The New Iris Bed for 09

Well said woodspirit1! We have a similar situation in the Santa Fe, NM area. Retirees with money come in and drive up housing prices, but also bring lots of culture and business for our none-too-prosperous economy here in New Mexico. Somebody local sold all these people their land at some point and were happy to do so.

My situation is a little different. After finishing college my boyfriend applied for a job in NC and got it. So we packed up and moved south. I, however, have not had much luck with jobs here. I have kept my summer job in MI so that I can return and see my friends, family and gardens. We eventually plan to return to MI so I just keep bouncing back and forth. I have been in NC for two winters now. This will be my third.

I like to think that I am stimulating to economies!lol

Im trying to figure out how to make money in NC as I can't seem to find a good job. I have had some retail jobs but they don't pay well and usually make me miserable. The hunt is on.

woodspirit1,
Sorry it took so long to respond. Amen to what you said above. We have so much lake development here that it is pitiful. I know exactly where you are. If you come to Wally World Super Center in Seneca, SC , you are 15 minutes from me. I live right behind Square-D. That is also where I work. Square -D is past Wally-World on the same road and then u keep going on that same road on 123 - bypass and u will be in Westminster. I love that area where u are. This is truly God's Country.

Flowergirl1,
I hope that you can find a way to stay here. It is beautiful country. all of the members pictures are so pretty. I think they are aphids. I sprayed with dish soap and water but, we are in such a rain pattern that I don't think it worked. So I got out there and ran my hands up and down the fans. I don't see the bugs anymore but the fans are still drooping. Thinking of digging and putting in pots until I can get my bed dug.

What type of soil and what is the ph balance that u and the other members used for your beds.

What type of work are u looking for. Do u have a degree in anything?

Actually, I don't want to stay here. It's beautiful but it's not quite home. Miss my family and when I start my own I would like be near our parents and siblings.

My iris beds are in neutral sandy soils. MI has lots of sand but luckily we have lots of water too.

Here are some fun facts about MI from wikipedia: MI has over 11,000 inland lakes. A person in MI is never more than 6 miles from a natural water source or more than 87 miles from one of the great lakes. More light houses than any other state. The Upper Peninsula of MI has one of the oldest Mtn chains in the world, the Porcupine Mtns. MI is second only to California in its diversity in agriculture being a leading grower of cherries, blueberries, peaches, apples and grapes.

You can tell I had fun on Wikipedia! I'm a bit of a nut about my home state, LOL.

I have a degree in Horticulture. I work in Agriculture in the summers as an orchard scout. Assessing pest and disease levels for 20 farmers. They hire us each season to keep an eye on the health of their orchards and crops. It's a fun job. I love it! Too bad it's only four months out of the year.

Oh OK
I hope you can fulfill your dreams. Mi it is way to cold there for me.
I would love to go back to school and study Horticulture. Clemson University, which is nine miles from me, is a Horticulture School. Same problem, no job when you finish. I wanted to study landscaping but the market is full in this area, So I wire motor control centers about ten minutes from me. I will try to take pictures of my Iris. They are calling for two to three inches of rain for tomorrow. They have already issued flood watches for this area,

It is cold and we do get lots of snow. Last winter we had 200 inches in my home town. So it is nice to have a break from the snow but at the same time I miss it. Snowmobiling, ice fishing, snowboarding, sledding, building snowmen, snow angels etc....

The land here is very beautiful. We are pretty close to Pilot Mtn here in NC so we enjoy getting out there when we can. Once the colors are in full swing we will head up there and do some walking. I haven't been SC yet. It sounds nice. I would like to see several of the historic towns there.

It has been almost non stop raining here. Sunny today but rained all day yesterday. It seems its every other day. I hope you guys dont get any floods! Yikes!!!

Would love to see some shots of your irises.

Well, flowergrl, I have long been curious why one would spend winters in MI and summers in NC. It didn't make sense to me. Now that you explain it, I totally understand. But I always thought you were pretty mysterious before.

LOL, but it's the other way around. I spend summers in MI and fall/winter/earlyspring in NC. I have two springs each year which is awesome!!!

I have absolutely no garden in NC so gotta get my plant fix when i get home.

Well, now that makes more sense.

Sometime back I ask for help with my Iris leaves bowing over. I was asked for a picture. Sorry it took so long but here is my picture. Anyone out there that help me? Thanks

PS Please don't laugh at my little bed. LOL


This message was edited Oct 30, 2009 8:25 PM

Was there any other symptoms? Rot? They don't seem to look bad to me. Maybe they could use some dividing and some good well rotted manure/compost added to the soil.

No So this is normal?
This is just a temporary holding place for some of my older varieties, that belonged to my grandmother, until I can get my permanent bed made for them. DH kept cutting them with a lawn mower so I put them here. I did not realize they would take off like they did in there. We have been so busy relandscaping that I don't have time or energy. When that is done that bed will be torn down.

The only rot that I have experienced is in the pots. I bought two Chasing Rainbows from Gilbert and Sons. along with others. All survived except for the Chasing Rainbows. Gilberts replaced them with the biggest fattest rizomes I have ever seen. I placed them in seperate pots with good soil. I found rot on one of those. So I have removed them from the patio and placed on the backporch where I can monitor them better especially with all this rain.

I have a few problems with those borers every now and then. Some are just plain out old.

Below are some pictures of my Moms

Mom's Yellow Iris

One more

They appear to just beginning to go dormant for the winter. My pic is of a group of very rugged
oldies which were planted in July.

The pics appear to be of some very nice antiques. Take special care of them because
they are a part of iris history.

Lee, a lot of the older varieties, especially those crossed with pallidas, seem to have floppier leaves.

Instead of something being wrong, I think you have some special old ones!

yup, those look pretty normal to me, too.

This message was edited Oct 31, 2009 8:22 PM

CCCCOOOOOOOOLLLLLL!!!!!!!! Oldgardenrose, yours looks like mine except your bed is nicer. Some of these originally came from My great aunt which passed them on to my grandmother,(also my Mom). They have both passed. I rented a house in 1986 that had a bed of these off the corner of the back porch. Since they were eventually going to demolish that house, my grandmother and I sort-of divided them. Then I got some more when she passed. I have more of these, I just have to move them all a little at a time. When I figure out what is what ( when they bloom) I will give some away. This group of Iris brings back very special memories. That is why was freaking out so bad when they started flopping. Of course, when they were out in the yard DH kept them cut with the lawn mower. They didn't have a chance to get long floppy leaves. LOL
The others that I am collecting are my play pretties. Maybe my granddaughters will take interest in them some day and carry on the tradition.
Thank You for making me feel much better.
ooops messed up on the post
One More


This message was edited Oct 31, 2009 8:28 PM

Now that one i would definitely say is a pallida type, so the leaves will be floppy. The irises will do so much better wtihout your husband cutting them down with the lawnmower. Although we have a neighbor who does it each year after their irises bloom, and they are historics, and do well cut down like that.

Have you ever noticed if the iris in the picture above smells like grapes? Pallidas do.

This message was edited Oct 31, 2009 9:43 PM

Any iris grower will tell you not to cut the leaves on irises unless they are diseased.
They need the leaves to make food for the next year. About July of next year you
may want to dig the irises out of that square frame, fill it with a mix of sand and
humus/compost, and replant them about 24 inches apart. Leftovers can be planted
in another raised bed. 24 inches is about the minimum distance for a permanent
bed to last about 3 years before digging again. 36 inches is better but it takes a
lot of space. The bed I showed is a temp bed until my regular bed has a year or
so to rest before replanting.

When you reach a point, thru division of clumps, where you have a surplus of the
old irises, please do not throw them away. Pass them around to neighbors and
make offers for trades on this forum. A lot of people are coming back around to
appreciating the old cultivars.

Corrected some spelling.


This message was edited Oct 31, 2009 7:59 PM

DH hit the leaves of one of my seedling SDBs with the lawn mower--growl, growl.

And how long did you say you'd been married, Lucy, LOLOL.

At least he told me--can't do much about it after the fact. :)

Thank you for the advice Oldgardenrose. Once these Iris are moved and the Mums beside them that bed will no longer be. My Iris will be moved to a more level lot. I will never throw away. I have two co-workers on a waiting list right now.

PollyK
Don't think these smell, but really don't remember. I will pay closer attention this year.

Love the pics of the gardens, but I have a question, is Missouri the only state with enough weeds to take over the world? How in the world do you keep those so weed free? Even if my DH wasn't throwing grass with the lawnmower I am still constantly weeding. Love my iris, hate the weeds. Dandilions are the worst about getting in a clump and impossible to remove without damaging the rhizones.....any help is much appreciated.

oh there is lots of weeds! I use preen to prevent weeds in my irises. I hear viniger works well to kill weeds.

Plenty of weeds here.

OK, I don't know if I feel better or worse, I was hoping ya all had some great secret you would share with me to prevent weeds....LOL, no such luck huh?

use spells!

???

Spell------ enchantment, bewitchment.

Now why didn't I think of that?

I don't know Betty, you should have.

Catch one armadillo in the moonlight...............

ooohhh! i can do that! No weeds! Mr. Armadillo is in trouble now!

Do you actually have them there?

We do.

Well don't bother bringing them home. I'm having enough trouble with bunnies eating the iris leaves down to about two inches.

We have them in Mississippi and Louisiana. They don't eat your plants but they dig holes while looking for grubs and worms causing the locals to curse them. I think they are very cute, but probably not good to handle -- they carry leprosy. But even so, leprosy is not what it used to be -- it is hard to contract and can be cured with modern antibiotics.

This message was edited Nov 9, 2009 6:57 AM