on self control =)

hello everyone! so, who has NOT ordered irises yet this year? as you may well already know, this is my first season gardening, and the irises i have are the rhizomes i got from home depot. some of them are showing signs of life already, and i am thrilled.

best of luck on self control. i'm trying to hold off on my argyle acres order, but i know i also do not want to wait too long for best selection.

happy gardening my friends. thanks to margie who continues to wet our appetite for irises.

annapet

I raise my hand-cuz im buying dls now and I can get iris later! LOL
but its still early here!! ;)

I have purchased no iris 'this' year....I have however traded plants and seeds for a few.

Self control? Do I have to have self control? I'm in real trouble if that's a requirement. Just thought that I needed dirt. Much easier to come by.

I'm ashamed to say I've ordered a few. My 10 year old granddaughter Celeste is crazy about anything that has her name in it and Nicholl's has a lovely mid-19th century blue Iris named "Celeste" and a yellow named "Celestial Sunshine". She likes to look through the Iris with me and she's had her eye on these two all year. So, unwilling to take a chance, I ordered them. What can you do but spoil your granddaughter?

Before ordering anymore though I'm waiting for Superstition and Cooley's and Leota's to open. I have my list and it's too big. So I'm hanging back for awhile to place orders and force myself to decide on how to get my list down to a reasonable size. Self control is hanging on by it's teeth here but I think that it's losing. (LOL)

Luckily we're talking really early here. We can take our time.

This message was edited Feb 20, 2005 9:26 PM

Self-control? What's that?

Self Control is a strange substance known only to a few which grows in the highest peaks of the Andes. Obtaining some is virtually impossible as it is controlled by a tribe who use it for religious purposes only. Also, you can get a nasty headache climbing to that sort of altitude. Getting to it requires riding on horses on narrow trails which wind around steep cliffs and slogging through mosquito ridden swamps. You must train for this trip as if you were climbing Mount McKinley. Many have lost their lives trying to reach the substance. And the rest left disappointed because this tribe cannot share their stash without the wrath of the Gods descending on them.

It is related to Patience. Another rare substance.

LOL... very good, Doss! Only, I heard a rumor that they ran out of the substance known as self control, moved to Florida and started an Iris Garden..... now they are busy tempting folks to lose their self control in the vain attempt to restore their depleted wares.... ;)

(LOL) They think that they can find it here? They must be desperate. The Gods have to be very angry. :-) If they are looking for self control here, it looks like the Gods are going to be staying angry for awhile.

yup, that is what I thought, too.... rats.. no more self control...

hmmm.... well, there is an upside .... we don't have to make excuses anymore for spending too much and everyone will understand why we just ran out of self control.... ;)

doss,
I don't think it's spoiling your granddaughter! I think it's wonderful that you can share your love for gardening with her!! LOL, besides I think self control is over rated. The more we buy the prettier our gardens will be, right?

Now that's the best excuse for no self control that I've heard. It's overrated. Succinct. To the point. Seductive. And just plain fun. Throw caution to the winds. (LOL)

I do have to manage to find a place to put things though. Lack of dirt can be an issue. :-)

LOL! Yes, that can be a problem!
Good Luck!!

I have more dirt than I thought! I just looked up the hill and found a big spread of nothing where I can put Iris. Yay!! I may put tree rose standards there and the Iris around them. The Dahlias will go there too. Should be great. Maybe I'll do pillar roses instead. I already have the pillars. Then I can put Clematis together with them. Then nasturchiums around them. Or maybe carpet roses.

How's that for self control?

This message was edited Feb 22, 2005 5:00 PM

Oh, I forgot Daylilies. See, my self control is working better all the time.

It's so great to know I'm not alone!!

I'm just about to order lots of different things.

I keep looking for a $$ Tree. Haven't found 1
yet!! Lol.

I figure the smaller the lawn is, the easier it
is to mow. I"ve talked my DH into making the
Dog's Yard smaller so I'll have more room for
FLOWERS.

Flowers & Pets--God's gifts to mankind. Gives
us lots to do & think about--keeps us out of
trouble!! Except for the $$ part, that is!! Lol.

I'm raising my hand because I have't yet ordered any. Some were given to me though. My prob right now is daylilies.....no self control there at all!!! LOL!

doss, Sounding Good!!

Self Control? That's what I teach my teens, but, of course, it doesn't apply to me! Thank Goodness the family doesn't know how much $ I've buried in garden plants.

I love it Wanda. I guess it's easier to sneak in a new plant than a new dress. My husband just looked out the window last week and noticed the 200 daffodils in full bloom - and in full sight of the family room and kitchen windows. They've been in for several years, but every year it's news for him. Which is really nice too.

I've arranged so that I don't even know how much I've sunk in garden plants. If I calculated it back over the past 30 years or so...............No, not going there.

And KE6 - What lawn? You're headed in the right direction. I have to admit that I do have a little patch - for relief from the plantings. But you just have to mow it and weed it and feed it.

And I just wasted some money on shrubs to hide the fence for the neighbors. But I did get two lovely Mother Ferns. And I bought a climbing Hydrangea - but there's a rare one on line that I think I'll order instead - and take the first one back. Sound familiar? Luckily all this year's Dahlias are paid for so I can buy next falls Iris without it looking too badly. I think that I'm an addict. No, my name is Dorothie and I AM an addict. :-)

And this is not Kansas...

I don't drink, smoke, gamble or chase wild men (anyway, that's another story and an earlier decade), I think I deserve my "garden vices".

However you wish to rationalize it is fine with us dear. LOL

LOL LOL You sound like my kids!!! LOL "Mom has finely cracked, but it's okay. She's not dangerous to others."

I can hear them whisper up at the school or as they walk past my house and view me digging past dark....

Leading two Girl Scout troops for 9 years and driving for all those cheerleaders crammed into a van to "away games" will do that to you. Brain dead and loving it in Iowa!

Girl Scout Troops and Cheerleaders. Wow!

I led girl scout troops but cheerleaders. Not that there is anything wrong with cheerleading but they are LOUD. Stanford has cheerleader camp here every summer. We live about half a mile from campus and you can hear them loud and clear. I'm impressed by your fortitude. I know - all cute kids and a darn good thing that they are busy with their activities.. You're a good mom.

And for all of you people with self control - I'm assuming that you're keeping tabs on this thread. Be careful - it'll get ya.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/480673/

I'm past those days now & my hearing is slowly coming back. Cheerleaders are loud & rambunctious. If I could have saved all the toliet paper decorating our house in those years, I could start a store!

I had 2 Girl Scout Troops meeting alternate Thursdays at our house--14 in each troop. I led each troop from kindergarten thru 6 th grade. Lots of road trips & good parent help kept me sane. I also gave a week of my life to Girl Scout Camp each summer for 12 years. I'm known for the wettest, dirtiest, loudest group of girls in the camp---And proud of it! Lots of creek stomping in one creek & swimming in the other, water balloon figts, nature hikes & midnight walks by starlight. And burnt food over the campfire. One summer night, I kept 120 Girl Scouts in Smores despite a constant downpour. i figured if they could burn the marshmellows, I could help them make the treats....

I'm not a leader anymore--my youngest troop is graduating this year. Our youngest went to the camp with me when she was 3 years old. She loved it so much that she is now a camp counselor all summer at a local camp. Her favorite place on earth.

It was not all roses. In 1996 I took my older troop to their first funeral--one of my favorite girls Rian was killed in an accident. She was my daughter's best friend and always at our house. I still wish she would have stayed at our house that day instead of going to her Mom's house in another town. My 1 day old picture of her all windblown & dirty from a day of rock climbing with us was the one her Daddy chose to put out for the funeral. And that's how I still remember her.

Dear Wanda - Those are the kind of losses that you never get over. Time passes and you get a different perspective but they are with you forever. You have given a lot of love and happiness to a lot of kids. They aren't supposed to go first. It's only when you love them so much that it hurts so bad.

Will you make me s'mores some day. :-)

I was in girl scouts from Brownies to graduation, summer camp and special events. I had a troop in Cambridge, MA and had a ball. When we moved here though the kids are so over scheduled that they couldn't come up with a date for anything and my kids were very little. My sister still has a troop in a neighborhood with fewer opportunities. Or more, depending on the way you look at it.

Kids really need women like you. This kind of relationship is so rare anymore. I appreciate it.

I have hundreds of pictures of my 2 troops as girls came and went--picnics 7 hikes and covered with mud after crawling thru caves. Dressup parties and Easter egg hunts. And 2000 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies in my garage....

I'm very proud of all the girls that were able to be part of my troops. Our graduating Validictorian 2 years ago was one of my scouts. It has been fun to watch them grow, see them in plays, on sports teams, sing & dance on stage. I see them at college with my older daughter & in the halls of my younger daughter's school. Look like one of them will be on Broadway in a couple of years.

A lady and her teen daughter from another town looked at me with recognition this weekend as I volunteered at the school's Show Choir Invitational. They stopped back up after they ate to tell me that I'd led the daughter's unit of 22 at camp several years ago. They both thanked me for the experience.

And I still put flowers on Rian's grave every July 3.

And only a little of what you deserve. It sounds like you have the energy of three people. And how well you spend it.

Had it and Spent it. I'm getting old & tired. Time to play all day in my garden--I WISH! LOL
And Time for my neices & the next generation to do their part.

Amen - if everyone did what you have done what a great world this would be. You've done your share - but I'll bet you haven't stopped entirely :-)

As far as self control - well, I've already lost it. Anyone else have any left? I e-mailed Superstition about an Iris and they said that they would save one for me because they didn't have many. HEY! It's only March. Good thing that there are so many that are really lovely.

I spent 3 days at a funeral last week for my DH's 95 year old Grandmother. She raised 6 little kids by herself after her hsuband died 60 years ago. She went back to college & ended up a district superintendent. She put 4 kids thru college and went on to spend part of her retirement chasing down the family roots for her DAR registration. I always enjoyed the great stories she told about the family's past. She left behind 6 elderly kids, 14 grandchildren, 19 great grandchildren (more coming) & 4 great -great grandchildren. The funeral was HUGE with people she had taught & inspired over the years.
A true "virtuous woman" as the Bible says. I am Blessed to know a woman of such faith and such Strength.

Wanda - I'm so sorry you lost such a lovely and important person in your life. But I'm glad that so many people came to honor her.

I guess lack of self control can go a whole lot of ways - including a whole lot of good. What a tremendous life. It is rare when someone can touch us so deeply. And to be in the family of someone like that is to truly be blessed. Guess your DH learned how to pick his wife from his Grandmother. I'm glad that you had the opportunity to appreciate her - and it sounds like, she you.

Yes--and she even appreciated my gardens from afar. (I brought her lots of pictures.) My DH's Aunt has used one of my iris garden photo as an inspiration for a watercolor. Wish I could grab it for my wall, but she has lent it to a local art show.

Non of them know how HUGE my gardens have gotten. Self control? You didn't see llilyfan, anahi, Moby & me tossing lily bulbs into bags today!

That's the only problem with losing self control - you have to do the upkeep. But your gardens are worth the work. They're beautiful.

You'll just have to lurk at the door of the art show and grab that watercolor while it's on it's way out.

It's a thought. Do you think they'll notice??? Maybe I'd better wear a red hat disguise....

That and a purple outfit should do it...

Purple outfit & a red hat and you don't think they'll notice me lurking??? LOL

hello, everyone! i missed you all. i salute you, wanda. (and i haven't even read the rest of the thread yet). so, sorry for your loss. i never know what to say...she will be missed by many, but you have wonderful memories of her that will live another lifetime, perhaps more.

i've been saving my "iris allowance" and will put in my order after i send this out. my yard (full of black nursery pots) is coming alive. my home depot irises are THRIVING! been enjoying hyacinths, daffodils and tulips....the roses are budding. i hope i don't miss all the blooms! my family and i will be in spain all april and the rhododendrons, too, are just threatening to finally bloom!

THANK YOU ALL for keeping this thread alive. i hope to see your irises posted here soon.

wanda, you also mentioned watercolors? i started gardening because of my love affair with daniel smith (my watercolor brand, tee-hee).

Why, Moonglow, it's been SO fun and interesting. Have fun in Spain. If you miss those Iris this year, they'll be back. Plus that, probably some are late bloomers. The season can stretch out pretty long here.

Or maybe be blessed with lots of reblooms like last fall? Tis a thing to be wished.

Self Control? Talk to my clean hand--the other one is planting....

Wanda - must be really chilly fingers right now. I've been planting a lot but Iowa in the middle of march? I'd guess it would be muddy in the day and icy at night. Not my favorite of time of year in snow country.

Moonglow, It's probably a good thing that you put your Iris in in spring. A lot of mine are on the verge of blooming and have buds up. The first "Aaron's Rod" bloom only had three falls and one spoon - no stands at all. I think that the next one should be normal. It's a strange spring. My iris aren't showing one little bit of self control and they are all short. I don't know what is happening. I'll feed them in a month and see if they decide to bloom again when they should. Those disobedient little iris.