Looking for the OLD ones!

Wanda, if you have any other iris that date back before 1870, please send me a few with Honorabile. I thought the postage I sent was what I saw on the outside of the box????
Anyway, I'll take any of that vintage......

doin....the....happy....dance....whoo hoo, you are a doll and you know I've got your addy tooooooooooo

.....doin...the....happy....happy...
...................................................dance!!

Wanda -- I love the 'Color Carnival' one -- especially with the red beards and purple markings -- WAY COOL!

Allysum, remind me in Auguust that you love it--I may have extra by then. It really pops out at you & was very sturdy in the winds. let's see--how about King Tut? Had the devil of a time getting the color right on this oldie.

Whoops! Brain dead Friday. Trying to get my fun done before I show my Sis how to use a computer. (She wants to know how you get the pointer thing (curser) where you want it. I think SEVERAL lessons are in order..... King Tut

Wanda, Now ya gone and done it (again)
Put me on your reserve list for King Tut and Perfection please.

BTW, Is it normal for iris rhizomes planted in the fall , to not flower the following Spring ?

Do you have the name of the first one on this thread ?
That started a whole new quest, the big velvety falls remind me of a hound dog puppy's ears .... soft and floppy. Gotta love 'em =)

Yes . . . King Tut too . . . I will remind you in August! :)

The one at the top of the thread is "Easter Bonnet".

Thanks Clairelise -- I have asked myself that question (what is the name?) about that first one every time I look at this thread. The colors on that one are AMAZING!! -- What a perfect name too -- "Easter Bonnet".

Does anyone know the vintage of Easter Bonnet?

PDB says .....

"EASTER BONNET (Maxwell & Norton 1943) S-pink,w/yellow F-pink,blue blaze,yellow hafts w/maroon B-orag"

You're welcome. It's one of the few iris names I can remember because it does remind me of an Easter bonnet!

Hey Wanda! These are ALL fan-tab-u-lous! (Keep me in mind for a couple of those King Tuts come digging time! I LOVE those colors!!)

Thanks Scooterbug. Unfortunately, not old enough for the historical house. But I'm having fun finding older plants and the Monticello resource is great!

Hello,
I am also looking for old irises to plant in these gardens where we live.
It is a old new England Farm House ,built in 1850 and one of the previous owners had BEAUTIFUL gardens as I understand.
Then the 3rd owner ripped it all out,cut down bushes , ripped off the wrap around porch etc.
***
When we moved in in 1981 I found 2 Rugosas and some Peonies,but everthing else was basically gone.Then a few Years ago I found a old Moss rose,it was only about 8 inches tall,hidden away.Now it is 4 feet tall.
Since then I have planted over 100 roses,all old ones trying to recreate what was once maybe there ??
*****
I would like to do this with old irises too since I was told that Mr.Gamage who had been a avid gardener "loved his irises".He would be in his nineties now.
***
I am a willing and able to trade some other perennials,including some yellow Species Daylilies which are called Lemonlilies by the "Mainers" around here.
***
I LOVE the Beauty of irises and I don't care if they have names or not.
***
Hopefully someone is willing to trade/share with me.
For some unknown/strange reason I want to restore Mr.Gamage's garden even though I never met him or seen a picture of him.
***
Thank You in advance,
Brigitte
I will be able to dig and ship towards the end of next week or after all the grandkids have left.

This message was edited Jun 19, 2004 10:52 AM

Eglantyne, you must make an effort to meet this old gentleman. He will love to share stories about the house and gardens and the history, as well. If you can, record him and take his picture. You will be so glad you did.
It sounds like your house may be eligible for the National Register of historic places and maybe local designation. There may be some property tax benefits for local designation, too......

Hello woodspirit1,
Unfortunately he passed away many years ago.Talked to his widow about his gardens and she of course mentioned the roses ,so I went gungho and bought all these roses the last few years.
***
Well I never really remembered her remark about the irises until a few days ago when I was reading about irises in this thread.It's funny how one forgets and then all of a sudden something triggers it and one remembers.
****
She is in her high 80's or even 90's now and doesn't remember some things I heard.
***
Brings to mind a incident about 23 years ago when then his mother told my husband that there was a hidden Fireplace in the Diningroom.
My husband came home and within a few minutes we had hammers and a crowbar to expose this HIDDEN TREASURE Fireplace......WELL after a good hour we didn't find a fireplace and we had this HUGE gapping hole in the wall....LOL......NEVER forget that exploration .......hahaha....now we can laugh about it,back then it took alot of work to fix up that wall again,
Brigitte

That is so funny. About 2 weeks ago I went with a new buyer to a historic structure. She had 3 chimneys but only 2 fireplaces. She brought me along because I work in historic preservation, including writing nominations for the National Register of Historic Places. There was some cheap paneling over one wall and I pulled it loose in one room. There was a flue for a wood or coal heater. Around the wall, in the next room, I also pulled the paneling back and found a second flue, both going up the mystery chimney. It's so cool to seem really knowledgable once in awhile, lol.

this thread is GREAT!!!! i loved looking at all these beautiful irises.. i do recall someone asking the question about irises being planted but not blooming that following spring... but dont recall anyone saying yae or nea.. i would also like to know the answer becasue alot of them i planted in the fall havent bloomed yet.... a friend of mine let me dig up all her irises and bring them home.. well hubby bought me some at home depot and i mixed them all up , i had about 4 or 5 different ones bloom but thats it.. i bought a bunch of mixed ones on ebay last fall and also planted my friends irises...can anyone tell me what this one is? keep all them pics comming but u know u guys are gonna get me in trouble cause now i am thinking of going on the hunt for oldies!!!! this is my first year for irises so i have no idea what more then half of the ones i have are... could they be late bloomers or fall bloomers??? some of them feel 'thick' near the base of the fan..and some of the fans are HUGE... do i still have hope of them blooming this year...?

oh also forgot to ask, does anyone have a pic of what the seeds and seed pods look like? i think i am gonna go on ebay and see what they have ...(:

If you planted them a little too deep, that would impede bloom, or they just may need another year to settle in . Some iris are like that.......

thanx woodspirit.... i may have planted them too close together maybe? i know they arent too deep , but maybe too close.. if i move them this year will i maybe cause them to not bloom again? or do they just need to settle into a new climate? thanx again
chrissy

i'd leave 'em be this year. I had some just take 2 years, instead of one, to bloom

Many that bloomed this Spring were from ebay & small---Third Spring. But some that were traded to me or bought at DG co-ops bloomed this year though just planted last fall!

Many of my iris bloom well only scant inches apart in a clump. I plant in raised clumps (so they keep dry) and leave the crown of the root exposed on most of them. Think Shallow.

As in all perennials: first year sleep, second year creep, third year leap!

We also had a hard frost April 30 & very cold weather for a week or two after many of my iris and peonies had already set buds. The buds just froze & withered. Oh well, there's always next year!

How about Inspiration?

laurief, your website was fantastic! Are any of these irises antique and do you sell any of them? By antique, I mean way back, pre-1870......

Laurie knows what she's doing & it shows!
Here is one of my favorites from my Grandma's garden --- William A Setchell 1938