Question about Cooley's

LOL,pajar.....mine isn't too keen on getting dirt on ones hands, but car grease and crap, sure that is good stuff...
but mine is happy I am happy in the dirt, was rather happy too when I got out the weedeater, I think he was nervous at first, for fear I was going to make him do it, smiled when I geared up and did it....:)

my husband was a city guy gone country, when he knew there was a garage and he could have a
" Man's room" country life animals and all was looking a lot better:)

I'm lucky, DH is a better gardener than I am. We do differ on weeds, he does a quicker job of 'rough weeding' as he calls it and has stronger hands. I buzz (he he) around with my kneeler, sometimes yelling for help when the weeds get stuck in the rhizomes. I couldn't live in my former area (WI) as the winters are tougher there. This one was tough, but he had arranged to have the driveway ploughed if snowfall was over 3" so it was easier. I think the gloom was the worst. I can't take much heat so further south would be a problem.

We have fairly mild winters here, summer can be a %#*^, don't like the 100 and over....makes it really hard to do ANYTHING outside, I would not do well in a warmer area...

The only way my DH would retire is if his work became unsatisfying. So far it hasn't but they are always threatening to change the way things are done at his place of work. So far hasn't happened. He is in a rapidly developing field and loves being in the middle of it. Also DH's mother lives here and is quite elderly. I am afraid I will be here for a while, but my vacations at the farm are lengthening each year. Maybe he will get more inspired to come with me.
DH could work pretty much on his own terms -- part time, seasonal or whatever, but he isn't interested. He brought a computer home from work so he won't have to go into the office on weekends. Unfortunately it is too large to take to the farm -- not a lap top but some other contraption that works better than a laptop.

Los Alamos - WELL DUH. I never read beyond the NM. nuclear physicist? like my ex? helped a friend move down that way, from Idaho Falls to Albuquercue (I never could spell that)

Yep, physicist -- maybe more a particle physicist than a nuclear phsicist -- but to us ordinary folk, there isn't that much difference. Yep, there is quite a bit of personnel sharing between Idaho Falls and Los Alamos. DH loves his work which is all on computers. No need to touch any nuclear materials. Since you know computers you will understand if I say he does Monte Carlo simulations.

^_^ used to play Monte Carlo all the time. ex was at INEL, then at Hanford. I left him there. 2nd smartest move I've ever made! I used to know all the glow in the dark jokes, bet I've forgotten them all. DH is Navy linguist/cryptograher man, self taught software engineer - another language/code is another language/code, doesn't matter if it's machine or human. Randall Masteller.

oops got to go

Well, sounds like you are deep in the heart of the spook community. DH is one of the authors of a code called MCNP and also MCNPX. Don't know if you ever used it, but the reason he travels all over the world is to teach it to people hither and yon as long as they aren't on our Sensitive Nations list.
He hasn't gone anywhere in the last year and a half because all the customers are broke, and also because of the amount of work on his plate these days. But probably will get back to travel again before long.

not anymore. He's been out of Navy since 1982. A software firm in Chapel Hill lured him away from the military. as he used to say, an oxymoron, "Naval Intelligence" LOL

until 2008, he designed and programmed computer games! I ran his firm for him. until the doc com crash when all of our customers sold out to foreign firms. Now he's a really good hole digger. ^_^

A really good hole digger definietly has merit.

Yes, I could use a really good hole digger. Maybe the monte carlo business will go bust, but I doubt it. They give it away for free and people love anything that is free. The US government finances it. They could cut off the money any day now, but they probably won't because it is used in so many things -- nuclear power plants, medical treatment, etc. etc.
Besides DH would never be a hole digger. He doesn't believe in touching dirt and had to be persuaded that vegetables were really healthy because they had been grown in dirt. Sort of a joke, but not entirely.

LOL ya'll keep me in stiches. I have a good hole digger. Only problem is he forgets where he puts the shovels, hoes, etc.

Happy GArdening, Marian

If you have a good hole digger, treat him well. They aren't so easy to find.

LOL, mine hides in the house until I go looking for him:)

You gals are killing me, my sides are splitting! My DH loves to dig holes, dig out giant boulders and garden! By profession, when we married, was as a welder and heavy equipment mechanic. Through the years, gained even more experience in refrigeration, maintenance, building and gardening. After he retired in 1989, I have him all to myself. All I have to do is hand him a shovel and point to the ground! He is a dear and my caregiver. Don't know how I would live without him.

You are a very lucky woman. Do give him a hug and a kiss for being so great. My DH has never dug a hole in his life that I know of. I love him dearly and he has many excellent traits, but helping in the garden is not one of them.

not only that, I'd love to have those rocks he finds, too!

Yes, so would I. Your DH is a real keeper.

He's a keeper alright. He can't move too fast with that ball and chain around his ankle though. LOL We will celebrate our 57th Anniversary in July.

HJMom, do you know where Tonapah is? off I-10 my ILs used to live there. didn't think many places in AZ could support irises. if I'd known, I might have sent them some.

Yes, we have been through Tonapah quite a few times.

Tall Bearded Iris can take a lot of punishment we live at 7,000' in the forest with some bitter winters. We grew them in California and Washington, but didn't try when living in Yuma. But they will take heat quite well. Check with some of the DG friends that live in the Phoenix area. They should be able to give you a better answer.

Total Recall

This message was edited Mar 28, 2009 6:03 PM

wish I had known. would have sent some to them! they moved back to SD, to retirement apartments. they have a 3x3 patch to plant in, but that's all!

We've got an acre, I'll take more iris. Come get some boulders in exchange. LOL What, you live too far away, no excuses. Though, I've seen some beautiful photos and movies of the Carolinas, so know you have some spectacular rock formations. Sometimes I wonder why my ancestors left the area.

Huckleberry Fudge

I'll take boulders for my yard! we got here compliments of IBM transferring dad from Poughkeepsie to Research Triangle Park. I left for college in Boston area, came back. ex moved me to Idaho, then to Washington state. left him there, came back to Carolina. nicest place I've ever lived. but our red clay, though loved by loblolly pines, dogwoods, gardenias, rhodys and azaleas, not much liked by irises.

We have red clay soil, where you can find it between rock, boulders, giant Ponderosa pines, Junipers, Quaking Aspen (in the canyons) and Oaks. I can't figure out why, the people that built our cabin, installed gray-blue high low carpeting in red clay county!

white carpet has been, like, the only color in fashion hereabouts for the last fifteen years. I can't figure out why. UGLY with red clay quick.

pines sure love the clay. Cooleys told me to amend it like crazy for irises because it smothers them. actually, they tend to sit atop it and grow!

has anyone found out when Cooleys catalogues are going out this year?

I got Cooley's little listing quite awhile ago, then later ordered the catalog. It still hasn't arrived yet, was told they haven't mailed them out yet. So guess we'll just have to wait....Waa!

Last time we spoke which was early March they said mid April...

So many changes for them now.

D

I wasn't aware that they were undergoing changes.

Our Cooley's came today.

I often read the Iris thread, but seldom post and the bloom season has arrived in our neck of the Cedars...so I spend very little time indoors.
I couldn't help but peek in this thread, since I just received my new Cooleys 2009 catalog. It is a digest version...5 1/2 x 8 1/2. The print is as pretty as ever.
They are downsizing and they state "Our hundreds of acres now run in single digits." They have also discontinued their 800 toll free number.

I think it is a smart move, as they can adjust to the smaller buying power of the folks, without going under. I use their internet service to purchase anyway.

The pricing is different, and many of the Iris are priced at $6, so that makes them about the same price as Schreiners. They also offer free shipping on iris orders of $80 or more.
The back inside cover has their discount collections. I can hardly wait to order....as usual!
Hope this helps...I am on my way out to the Iris garden to see what lovelies await!

Yep Caliche, 'The poor man's orchids' are addicting! Since we have purchased TBI from Cooley's on and off for over 50 years, I don't want them to go out of business. The quality of their plants, the labeling & shipping, and most of all customer service is outstanding.

Honky Tonk Blues

I doubt that they would go out of business--may be downsizing by supporting a small field work force.

Well, let's all send them an order, and keep them in business.

They will be in business for a long time to come. Most of the reason for the downsizing were the wholesale side, as what many people do not know is OR minimum wage is now 8.40 an hour and the east coast if federal min wage of 7.25 big difference and the east coast does not seem to understand that wholesale can not get for almost nothing...under 1.00 plant.

Also with fields all over the fuel bill running all over the valley was getting extremely expensive.

D

Whew! I want Cooleys to be in business a long time.

Are you having to downsize at all yet, Dee? Hopefully not, as you do pretty much everything yourself.

Not yet...3 acres is all I will have no more acreage for the business. When will I downsize when the body says hey dummy it is too much...

Today thankfully it is raining and I am in big time pain from my waist down. Have to plant some plants in pots today no matter what...then when I feel better they will go into the ground.

Hope Lucy you are better.

D

The only thing I might be getting rid of in the near future are the daylilies as there are so many growers out there and customers as well as myself want the newest brightess prettiest daylilies.

D

I never buy the newest brightest daylilies. They cost well over $100, lots of times. I don't like to pay the cost of brand new daylilies but I am willing to put out the far lower cost of brand new iris. Besides, most of the new daylilies I see don't look all that different from the older cheaper ones. I have about 25 kinds of daylilies and can't imagine buying any more. Maybe that will change with time? I don't know. None of them rebloom around here -- that I can see.

I don't have many dayliles either. I have a nice assortment, and I don't care anything about the newest and most expensive. To me, a lot of them look so much alike. And it does seem there are growers of daylilies around every corner.