These iris on-line websites for 2005 are up

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Good job students! Now, kareoke anyone?

Just wait until the end of march - you'll need the kareoke machine jacked up as high as it can go. And get out the earmuffs. It's not quite spring yet so I'll bet that they aren't packed away :-)

It is SO much fun torturing all of you - It's even more fun hearing you sing.

I may have to stop though if you turn on a karoke machine. Now that's real torture.

"Singing in the rain, just singing in the rain, it's a beautiful feeling, I'm happy again." It's been pouring here and I'm a real old musical song junkie.

You are all great.

And I always thought Gene Kelly danced on air. I'll take his energy anyday compared to Astaire's grace. 1930s to 1950s musicals--all innocence and beauty.

Have you seen "Down with Love" starring Renee Zellweger? It's a great take off on "Pillow Talk" with Doris Day and Rock Hudson. There's even a little dancing at the end. DH couldn't figure out what I saw in it, but I laughed all through the whole thing. Finally a movie for me.

The only one who got more air dancing was Donald O'Connor. I don't know why he didn't get farther as an actor. Probably because he wasn't the leading man type - or a fabulous choreographer.

Hey! I know what you're up to. I see you distracted me from tempting you with websites. It worked for a second there.

"Down with Love" was a delightful change from the usual Hollywood fare.

I always love to see the old Doris Day films. And I confess to having a crush on Rock Hudson in my teens. I didn't know he was gay & didn't care. Like I'd ever meet him in person. Just a teen crush.

Ha ha. hijacked you!

That's OK to have had a crush on old Rock - he was beautiful. My Grandmother had a crush on Liberace. We never told her - didn't want to break her heart.

hijacked again. I can't help myself.

Never a dull moment on DG and never know where the conversation will go. Kinda fun, huh?
ps. Mom STILL loves Liberace and my sis in law attends Barry Manilow concerts. Why spoil the fun for them?

No reason to spoil the fun. If they don't have expanded minds then they need to be sheltered the sweet things. They'd miss three quarters of the entertainment world if knowing would stop them from watching.

Gosh - I'll have to get back to torturing soon. Wanda, you're just too distracting.

Is everyone else singing?

Whew, I just finally managed to scroll down this. I do have some info on Blue J, I'm lucky enough to have been there. The family that owns it are just wonderful and they have great irises. Leonard is hybridizing and he is germinating 10,000 seedlings a year. I do believe that they will do an excellent job filling orders. Their fields are incredibly clean and they worked very hard to properly ID their plants. Their bloom season is just a few weeks later than mine, so I hope to make it out there during peak bloom so I'll have lots more photos to post next year too.

I was telling myself to take it easy on the ordering this year, and then the same old thing happens. I notice that you can get all of the 05 Superstition intros for a great price, can't pass that up, and the lists just keep getting longer and longer : ) Don't imagine I'll stop until I actually can't keep up with the weeding even with pre-emergents, but that'll be a while yet, I hope....

Where's the link to Blue J ? I can't find it in the watchdog and google isn't cooperating. Or do they just have an email address?

Here's the link:

http://www.bluejiris.com

Thanks a million. I have a favor. If you see "Final Episode" anywhere would you let me know. I love it when you posted it.

I'm laughing at clouds
so dark up above
cause the sun's in my heart
and i'm ready for love

http://www.duchessathome.com/music/singingintherain.html

This message was edited Mar 24, 2005 3:00 PM

Robin, you have done me in entirely. Blue J has just taken me by storm. You could buy a truckload at those prices. I'm ripping out some more stuff this fall for Iris.

Ditto what Doss said. Gosh I'm gonna scratch my orders at a couple of other places and order with Blue J.

hi brenda! i ordered from them last weekend and have added since. they are great people to work with. doss keeps adding pictures and websites with a evil smile (LOL) , and i keep adding irises. belinda

I've got LOTS of new room for Iris and daylilies and lilies and ...... heck just about anything I want.

Brenda, I just had to ask my DH for a towel to wipe up all the slobber that is coming out of my mouth from looking at your new property. You are soooooo lucky!!!

Here's a pic of the front drive. I can't wait to get outdoors and start taking some photos again. These are all the realtors photos I took off their website before we bought it.

I think you have waaaayyy too much turf there. Perhaps you should start a little sod business to feed your habit.

ROFL....it'll all go a bit at a time. We're talking about a pool, a waterfall into a pond and gosh only knows what else.

And here I am spending all of my money on Iris. :-)

Doss, don't you already have a pool and a waterfall and all that? lol I've seen pics of your place....it's stunning!

It's true. 30 years of fixing this place up have done some good. I'm still fixing. And I have my order ready for blue J Iris. What a deal. Just have to put that check in the mail. So many of their cultivars are new and there are no photos of them anywhere, so I'm taking some chances. But $2.00 to $7.00 minus 30% some chances are affordable. Thanks again, Robin.

I spent some but it won't buy a swimming pool. :-) What do you do with a swimming pool in the winter time? Here you can't drain it in the winter or the water table can pop it out of the ground or crack it. No freezing though. My grandkids went in the pool today. Brrrrr!!!

Oh Brenda, how far did you move into the country from town?
Lovely space to convert to flower beds.
Green grass, imagine that? so glad someone some place has something GREEN!

Will be thinking of you when I am out planting lily bulbs this spring.

A blank slate to work with, wow, how lucky can you get? No one else's mistakes either.

Maxine

Unfortunately the city is invading in this area now, but that's why we got 2 acres (about the only neighborhood with lots this size) to keep the invasion at least a distance away from our house. LOL

Those aren't my photos from today, Maxine....these were realtor's photos from last October when the house went on the market. It was empty for 6 months (the previous owners got transferred to Seattle - they were Microsoft employees). They had the price much higher than we actually paid and we low-balled them figuring after 6 months they would be happy to sell it.

But things are greening up around here very quickly!

Gosh, doss, you've already got your list together! I'm falling down on the job. I'm going to see how many of the iris from the order I was going to place with Malevil are available at Blue J and then buy from them. Can't beat those discounts off those low prices!!!! Woo Hoo!

Well see, I ordered too early from Malevil. You were wise to wait and will save some good money. That was very good thinking. I'm going to wait now until Mid-America opens at the end of this month - isn't it the end of the month yet? Don't know what I'm going to do with myself when I'm finished doing this. It's a good thing that I'm just about finished. The garden is calling me.

I'll have to work on that sod farm idea- that has merit! (Oooops, I forgot, the only grass I have left in my yard is in too much shade)

I LIKE removing grass--it means i have more flowers and less to mow. 2 acres??? WOW!

Plug your ears and sing. Mid-America gardens is open.

http://www.mid-americagarden.com/

You are right Robin. The people at Blue J are really nice. One thing to know is that they only list rebloomers that rebloom in their area as rebloomers. Because they are in a pretty cold area therea are many more iris on the list than is indicated. They will send a list to you of all the rebloomers if you would like it. I've enjoyed my emails with them.

If the quality of the rhizomes is as good as the people, I'll be really happy.

Hi Again,

I just got the Iris Gallery catalog. The specialize in non-bearded iris. You should know that they are a little higher than bayview. They do ship in pots though and I'm not sure that Bay View does. And they have free shipping which could make the difference. Their web site is beautiful. They will ship in april and again in the fall. They do say that PCI are hardy from zone 3-9 and need a lime-free soil with good drainage.

http://store.yahoo.com/allthingsiris/pacificcoast.html

Still singing with ears plugged and eyes shut.....la la la la la la...... ;-)

Well, sing louder!!!!!

Cooley's catalog and Rainbow Iris Farm catalog came today. Rainbow's can be kind of pricey on some cultivars, while quite reasonable on others. Be sure you do your comparison shopping on this one. They both have a great DG Watchdog rating. I'm happy because Rainbow is carrying "Strozzapreti" which is one that I've been looking for.

http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/67637/

Even if you're through ordering, the Cooley's catalog is beautiful.

This message was edited Mar 30, 2005 9:04 AM

doss--i just looked at your photos (don't know how I missed those until now!). anyway, those are superb gardens! they are so inviting and relaxing!

deb

Thanks so much deb. I've been lucky and have had some good help and have spent a lot of years on it. Now if I can get someone over here and move those rocks in the space by the front door I can finish that little garden. It never end, does it? (LOL). It's a good place for Pacific Coast Iris, some ferns and an Hellebore or two.