very late evening.

Of course, I know we are cooler than normal this year, but all of a sudden it is sticky hot every day! I'll take dry heat to sticky heat any day even if the dry heat is 100+ degrees.

Didn't mean to be so long, but I hope this ramble helped.

Roni

E-town: I like your common sense approach to potting soil. You are dead on about the
MG potting soil. It is the very best but it retains moisture even if you do not use the
special moisture control type. We pay about $12 for a 2 cu ft bag. Pricey unless you
don't have budget considerations. I just bought 180 bags of compost/humus, 60 bags
of mulch called hardwood fines which is a fine mulch about 80% decayed and 60 bags
of a very sandy potting soil. My mix is 2 bags of compost, 1/2 bag of sandy soil and
1/2 bag of the fine mulch plus about a gallon of peat moss stirred thoroughly in a
wheel barrow. The same mix is used in pots and any new beds. My new beds are
two 5' x 24' x 8" so they take a lot of material.

When you are working with incompletely rotted wood products, it is a good idea to
add a little nitrogen in the bottom third of the pot to compensate for the loss of
nitrogen consumed by material decaying. I prefer to keep it out of the reach of new
roots for awhile to force them to grow into it to form a better root system and it
keeps them from being burned.

Oh, I forgot to tell you what I do in your situation with iris-itis. I send all the newer irises to friend in Maryland. *hint, that would be me* and let her nurture them for a few years then send them back when the climate is cooler for me, like September/October. :D

Otherwise you have to take a hard nose approach to them -- don't look them in the style arms or you'll be hooked. I know, I'm trying to purge this year too and so far all my trades have resulted in "extras" that I just can't refuse to plant because that would be rude. So now I have 78 extra irises and DH is having a hard time letting go of the blah, blah ones because I know their names! *insert eye roll*

Just know you are not alone and somewhere I think Denise started a support group for all of us with iris-itis!

Roni

Oldgardenrose, Thank you for the compliments. "Common Sense Approach" Dad would have laughed as he always told me I was book smart but had no common sense. Thanks for the self-esteem boost!

Roni

Ha ha, I think it's both common sense and book smarts. Thanks for replying, I was beginning to think no one else suffers from the kind of problems I have with my irises and desire for more. LOL I have noticed that alot of times I order the same iris over and over. At least my taste is still along the same line. (grin)
Happy Gardening, Marian

lovely.....I could have written your post!!!


I am potting up most now but still have several coming last part of month. I tried putting them immediately into the ground but they haven't fared nearly as well as the one I get potted up for later.

Too much crab grass, too much bermuda..........it is just too hot, too humid, too dry , and I am too fat and too old to do much different. I find it hard to fathom why I work so hard all year round to have a month or at the most 6 weeks of iris each spring...... is has to be a serious sickness

Jackie

Have orders from 2 co-ops and a Mother's day package my daughter ordered that will come in anytime, plus I think I still have a couple of trades due me.......Lawdy, Lawdy.

I can't hardly wait. I check everyday to see if they are on the way , not yet even knowing where I will put them. Totally pissed about Cooley's slowing down, who do they think they are, leaving addicts to look for new sources, they have fed my addictions for years ......sic

Roni,

I feeeel your strain!!! I have gotten in over my head. I have trades to satisfy and more work to put things right for my own cultivars. I am running out of steam in the heat and it hasn't been as severe as yours. It is just I am a little older this year than last and it is showing. Also, have more responsibilities in other areas and did not anticipate what that would truly require. I will make good on my trades but not at the pace I would feel comfortable with.

Thank you for your transparency, candor and good ideas. Yes, it is helping in that I have been potting most of what has arrived, too. More have arrived than I know what I will do with until the temps allow me the energy to be as creative in the beds in digging, moving some, dividing some, giving away some and amending the soil where needed before I plant what has come in. Did I mention also weeding on top of it all? What a year for growth of EVERYTHING!!

You are NOT ALONE, if that helps. Your D-mail was refreshingly helpful and encouraging in numerous ways.

Thank you,

Irisawe

yes the heat can be brutal.

Ive begun potting more during this heat.

But I do it in the screen porch area where i can turn on the ceiling fan.
in this heat every little bit helps.

The heat is brutal here also. Albuquerque, NM area, and I am very sensitive to
heat. I find the best time to work on the Iris garden, which gets very little shade
is about 1 1/2 hrs. before dark and in the morning as soon as I can drag my bod
out of bed, about 6:30 for an hour or so. I am relatively new iris addict, however
it is getting worse. My friends just look at me as thought I've lost it, they could be
right. But, oh! Well! it's better than gambling or some other addictions I can think
of. I keep telling my husband as soon as I get enough, I will start selling them.
Maybe, Maybe not!! Your pot idea sounds perfect for the present.

I have potted all new arrivals for at least 5 years. This gives me time to dig for iris clubs, sell a few locally and pray the iris debt police don't show up on my porch! One bad year they spent the winter in pots!(shame!) I'm trying to dig all(almost all) noids to give me more room. Wish I could buy the vacant lot across the street!! LOL I did put $5. on the lottery for Saturday! pic Bamboo Shadows

Where is the sale tomorrow, Nicky?

I'm not as young as I once was either. LOL
I have to agree we must be nuts to nearly kill ourselves all year long for 5 to 6 weeks of BEAUTIFUL Iris BLOOMS. I sure would hate to see Spring come and me not have my irises to enjoy. That's exactly what nearly happened to me a few years back. I've always had irises planted everywhere and around everything in the yard/on the farm. Then we had that terrible spring with rain, rain, rain, and more rain. Everything was under water here for nearly 3 months. Needless to say I lost over 90% of my irises. I decided to throw in the towel then and just forget about gardening. of course one thing lead to another, a couple of people sent me some NOIDs they had and at least one person sent me a few named irises. The rest is history, as soon as I started getting them I called Cooley's and ordered over 100. Now I'm just about back to where I was before the great floods.

I'm still kicking myself from starting all over. Just think of all the spare time I'd have if I didn't have to weed and so forth all the time. LOL

Happy Gardening, and you folks try to stay cool and drink plenty of fluids while working outside!
Marian

The iris sale for Parson's Area Iris Society will be held Sunday. Covered dish lunch at 12:00. The auction with door prizes starts at 1:30. It is held at the community building in Forest Park, Parsons, KS.. It is next door to the city pool. All are welcome. The retail value of the iris is between 14-1700$. There are 53 iris in the auction. They are from Mid-America, Tom Burseen and Keith Keppel!! All are welcome and hopefully will save me from taking so many home. The one I really want is Tobacco Chew (Tom Burseen) LOL! If anyone is planning on coming let me know and I'll d-mail my cell phone# in case you get lost. pic Captain Indigo

The Tri-State Iris Society in Joplin is having their sale August 15 (Saturday), at Cunningham Park Pavillion, 26th(Gabby Street Blvd.) and McClelland Blvd., directly north of St.John's Regional Medical Center. GPS users, SJRMC is 2727 McClelland Blvd. Open to the public 1:00PM , sale includes iris, other plants and bulbs. Auction of newer iris at 1:30. Hope you make it Rose. pic County Of Kent

LOL We are having our Mount Pleasant Iris and Daylily Society sale tomorrow. I'm still slapping my hand and telling myself not to go to the meeting. That way I can't get any more irises. Then in the back of my mind is this little guy telling me " You'll be sorry if you don't go and get some of the newer irises at such a good price". I'm still trying to make up my mind what I'm going to do. LOL I usually take my husband to the meetings to as he is a memeber. Then when they have the sales I get two picks per round. One for my pick and one for my husband. There are several of us that our spouses belong to the society too. You can either call it double the pleasure when your getting new irises or double trouble.

Ahhhh, the joys of indulging yourself with more plants. Yelp, I'm crazy when it comes to plants and I don't see me changing anytime soon. (wink)

Happy Gardening, and best of luck with all the different Iris Society Sales,
Marian