Still in shock!!!!!

hi everyone, u would not believe my luck in the past week!!!!!!!! a friend of ours has a HUUUUGE iris farm, and told me that the next time they thin their irises out , they would keep me in mind, well they did just that!!!! i went over on saturday expecting one of a few varietys... instead they gave me anywere from 10 to 30 of each variety , 32 varietys making a total of 450 Intermediate Irises... i was sooo shocked... they said they had a bunch of other irises (dwarf, TB, ect.) but didnt want to overload me so would get those to me when i planted the others.. well i planted 350 of the 450, and had to go back over to their place while my hubby fixed a few things in their bathroom, and again , she dug me up MORE irises... she dug me up a bunch of varieties of Arilbred irises.... prob about 10 to 15 different kinds, and about 7 or 8 kinds of i think she called them MBI's , we went back the next day for him to finish and she dug me up EVEN MORE irises.. 8 to 9 different kinds of Dwarf Irises... and when she digs them up she digs up CLUMPS... HUGE CLUMPS!!!! i am doing such a happy dance i still cant believe it!!! she also dug me up some mini daylilies.. something elf , little yellow ones... and another daylily that i cant seem to put my finger on.. i dont have the bags infront of me.. i know some of the names of the Intermediates....here are some of them off the top of my head...

Blue Eyed Blond
His
Hers
Hellcat
Harlow Gold
Az-Ap
Nice and Nifty
Pink Kitten
Logo
Lemon or yellow Pop
Baby Blue Marine
Triplet
Good and True
Cee Jay
Basso
Dark Waters
John
Cool?
Fantasy World
Hubbub
Shampoo
Bold Print
Cum Laude
Sonals Selah
Sterling Mistress
Valient Warrior
Can Do
Maiden head or lane ?
Golden muffin
Kermit
? Fakers Fire
i think those are from the first batch she gave me...
i will have to look at the others to see the names on those.. i just cant believe how generous they were... she said once she devides some of her talls and her historicals she will call me over to come pic up what she held aside for me!!!! here is a pic of my irises i moved and infront of them is the 350 i already planted of hers...I will be sure to share just as they had done when it comes to divide them myself... (:
Chrissy

WOW! I need friends like that....... LOL
Do they sell to the public?

I'm really jealous!

Send your friend to Pakistan with all Iris plants.

LOL, gumlla! :)

Lucky you! You'll definitely have to take pictures when all those little lovelies are in bloom! I'm sure it will be spectacular!

they dont sell to the public because they dont want to deal with the city taxes and and the city getting involved with their farm.. they are 74 and 78 (but cleary dont look it or act it) and they do occasionally do private sales to pleople they know , they give them to me because they have known my hubby since he was 10 yrs old and he always does work for them for free... plus she knows i am a garden freak... lol...but i know when they do sell some of their irises they only sell them when they are in bloom , and they sell them all for 5.00 a clump.. and like i said they are generous clumps.. here is a pic of part of their iris farm... all the white flags are lables for different irises...

Wow!

After blooms, this part will be looking like paradise. Are your friends save their seeds? Because when they bloom then they should have thousands of seeds.
clairelise
Do you have such kind of friend?

No, gumlla, I was hoping YOU were that kind of friend! LOL

Actually, I did receive 4 iris from Wandasflowers a few weeks ago, and I was tickled pink! (expression meaning very happy)

clairelise
Good joke......lol, may be one I will have a lot of Iris plants for others....lol but at the mean time : (

You and me, both! The good thing is that iris seem to multiply quickly, so in 2 years I will have lots to share. :) But not as many as 450! That will take a while! LOL

lol.. oh i will most definetly share!!! our friend said these intermediates multiply like crazy! so maybe even after they bloom i will be able to share.. it was killing me becasue as we were cleaning up the dug up clumps, both of them kept throwing away the babies.. i was dieing.. and she was saying, oh u dont want those.. u want ones that will show beautiful this year! and i kept saying , in fear of sounding like a greedy pig i just cant let u throw those away so finally she let me get the tiny babies at least for my sister.. when i count up the dwarf and the Mtb's i will know how many of those i have,, the ailbred ones , we didnt have seperate bags to put them in to have their names written on and she wasnt going to give them to me till we got some but i told her i didnt care we could figure out the names later when they bloom.. so she agreed and we went digging... i was so shocked just to see all the ITB's she gave me and havent even figure out how many of the others inthe last two days... u can see why i am in shock.. she has other gardens too , some with ferns and hydrangias.. here is one of my favorite areas of one of her gardens.,. (: i just love what she has done with this old truck!

Wow Cici,
You have been blessed with wonderful friends.
Rose318

maybe she would do a co-op for us!?

yes i have been blessed with wonderful friends, and not just these people, but even our neighbors, they have been such a help!!! as far as a co-op.. i dont know... i would have to do it... and she wouldnt allow it till they bloom, if i am in my house by then and i most likely would be, then i could do it... i'll talk to her about it next time i see or talk to her about it.. i just counted the mini's and so far there are 205 of those.. of the arilbreds there is a total of 105 of those, and the dwarfs there are 108 of those... making the grand total of irises , are u ready for this???? OMG! 868 IRISES!!!!!!!! i think i am gonna faint!!! my hubby is breathing a sigh of relief for the money saved.. although i could never afford to buy that many.. UNBELIEVABLE!!!! I FEEL SO LUCKY! i feel like i won a lotto, and i have never won anything in my life.. well except one time when i was 11 i did win a pooper scooper at a dog show.. lol.. here are the names of some of the irises i got
Tarheel Elf
Sun Doll
Mini Blue
Jungle Warrior
Super? Vanilla
Golden Ruby
Slash Of Red

i dont remember what the other names are that she told me... oh well i'll get the names in spring....i am just all smiles today! (:
chrissy

oh Gumlla sorry i forgot to mention, i ask her about the seeds and they said they cut all the flowers stalks off before they go to seed...): bummer huh????!!!! oh well.. i will let mine go to seed and share...(:
chrissy

I'm so happy for you! I can't even imagine COUNTING 868 iris, let alone PLANTING them! This spring will be like Christmas for you! I think the funny thing is you have about 40 names listed, with only 828 more to go! LOL I'm kidding, of course, you don't have to list all the iris you have. :)

: (

lol, well i just counted the 418 in sections as i did the first 450, but i have to only get another 40 names not 800 and some , she didnt give me one of each name but undivided clumps rather.. the reason we first counted the 450 was my husband asked how many she had given me and we (me and the friend ) looked at each other and laughed... cuz we knew it looked like alot.. so i just counted the irises in each bag... then added those up... lol.. i am just so excited... it helps me now to list them so i dont forget the names... i need to do it in my journal now...lol..some irises like the splash of red she gave me 39 of those, and of sun doll gave me 36 , so thank god i only have to get about 40 names from her.. (:

What a windfall! I sure wish I had a friend like that around here!

Just FYI, a few name corrections/confirmations:

Super Vanilla
Splash of Red
Fakir's Fire
Maiden Lane
Valiant Warrior
Sonja's Selah
Lemon Pop
Az Ap
Nice n' Nifty
Mini-Blue

Hope that helps,

Laurie

WOWZERZ!!!!!!!!!!!

thanx laurie... i guess slash of red sounds kinda icky...lol.. thanx again! (:
chrissy

does anyone have pics of Fakir's Fire, Maiden Lane, Valiant Warrior, Nice n' Nifty,
Mini-Blue, Tarheel Elf, Sterling Mistress, can do, Basso, cool, cherry delight and Cum Laude? these are the only ones i havent found pics for......that would be great if any of u have pics of those...(: thanx
chrissy

There is no iris registered as Cherry Delight. There is a Black Cherry Delight, and you can see its pic in the PDB (http://davesgarden.com/pdb/), along with pics of Tarheel Elf and Sterling Mistress.

Laurie

oh i missed the tarheel elf and sterling mistress... as far as the cherry delight , i must have the name wrong.. opps! (: thanx i will be sure to check them out on the PDB .. thanx!
chrissy

cici--I'm looking for more Intermediates and have lots of named Tall bearded to trade. Let me know if you are game before my ground freezes for the winter...

Remember all the trouble people have when they when the lottery?! They say their phone rings a lot more and new, old friends come out of the woodwork!!! hee hee.... !Congratulations ,,, but I believe it is not luck ..you were blessed because of who you are.....You are so kind also to let everyone know that in the future you will share ...that's a gardener .....salt of the earth people. I have a neat Iris story but will share it another time I am in a hurry.....It will be delightful to see your place next spring and as it evolves..very pretty house......dee

wandasflowers u have mail!
chrissy

hi dee...lol.. that was awefully nice of u , (: i figure if such a nice woman is sharing all these irises with me, then surely i must pass it on ..(: plus if they multiply as much as she says they do , i will have too many in the next couple of years...(: she has some others she couldnt give me because she didnt have enough but said this spring once they multiply she will give me some...cant wait till this spring although i have been told that most might not bloom this year.... oh well it will still be pretty to see the field of the iris greenery...

What a wonderful addition to your gardens! I know you will show us pictures when they bloom, can hardly wait, it's gonna be quite a show.

cici--it's late here to plant , but it's hard for me to resist Intermediates. You got mail....

Wanda, you can always do as I did recently on our vacation. Purchased 2 orange iris and potted them up here to stay in the house over winter. Never tried it before, but willing to try any thing for orange iris's that I don't have.

Good Luck.

Maxine

What a dream. So many arilbreds. WOW. Can't wait for photos next year.
Ginny

Maxine, your Lily pack showed up here yesterday---THANK YOU! Wow! Looks like some great bulbs!

We've had cold & rainy weather with several hard frosts here. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice & I'll get all my lilies in....

Lucky, LUCKY, you!!!!!!!

Wanda, it is 70 out right now. Nice wind blowing from the SW, but supposed to switch to the NW tonight and cool off!

Been putting wood chips on my 2 lily beds. 12 scoops using the Bobcat to load our Pug[kinda like a oversized trailer.
Had to quit as arms gave out. Oh to be 50 again!!

Maxine

Maxine & Cici---67 degrees & sunny today--planted all my iris from Cici and lilies from Maxine. What a wonderful time I had! It's going to be a bit cooler tommorrow--great day to mow one last time & mulch with grass/leaves combo. I'm going to miss it soo much when the winter winds come.

cici--did you get all of yours planted? I smell a spring trade.... :)

hi wanda , yes i did get them planted, earlier today.. they are loving it!! as i have mentioned in another thread...(: i wanted to let u know i didnt cut the roots on the irises i sent u , the friend who have the farm do ... they insist on it.. (: i dont mind cuz mine rooted right away.. although i did mention to him i was afraid our 'wizard of oz' type winds would blow them right out of the ground without anything ancoring them down but he said.. naaaa... its better this way.. which was alright when planting so many and having to dig each hole.. it went quicker and no fly aways when the wind came.. lol....

inanda, u keep an eye out for (hopefully) blooming pics of them arilbreds... if they multiply good this year or if i have alot of a kind, then we can set up a trade come spring.. (:

jody , i know, i feel soooo lucky.. i never get stuff like that , i have always read it here on DG with people and pouted about how i never get lucky like that... so now i am overjoyed.. i feel like i won the garden lottery.. lol..

Cici--funny how Many friends you find when you win a "lottery" like that around here!