My Order from Keith Keppel!

I received the most fabulous order from Keith Keppel yesterday. I had ordered a total of 16 rhizomes from him, including any three of his new introductions except 'Reckless Abandon' for his $125 Special. He had to send me a refund for Barry Blyth's 'Into Temptation' because he said it totally died back and he could not fill even one order for it, so that left 15 rhizomes that I actually purchased plus two gift plants I was able to select from his list (I picked his new intro 'Sun Shine In' and Blyth's 'Carnival Capers'). Here are the fifteen:

'Haunted Heart' (new intro)
'Jazz Era' (new intro)
'Noble Gesture' (new intro)
'Gitano'
'Rainbow High'
'Bollywood'
3 'Imbroglio' (BB)
Blyth's 'Merry Amigo'
Blyth's 'Tempesto'
Blyth's 'Truly Wicked'
Blyth's 'Platinum Class'
Blyth's 'Stars Turn Out'
Blyth's BB 'I'm Dreaming'

When you mail in your order he requests you give him a "wish list" for other gift plants, which I always readily supply. And I was totally shocked that he included EIGHT more gift plants including five from my list ('Secret Partner', 'Jazz Band', 'High Octane', 'Teenybopper' and 'French Lilacs') plus three others that he threw in (new intro 'Tunnel Vision', Barry Blyth's 'Fashionista', and one VERY SPECIAL gift plant that he included because I've loved it so much when I've been to his garden for the past two years and that he may introduce next year or the year after -- and that's all that I can say about it except that I was totally surprised that he would send me a plant that he has not introduced yet as a gift to me!!! I was so thrilled to get this order, and in spite of the terrible spring/summer they've had he managed to give me great rhizomes too. Only a couple were on the smallish side. I highly and heartily recommend Keith Keppel to everyone. He has cut back on his offerings and now only offers his newer introductions from the last three to five years plus the largest selection of Barry Blyth's irises I've seen anywhere, but the quality and incredible gift plants leave you feeling that you got such a great deal! And do I need to mention that he is one of the top hybridizers in the world? Anyway, just this spring he finally got a website going and there are not that many pictures on it yet, but people can still see his new introductions plus a few others.

If anyone is interested in obtaining his catalog, you can email him through his website and he'll send you one.

www.keithkeppeliris.com

It's always fun to read a good report like this, especially this year when I'm shopping & gardening vicariously through the rest of you!

I love keppel's irises. I have Italian Velvet, Rustler, Night Game, Fiery Temper, etc. I used Rustler for a cross and got a great seedling.

This year I did not order from Keith but could not resist ordering a number of his on my orders from other growers. The ones I could not resist this year were Brilliant Idea, Jazz Band, Rainbow High, more Gypsy Lord. Do I see a common thread of amazing beards and intense vibrant color? I guess so.... :)

K

I usually order from him every year, and I totally agree with how generous he is with extras. This year I skipped buying any iris, but my wish list is getting pretty long!

Redheadclan, your seeding is totally awesome!

Thanks for the feed back on my seedling. I plan on sending it to CA for the convention in 2012. The only iris I ordered this year was "Back Draft" by Sutton. It looks like it's on fire. Then I'm getting a bunch on swaps. I managed to fined "Halloween Trick" by Ghio on a swap.

Betty, you know all the great places to buy. By next year, I will know more places too but I won't have any more room.

Rita, when you get a chance check out his website -- the MOST gorgeous irises! And his new introductions are either $45 or $50 each, except for RECKLESS ABANDON, which is $60. Plus he always has a special of any 3 introductions for a total of $125.00 (works out to something like $41.67 each)! He and Joe Ghio are absolutely the best because they throw in all kinds of beautiful bonus plants, and with Keppel you can tell him what bonuses you'd like! He's only had his website up for probably four months now, so there's not that much yet, but check out "Gallery"...

Oh yes, and when I mentioned that Keith had to send me a refund for INTO TEMPTATION, I emailed Joe Ghio and he's sending it to me! Love it!!!

Here's Keith Keppel's website address:

http://www.keithkeppeliris.com

And just for kicks, here are Joe Ghio's 2010 introductions (hope I did this right):

http://www.montereybayiris.org/ghio10.php

No, no , no. I am not buying any more. Good thing its the send for catalog type of place. Too late for getting a catalog this year so that keeps me out of trouble.

You did do it right it shows up. Oh Betty, did I mention that I have no more room ? LOL!

I really am happy enough (after all those orders finially) for this year. Its next year that I am worried about. As soon as they start blooming I go bonkers over how pretty they all are and want more.

LOL!!! OOOooooooooooo Look at "Splurge" !!! &:-D