Iris called Heaven

There is a Ghio iris called Heaven that I am trying to find. Anyone know where I might find it for sale or a TRADE would be good, too. Please let me know if anyone can help with this.

K

Joe Ghio lists it in his catalog for $7.75. I'm sure you could order it from him through an email at:

ghiobayview@surfnetusa.com

Thank you, and I am hoping for other sources as well. I have not found it easy to get the kind of information from them that I have sought in the past with regard to quantities available so as to not get an out of stock notification before it is too late to look elsewhere. So, I would really like to have an alternative source as well.

K

wow I email Joe and ask ?'s all the time and he is really good about answers and info.......

I agree with irisawe that J. Ghio is not easy to get info from. I emailed him at above address on 4/27 asking how to get a catalog and where to send check as I was interested in ordering irises from his 2010 catalog. I have yet to hear anything from him.
Dennis

well in Joe's defense it is prime iris time and I am sure he is out in the garden a good part of the day, but I have always heard back, try again.........

No need to defend him. I am absolutely not attacking him and hope no one else would. I have every respect for him. Afterall, I am enjoying the heck out of his work!!! That is just it. I reallllly want THIS YEAR what I am requesting this year. I just like doing iris business in a more efficient way from MY SIDE of the deal for purely my selfish reasons. Purchasing iris, as you know, is not instant gratification but it turns into years of time invested. If I order a cultivar this year that I might not see until next year or even not until years later, it is time lost(especially if I want to cross it with something) if I get an out of stock at delivery time when it may be too late to find it elsewhere in stock. Ghio is honest about not keeping bottomless stock levels. I also found that I could not get responses on stock levels a couple of years ago so I don't even want to order something that I selfishly feel is a "must have" this year. No offense intended whatsoever.

Even today in my garden there is an iris I do not even recall when I ordered it, who it is from, what its name is. I think it could(?)be one I ordered 4 years ago and it has not bloomed until now, given up for a loss some time back and taking up precious space. That was the first year I ordered big and I ordered around a hundred different ones from a variety of sources. A few I have never accounted for what happened to them because I have never seen them bloom and just thought they were winter losses. Their tags are long removed. If I ordered this one, then my tastes have changed!! I have to check back invoices to see who it might be. Then again it may be that it is one that was sent in error. I don't even like it now if I ever did!!! Time and space wasted. With each year I learn how to make better ordering decisions based on growing experience to minimize the sticky variables that cause problems for me.

The time involved, the effort involved and overlapping years until you see what you ordered, require careful ordering and that is gained only from experience and learning about the sources. I am learning how to find the satisfaction in the time frame I am looking for.

K

I understand where you are coming from, I too have lived and learned. This is the way of the iris, yes it may not bloom the following year and or the next, and yes I have seen this year many iris I thought thats why I ordered it, and some, huh that isn't too exciting, what was I thinking??? but the neat thing about them too is that there is always something new blooming, and you become glad you did order that one, and yes there are some I would like to dig out and move or give away as I have enough of the purple's etc...I have plenty of room, but I am a one woman show and want to minimize how much I can take care of. All I am saying about the hybridizers is I like to buy direct when I can, from them as they have worked hard and should get some credit. They are a wealth of knowledge too and usually are more than willing to share the info is you ask.
I am not giving you a hard time, I just know too that iris as a hobby etc... is A LOT of work at best and I think we really get into it, when we collect them, there are alway better, prettier, unusual iris coming down the road and we look for those to play with etc....Marie

irisawe, I've looked through all my catalogs and websites and do not find Heaven anywhere else. Maybe someone closer to your area will be able to connect you with someone. Sorry!
Betty

Thank you to both of you. I may have found a source, but not sure yet. I also have no clue about its parentage. It is an outstanding iris to view. Marie, I hear what you are saying about wanting to give credit where credit is due. I respect that. I also agree that the quality of the bloom in any given year may turn a sow's ear into a must keep. I had this happen with Fashionably Late. The first year it was translucent and the edges looked fried and I was sending it to warmer zones in trade. The next year I didn't recognize it!! The little I had left was a knockout! So, I found myself ordering more. I mean this stuff does teach alot with experience!! I absolutely hate out of stock notices, though, especially when I receive them with the rest of my order. Superstition and Mid-America and others have been good about letting me know immediately if they do not have enough of what I am requesting. I then shop until I find it. This works for me. There is enough rolling of the dice in this hobby for me without adding not being able to get what I want the season I want it.

Thanks again,

K

You know, when I email Joe and ask him if he has any left of a certain variety, he has been very honest and either said "no, all gone now" or "yes, I still have one for you". So if your other situation doesn't work out maybe you could email him and ask before you even consider ordering. I believe he's going to be gone a lot over the next few weeks, though, starting with the week of the 17th. He will be heading for Salem that week or the next for an entire week, and then the convention follows on the week of the 31st.

I looked up the parentage and it's incredible! Let's see if I can get it right:

HEAVEN (Joseph Ghio, R. 1997). Sdlg. 91-123Q2. TB, 38" (97 cm), ML. White with blue cast, F. with coral red shoulders; beards coral red. 88-105X: ((Wedding Band x (((Cream Taffeta x (Show Time x (Ponderosa x New Moon))) x (Ballet in Orange x (Hi Top x ((Ponderosa x Travel On) x Peace Offering)))) x Caption)) x (Fortunata x ((Act of Love x Lady Friend) x Caption))) X
89-69N2: ((Stratagem x ((Fortunata x Caption) x Marriage Vows)) x (Stratagem x (Romantic Mood x ((Blushing Pink x (((Ponderosa x Debby Rairdon) x (Show Time x San Leandro)) x ((New Moon x ((Gracie Pfost x Ponderosa) x Ponderosa)) x Valentina))) x Exhilaration)))). Bay View 1998.

(Don't worry -- I used to do this for a living.) But in other words, Seedling X Seedling!

WOW that is something.....the parentage always amazes me, when you think of what can come out of an iris, from its grandparents etc...what a vast world the iris has....irisawe good luck with your hunt, I too understand when you find something that is out of this world and you must have it this season, I think a lot of us iris fanciers really catch the bug when we get it, one I had to have and finally got but what a slow grower, Fancy tales....and yes ones taste changes and I am amazed at some of the colors I just thought were incredible, still like them but not as crazy about them, it took some a while to get going but this year they have several stalks and wow what a show, Bewitchment and Ask a lady really looked stunning, always a treat to check out what is blooming, makes me say, yes that is why I bought it in the first place:)

Wow, what a parentage!! I see alot of oil based color in there. Betja, that you could type it impresses my socks off. For Joe Ghio to call it Heaven I can tell you it is really special. There are things about this beauty that speak straight to my heart. I have no idea why it isn't more available in that it is 13 years old. Perhaps the subtleties are lost on many. I do not know.

This is a hobby that just keeps on evolving, Makj, I hated yellow in the beginning and was into purples, awesome blues and amoenas. Now I am crazy for whites with red beards, terracottas, am on a quest for good reds and even think I need yellow to pop the other colors and for balance. I also went through a red, white and blue phase, like Team Spirit and Gypsy Lord(oh my what a beauty!!). It is just fun, fun.

Now my co-workers that took home rhizomes when I divided are raving and thanking me for what they are seeing in their gardens as a result. So, it is a hobby that can be shared for years to come.

K

It really is a hobby that is vast, in the fact that, yes you can share with others and they are so tickled with what you give them, I get a charge out of that fact, makes someone else so happy and thrilled. And the colors oh my word, you think they have covered everything and then, wow something else comes along and you are amazed and dazzled by the colors, some of my favorites are not as exciting as they were, but have been re-placed with some great stuff. And what a thrill when you see them in your garden and there is no two ways about there colors now, and they are even more beautiful then you first thought in the catalog. I am really enjoying making crosses, I am sure it will be some time before I know what those little seeds will do, but it really does take time and patience, and there is so much going on in the garden, always something to see and enjoy.Marie