New Iris Garden

Nov. 04--After months of work to clear
ground of nails, rocks, etc--

I'm still working--

Nov. 04 again.

Still working--

End of Nov. 04--Freak snow storm.

Bundle-up--Work some more.

Dec. 04 Rains hit--Under water!!

Work stopped--

End Dec. 04--

Work real fast between storms--

Almost there!!

Quick, like a Bunny, B4 it
rains again--

DH--Helps finish--

Fills in--

Works in compost, mulch--

Evens out--

I--Lay out plants

DH--Plants--

Cujo--Supervises!!

Beginning Jan. 05--

All Done!!

Now it's God's turn to grow 'em!!

Can't wait for Spring!!

But--Can't rest--Have other Gardens
to work on!!

Is that dirt as beautiful as I think it is?? You work really hard and fast. I'm not seeing Iris, did you plant unbearded? We can't wait to see the result in spring. Or do you plant them in the spring? So, tell us your planned inventory, we all want to know!

Well, there are a lot of Iris (18 Bearded),
Daffodils, & Paperwhites in there, now.

If it ever STOPS raining, I have
Hyacinths, Crocus, Grape Hyacinths
& I can't remember what all to plant on
the left side & maybe in the front.

My idea is to not have to water the
Iris much, so I can't put anything in
there that requires much water. Most
of the plants that are drought tolerant
I don't care for.

I've turned too many Iris to mush
with too much water, & that was
B4 I was watering enough; so I'm only
putting in spring bulbs which God
will water for me--& is He ever!!

If it doesn't turn out well, I'll try
something else next year.

The earth here is mostly clay, but
in that area there were also areas
of sand & areas with alot of gravel.
I tried to move dirt around to mix all
the areas together (it's only taken
me 8 mo. or so!) & added mulch
& compost. Time will tell if it works.

I plan to take pics probably once a
month, so I have a visual record of
what happens.

We have clay too. And if grape hyacinths grow there like they grow here, they will take over the whole bed. They multiply like tribles. And I'm jealous, I can't really grow crocus. It's just too warm here. What color are your new Iris?

That does look like nice rich soil!! I bet Your irises will do well there!! I'm thinking along the same lines as doss, what colors are your new iris?

Margie

I'm not very good at descriptions,
so I'll just show you a few at a time.

This is Copper Classic--

They are all from Parks.

Another:

I'm not sure if they'll make it,
they were sitting on the patio
for a couple months.

Another:

They accidentally sent
2 of these & 2 of the
Copper Classic. I really
like them both.

Another:

I love that Crimson Snow....BEAUTIFUL!

All but Copper Classic was in
a Collection.

Another:

This 1 wasn't part of the collection
either.

There are 2 more that are part
of the collection, but I have to
look for their pics.

I'll be back--

Found them.

1 more of the new ones--

This is the last of the new
ones.

It's similar to ones I already
have.

The rest of the Iris are those
that I had except for 2 I'm
not really crazy about.

I'm trying to figure out where
to put the ones I have left
over.

Thanks for sharing! I love those choices. Several are ones similar to those I'm dreaming about. I was thinking "witches Wand" but i think that I like "Romantic Evening" better. They are close though. World premier is beautiful.

Doss:

If they survive & multuply,
maybe I can send you
some next year.

They are pretty soggy with
all the rain we've had. Time
will tell!!

Some of the Paperwhites &
a few Daffodils are coming
up already. I planted Hyacinths,
Grape Hyacinths, Tri-Color
Crocus & something (I'll have
to look up) today.

Still have bulbs coming out of
my ears. Tried to pawn some
off on the Mailman!! Didn't work!!

LOL!!

Just jam those bulbs in together. Nothing like being close. Why are you still having bulbs in january anyway? My daffodils, some tulips, dutch iris, cycloglossa iris (don't ask me I didn't make up the name - and they have to be staked! - little did I know..) are coming up - and a few of the reblooming bearded are budded. I had ordered some roses and asked that they be delivered Mar 1. Silly me. So called today and asked for them right away. My Brugmansias are throwing new leaf buds all over themselves. Nice to live in zone 9.

Or put those bulbs in pots and put them on your patio! That took me awhile.

Well, I must confess it's
cuz I bit off more than I
could do!!

I was feeling great, so I
dug up every Iris, & every
bulb to put elsewhere, but
either the elsewhere wasn't
ready (New Iris Garden), or
I couldn't decide where the
correct elsewhere was!!

Are you still with me??

Then the SNOW came &
everything stopped.

& the RAINS came & everything
stopped, again!!

Thanks to a couple lulls in the
RAINS, I've gotten the New Iris
Garden planted (finished today),
& now I have to figure out what
to do with everything else I had
dug up or bought.

Haven't been feeling too chipper
lately, but I need to put my thinking
cap on anyway, cuz it's NOT
supposed to rain thru' the weekend.
Don't know about next week, yet.
So, that will give me at least 2 days
to plant.

I had thought of putting bulbs in
a pot. Just don't have a big 1.

Maybe I'll take some to Bible Study
on Sunday & see if I can pawn some
off--er--give some to someone!!

Ah, you have an excess of wealth so you can feed the multitudes at bible study.

I'm sorry you're not feeling too well. I know how frustrating that can be when you are dying to get into the garden, and you know the time is passing and you just can't get out of bed.

Everything here is totally soaked. It has been pouring off and on for weeks now. You had SNOW? How have your plants survived? A lot of mine would have croaked. My red passion flower has made it through the winter so far this year. I really love that vine - but it's really a zone 10 plant. Seems to be happy where it is though.

Oh, yeah. It SNOWED!!

Let me show you--

This is our beautiful Lilac--

This is the Lilac sprawled
on the ground.

This is the Lilac being
propped up.

Then the RAINS came
& the WINDS came!!

I haven't taken a pic yet,
but my DH went to trim it
today & the large branch
next to the house was split
off & just pulled right out of
the ground!!

God willing, the rest can be
saved. Everyone commented
on the color & wanted to try
to grow 1 but nothing ever
took.

It's really slow tonight, so I'll
post a few more aeas I'd like
to share, tomorrow.

I am so sorry you lost your Lilac. I've always wanted to grow one but it never gets cold enough here. Lilacs are kind of pathetic here but whatever cultivar you were growing was very happy. I hope that it will come back too.

KE6KAD,
I had an apple tree fall over from to many apples.It fell on the fence,I left it alone,looks like it might live.I dug a lilac bush up from down at Mom's I used to live next door.It's 6' tall,made it through the summer,didn't look great,but I'm hoping it makes it too.Good luck wishing you the best.Jody

You do have a penchant for rescuing poor sad plants! I'm sorry about your apple tree. Our persimmon has to be propped up every fall or the branches break. I'd thin the tree but then the squirrels take all the persimmons. I'm just hoping that my red passionflower vine makes it through this season. It's really a zone 10 plant. I'm shocked that you had snow. When was the last time it happened?

I know you guys are getting hammered in CA.All those poor people with the landslide and drownings from driving through high water but that's a nono they should nknow better,unless I'm in a boat I'm not driving through water that I can't see the bottom of,makes no sense.
We've hit the all time high for precipitation here and it's only the middle of the month.How come no one said anything about an el neno~ this year (can't spell)seems we have one going on. The last time it was all over the news,nothing about it this time.Poor people in Ohio are getting flooding badly too.Whole towns along the river are under water.Glad I live away from any river/flood areas.Snow in CA. only supposed to be in the moutains I thought.Talk soon,Jody

I'm with you! A boat or a roof. Or a short hike to a friends house who lives uphill, better yet.

But most of the time El nino - He's not so bad for California. It's El Nina we have to look out for. The last time she came, she came with 7 years of drought. It's very sad how many people were killed there. And yes, it's hard (we live about 400 miles north of where the flooding happened). It didn't have to happen that way. Everyone who lives in that area - which is beautiful - has years of fire followed by years of landslides. It's also southern Californians (I was born there) who live on these well known unstable hills, destabilize the ground by cutting into the hillside and then are surprised when the mud slides come. My mother taught me to climb as high as we could out of the desert canyons when any rain came. I think that if people aren't prepared to think, they lose their heads. Did you know that in a flood or rushing water, if you have something to grab onto you're supposed to get on the side that's on the downhill side? Weird, huh? Anyway, that stuff can be taught, but doesn't. It's an unnecessary tragedy. Like you said. Who get's in their car and tries to drive through a flood? It's all been so sad this year with horrible Tsunamis and floods and - well, we always have fires here. Notice I didn't say earthquakes. I think that I've been here so long that, except for the big one here in 1986, they just seem like part of life. And when an even bigger one comes - and it will, the people who live in the expensive houses in the hills right on the fault line, and the people in the expensive houses right on the beach are going to be the hardest hit. And I they KNOW that. But what can you do?

Can you tell I'm a little frustrated that more isn't done ahead of time? By the time the flood comes it's too late. Thanks for letting me rant. I really just want people to use their heads and pick safer places to live! Or at least be trained what to do when the problem arises. Doesn't seem a lot to ask, do you think?

And then there is the poor Lilac. Well, we couldn't expect snow and KE6 did what she could. It's hard to lose something so beautiful. But if it doesn't survive, you should plant something even more beautiful in it's place. (Although what is more lovely than a lilac?)

Go girl get that stuff off your chest.heehee.Now I can tell you one thing.I'm not building a house on a fault line.lol.How dumb.Duh,why did I get swallowed up in this big hole in the ground.lol.Jody

Yeah! Or have your house slide down the hill -- or have your house turn into a tidepool. Or like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, waking up in a very strange place with witches and "lions, and tigers and bears, Oh my." You can't avoid tornados but you don't have to live on a fault line or on a temporary beach - they are really all temporary. You can build your house in a fire danger area out of something other than cedar shingles. But what the heck. The beach, the hills, and cedar shingles all have something good to say about them. At least for somebody other than me. I love the thought of someone down in an earthquake fault saying "Duh, why did I end up here". thanks, I couldn't stop laughing.

I did see someone put bacon in the bottom of his sleeping bag so a bear wouldn't get it. Needless to say, the bear had bacon for breakfast, and the peron was lucky enough to be able to slip out the top of the sleeping bag while the bear was dragging it off by the bottom. Someone even told him not to do it....

Now that's using common sense, don't you think? Not much smarter than driving your car into a flood. Is it somewhere in the area of a natural disaster? No, but it was hysterical to hear him scream at the bear and scramble out of his bag. That is after he got out safely.

I know I'm warped and macabre. I just can't help it. (LOL)

Way to Funny,ya got me rolling.Bacon in the sleeping bag.He needs to hook up with the guy in the fault.lol.

Yeah, and all the people who get mauled by deer (I'm not kidding) in Yosemite when they feed them. You are more likely to get hurt by a deer there than anything else. Just like Hippos are the most dangerous African animal....

So sorry KE6 - we stole your thread and are mauling it. It's getting late though and I think that I'm losing it. I'll be a better girl tomorrow. (we did have fun though)

How's your Lilac and the rest of the garden after the snow?

No Problem. Vent away &
I totally agree with you.

My DH likes to tell the
story about the mud coming
down the flood channel here 1
year. Among other things
there was a chicken ranch
there. It & everything else
was buried in mud.

A couple days later, someone
heard chickens & dug them out.
They'd gone cannibalistic & the
survivors had had most of their
feathers pecked off. The woman
who adopted them knitted sweaters
for them!!

Now, there are people back
there & even new homes going
up. What do you want to bet the
sellers never disclosed just what
those nice new homes are in??!!

Now hiding bacon in your sleeping
bag sounds like a really secure
place to me!! LOL.

Some people just don't have any
more than maybe a quarter of a
brain cell!!

I've been told there hasn't been
snow like we had in 50yrs. When I
moved here15yrs ago there was a
good snow in Feb. but nothing like
this snow storm. There's been less
& less snow every year. Now we
usually get some on the ground
during the night once a year in Jan.
or Feb. Never in Nov. like this time.
As soon as the sun comes up the
snow melts. My DH wakes me up
(he's an early riser), so I can grab
the camera to prove it snowed!!

I took this pic today. It shows that
the large branch nearest the house
is gone.

I'll show you what the tree looked
like last spring--

It was a beautiful tree. People
have told us it may be OK.

It'll just be a little lopsided I guess.
Better that then nothing.

I'll show you a close-up--

It's flowers are very dark compared to
what's available out here now.

People have stopped to ask the neighbors
if they can cut some.

We tried to root cuttings, but they never took.

I've more during & after snow pics to share.
I'll post more tomorrow.

Need my beauty sleep! Ha! Boy do I ever!!

That is a lilac to die for! You might have someone who really knows something come and prune it. It really is a fabulous speciman. There must be someone who "does" lilacs cho can help you figure out how to reproduce it. Is there a Lilac forum on DG? And you are right, the color is incredible. It must smell like heaven!