Drooling over Keppel Catalog

Well, It's winter in Iowa and I'm drooling over Iris catalogs. No blooms outside, might as well dream by the fire inside! Look at these gorgeous babies...

More Keppel offerings to tease me on a winter's eve....

Merlie informs me she has 3 iris blooming in her California garden. And I have 6-9 inches of snow coming tonight & tommorrow.

Sigh. No use being tortured alone. Here is just one more group of photos...

Keith is great to order from. His rhizomes are of the highest quality, and he always includes all sorts of fabulous extras!

Wanda

I just love the Guardian Angel......what catalog is that, and how can I get one.........

Deann

Are any of those rebloomers? I love Telepathy and Wintry Sky

He doesn't have a website, but you can write or email him:

Commercial garden of Keith Keppel
PO Box 18154 (Garden located at 4020 Cordon Rd NE)
Salem, OR 97305-8154
503-391-9241
plicataman@earthlink.net
Specializing in Tall Bearded Iris.

The Keppel catalog has accurate color and is well edited.

Deann--the note says Guardian Angel (2005) sold out in 2005. Limited supplies this year at $35. Beats the heck out of new daylily introduction prices!

woodspirit--I don't see either offered as re-bloomers, but aren't they incredible?

Drama Queen is catching my eye. Only $10 a root! and the Dwarf Overcast (2006) at $12.50 looks tempting. Just reading his descriptions makes me drool. This is Tazzy's favorite iris place!

Wanda,

Before I request a catalog from KK, can you tell me--does it include IB's and SDB's--or strictly TB?

Thanks!

This is kind of fun, Wanda, because that first page (the orange one) doesn't specify class for those irises. Let me see if I can guess.

Devil Baby, Overcast - SDB
Arvo - SDB or IB
Persona - MTB
Bugaboo - IB
Bonkers - BB

How'd I do?

MudGirl~

He carries medians~primarily intro'd from himself and Barry Blyth. Mostly TB's, though.

Laura

hmmmm...I was afraid of that!
Thanks for the scoop Laura...and Wanda, thanks for the temptation!

Hi Everyone!

I too have been looking over Keith's catalog.....This is the first year I have gotten it......I have wrote down Happenstance, Venetian Glass, Wintry Sky and Sea Power.....I am far from being done.....I wish they had a web site....How do you see the ones that are not pictured? Or do you just not get to? I don't have a lot of Iris's so I guess you can say I am sorta new to them....Does anyone have pictures of what you have gotten from him in years past that are offered in the catalog?

Thanks, and sorry for all the questions.....Back to the catalog! :-)

Yes Wanda, they are glorious.

Lucy~

Try checking the plant files here at Dave's Garden. I have 'Venetian Glass' and it's gorgeous. It's a pale bluish pink, so pale that it appears to be almost white. Here's a link to one of my pictures of it:

http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/75502/

Here's a picture of 'Sea Power' http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/17463/

'Happenstance' http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/31114/

and 'Wintry Sky' http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/17465/

There's lots more there, so have fun! Just click the tab for Plant Files and do a general search for the name.

Laura

Thank-You Laura!! :-)

Wanda: I think I should order Drama Queen in honor of my own little drama queen - you know who! Anyway remember we both vowed that if we ordered something new, something old had to go! Can we stick to that? I doubt it....................Linda

Well, I have went through the whole catalog now, and have highlighted a lot, and then put stars by what I liked most....Now to narrow it down....I enjoyed looking at all the pictures! :-)

Help, i need a photo of iris Versicolor Gerald Darby. Can anyone help me? Thanks,Guy from Belgium

laurie--you're good and I'm lazy--the names are printed under the blooms if you enlarge the picture!

Linda---Gee, you have a Drama Queen? And I haven't noticed in the past 16 years?? Ha Ha ! I was thinking of all the dance recitals & plays & musicals & competitions I've watched with our girls. Kind of miss it. Hope she gets the summer theatre job again--I love our little Tuesday night forays into Illinois to see her!

I am so excited I got Wintry Sky last year and can't wait for it to bloom. But I really want Sea Power. Just can't believe the ruffles on that one!

I wonder, do you get more ruffles on iris in Texas than we do in Iowa? I know that daylilies change from the North to South.

Hmmm Wanda I don't know. I bet the heat here may melt some of the ruffles ...so...maybe y'all get more than we do!
:-)

Daylilies get more ruffles down South with the wram nights. I just wondered if iris were the same.

I know color of daylilies & iris change from yard to yard. llilyfan had 2 clumps of Thornbird TB blooming last year across the yard from each other. One was normal color and the other had a HUGE flush of maroon in the center of the fall. BOTH of hers were richer colored than mine.

Interesting. I do have some irises where the color is "faded" cause of the heat down here. I will watch for the ruffles. I have some new ones this year that are suppose to have ruffles...we will see just how many they have.

Counting ruffles? my, we Do have time on our hands, don't we? LOL

I gave up on Quiet Friendship TB yesterday. It has struggled in my yard for 4 summers without a bloom and dwindled to one measly root.
Pink ruffled TBs do not seem to like my yard. Hidden World & Cherished are the only light pink ruffled that seem to do well.

Wanda, have your tried Vanity? It is a clear light pink and blooms prolifically in my zone 5b yard even though it only gets partial sun and is terribly neglected.

Vanity crashed and burned after 3 week summer showings. But It grows well in my friend Linda_Ia 's beds only a few blocks from here

Isn't that odd.....what do you think the difference is?

Vanity HATES me. I'm too ugly.

Versicolor Gerald Darby
See at Iris City Gardens
http://www.iriscitygardens.com/spe-crosses.html

Wanda, my Vanity must be blind. If she could see me, she would surely croak. LOL

My versicolor Gerald Darby is just putting out it's beautiful dark purple foliage. Scrumptious.

Wanda: I have PLENTY of Vanity - you might want to try it again in a different spot. I will be digging a bunch of them for the Roundup - want me to throw a few your way? My clump is huge and should have been divided last year, but time got away (again). Linda

Linda, I'm surprised you survived the past year's excitement! I already have 3 nice clear pinks. I think I will hold out for more multi color or streaked or reblooming cultivars. llilyfan has promised me some of her lovely Barn Dance. :)

Oh yeah, Barn Dance, that's on my want list too. Now I need to find room!

I just looked up 'Barn Dance", what a beauty!

Sandy

lliliyfan has an incredible clump that reblooms again and again all fall.
But I don't know if they will like living in my garden.

Linda, you still have grass. You still have room! LOL