Question about Cooley's

Just a quick walk thru with daylilies seems like maybe 30-40 growers of daylilies to every one of the iris growers...

D

Where it is wet and suppose to be till mid next week. PNW yup, you know it.

And it is dry as a bone here. I drink water constantly and still always have a dry mouth. They keep predicting moisture ever 3 or 4 days and nothing comes of it. It is beginning to be worrisome. But things are greening up anyhow. I have some nice iris reticulata and iris danforidae and one tiny little crocus, firefly. Here is an iris danfordiae, a breath of spring.

I think the weather person is hallucinating. He is predicting 60% chance of rain here on Saturday! Boy would that make a lot of people happy, including me.

Would be happy to send you some of our rain, pajaritomt, been having it off and on for the past week. Yesterday about a quarter till 5, the wind came up, started raining, then about 5 o'clock, the hail started, but by 5:15 it was over. Sun came out, and I went outside to see what was damaged. Thankfully, just some of the ones that were already open looked kinda woebegone. This is our tornado season, so we keep an eye on the sky while weeding. Youngest granddaughter needs money, so am going to pick her up after school, she's going to help me do yard work this weekend.
By the way, good morning!

And a good morning to you, as well. DH and I went to the theater tonight and after a good play it takes me a while to calm down. Dave's Garden is just the thing for that. Almost as good as gardening, but it is hard to garden at 1:30 am.
I'll take you up on that rain, but please, no tornadoes. And I hope you don't get any either. When I went to the AIS convention in Oklahoma City, I drove right through some of the worst tornado country in Texas and Oklahoma and there was one that touched down maybe 50 miles away. I can tell you I was glad to get out of that area. They even had a highway rest stop with a tornado shelter! Scared me to death!

I went to sleep earlier, work up about 1:15, might go back to bed for a few hours but have to be up by 5:30, make sure grandson is up for work, have to ride with him today to do some running around, we only have one vehicle, be glad when he gets his own.
I was born about 35 miles away from where I live now. So am used to the stormy weather in the spring. I watch the weather carefully, usually when they say we have a tornado warning, everyone goes outside to see if it's coming our way. You meet your neightbors in the street. Yes, it can get scary but usually only in early spring, guess I'll take that over year around earthquakes. You would be surprised how many that do not have tornado shelters, basements and cellars, they are rare here. I have none of the above.

Every part of the country seems to have it's weather problems. I'd love to move more south and get away from the snow, but then there's the tornados, ice storms, earthquakes.......

Wow, 30-40 daylily growers for every iris grower! What is wrong with those people, spending money on daylilies instead of irises, LOL.

It's been raining pretty good here too. Great for the JIs and other beardless, but not great for the work I have to do in the gardens.

I wish I could give some of the rain away and receive some sun, so that I can get all the fields done...want them perfect by 5-10 when one of the bigger tours happens. Got the portal toilet delivered and I always put in there a spray for wasp and yellow jackets just to be save, not seen any this year.

Polly can not ship yet as they are only up about 4" and I like 6" or more up...

Got a peony, jasmine, coneflower (tomato soup) and spike feather moss.

My son leaves sometime Sun for Quincy WA to set up new company up there and will be home every weekend. The company knows that come the 18th until 28th he is not theres.

D

I am crossing my fingers that the weatherperson is right for once! Here is iris reticulata "J.S. Digt". I grew iris reticulata this year because they come up so early and are such a hopeful sign during our chaotic spring weather -- before much of anything else is ready.

I just love the retics and hist. and bulbous iris...

D

Love the above picture

D

Oh, that reticulata 'J.S. Digt' is so cute and pretty.

Brent and Becky have alot of the retic and histor that I myself am ordering and putting in pots so that I have better control over them

D

Mine came from Brent and Becky's and this is my first year to grow them. I think I will plant them in close together clumps in the future. I spaced them 6 inches apart and that is way too much. They don't make as big a splash as I would like. But I do love the flower itself and it appears to be fool proof. I did nothing special for these cuties and They just popped out as soon as they warmed up. There will definitely be more in my yard next year.

The only ones I grow, histrioides George multiply really quickly, and for a nice clump in three years or less, so six inches apart would be fine.

Well Polly I only have the ones you get at the mart stores and they do not do overly well here but this year getting them at B&B and getting about 100.00 worth from there...want to keep in the pots just so I can get more and have them all over the place.

Just gray and overcast no rain right now, but have to go to Albany for some errands today and tomorrow with DIL almost to Winco she wants to try it.

D

been under the weather - again blast it all - but am back and read up on all this chatter.

got the new Cooleys last week, too. was feeling so good, I was sitting on it - literally, it slid under me - before I felt up to opening it.

Dee - were you the one told us Cooleys is down to 8 acres? lot less, but you are right, labor costs are going up up up. smart to pull back and tighten belts. our local stores are going all out to advertise, especially the big clothing stores. But I have nothing new to wear tomorrow for Easter, and that's a first. didn't feel up to shopping before, and now, well, I'd rather buy irises instead ^_^ they don't need ironing or drycleaning. besides, my closets are full. [well, ok, there's five sizes in there and most are over 10 years old, but....] I'm looking around here now for things I don't need that I can craigslist for some iris spending $$ !!

That's a good idea bonjon, get rid of old stuff and buy irises with the money. I think I will try that myself. Only, I am not sure there are all that many people on Craig's List from Los Alamos. Maybe there is one in Santa Fe and people will drive 35 miles to get my stuff.

Glad to hear about histeroides multiplying. Maybe mine will too. And I can also order some histeroides this year. The ones from Brent and Becky's do very well here in my moon dust soil.

We finally got some moisture. It started snowing in the night and we now are working on inch number 3 of snow. It is supposed to continue all day and into the tight. Yippee! It has been incredibly dry here since January.

pajar, the beauty of Craigslist is that you can list your location on your ad, and if folks in your area see the listings (and some do check) they are easy to sell to. 2nd hand dealers will come to you. and some folks will ask if you will ship, which you can do, but not until their check clears!

I've sold the darnest things on craiglist to folks that seem incredibly eager to buy my junk. last fall, the buyers started a bidding war on my son's old van, complete with body damage, a rock band trashed, ripped apart and stinky interior that had sat uncranked in my driveway for 2 years! sold stuff my DH was about to take to the dump, too - that always amazes him. trick is to take the price you'd like to get and cut it by 40%. it sells to the first one that comes to see it. very easy to do.

interestingly enough, I can't seem to sell irises on there. maybe because folks on there dump the price to dirt cheap. LOL

Well, I guess I will give it a try. I have plenty of old junk I didn't know what to do with. Still good -- but I no longer need it. Need to get it out of the garage. Can you add pictures?

Pajar, we got rain and then a dusting of snow last night. It's all melted now, since the sun came out. What we didn't need was a power outage for over ten hours. Though I have battery backups for the computers, it sure puts a kink in my surfing on DG! ☺

Can't hardy wait for our TBI to start blooming. OH NO!!! It's snowing AGAIN!

Taco Supreme

Ooh, love that Taco Supreme. No one needs a power outage, ever! I am all in favor of burying power lines which helps a lot, but I guess it is expensive. But burying stuff underground doesn't solve all the problems. Thoughtless people with backhoes have put out quite a lot of power from time to time. I came home from a trip to Europe once to discover that the neighbor's workers had hit the local phone line in my vacant lot with a backhoe and set it on fire and it was sitting in my iris bed. I found all my iris dug up and sitting on top the ground -- left over from the fire fighting effort. Luckily they were iris and they took off when I put them back in the ground.

Same with backhoes and the county road grader up here. Our phone lines are all under ground along with the water lines. Every year some idiot digs into that ditch! The problem is, some of the wires and pipes are not as deep as they should be due to all the rock ledges in the area.

Taco Supreme has gone bonkers.

So has Red At Night

yes, it works three times faster and better if you can take really good pictures, and digital photos are very easy to upload. on big items take best photos you can, and more than one.

I sold son's van in 24 hrs but it got into a bidding war that raised the price $25 over asking price and took another day. It took 72 hours to sell my convertible myself for $400 more than the dealer would offer me, and all I did was, on a bright sunny day, take 4 really good photos. you don't even have to give anyone your email address - craigslist forwards the responses to you. so they never get your phone # or anything until you have an active buyer. but don't ever arrange to meet them when you are alone, that's just common sense.

Bottled Sunshine is blooming for us!

This message was edited Apr 11, 2009 7:56 PM

That's a beautiful iris Bonjon. A gallon of sunshine at that. ☺

Thanks for Craig's list tips. I am going to give it a try. What do you do, meet them somewhere with the object for sale?

usually they come to your home for pick up. But say you live alone and it is small you could met at a store parking lot.

Last time my son did it we had to go with him as they got an entire bedroom set for 300.00 that was very nice.

Hope it helps.

I went and got a ton of shipping boxes the large ones from when you move like with a moving company as they make it super for the overseas orders.

D

Time for me to try Craig's List! My stepson uses it for everything.

Happy Easter everyone!

yup - I get things for free off craigslist a lot. and we've gotten rid of a lot of junk that we would have had trouble with otherwise. my plant packing supplies are on shelving units free from craigslist. they are so nice they are in my family room.

Last October, sister Mel got all the makings of a 12' diameter x 3.5' deep fish pond, free to anyone who would disassemble and remove it: boulders, rock, gravel, liner, filter, pump, etc. the lady's landscaper was going to charge her $600 to remove it all.

last June, DH announces he's going to take our 50' old projection TV to the dump, it wasn't working right and we knew it would cost more to fix than it was worth. It took 4 big muscular moving men to get it in the house. took a photo, listed it for sale craigslist as $25 with "not able to help move it". next day, couple of hispanic fellas showed up with a truck and weight belts on. DH was so tickled, and we didn't have a doctor's bill for back strain! I would have PAID $100 to not have to move it!!

Wow! These are encouraging stories. I have lots of stuff that I would cheerfully give away in order to avoid trying to sell it or take it to a thrift shop. Thrift shops have actually become very picky about what they will take these days.

That is in part why Craig's List is working but they are starting to have problems with homes, as my friends home was listed on there as being for sale. She did not know a thing about until two people came to the door and wanted to see the house.

D

actually, Realtors have that happen a lot.....our signs are occasionally "lifted" and put elsewhere. we get the irate home owners' complaints. it's almost always a high school or college prank. but even more often, the owner doesn't call, throws our signs in the garbage. lose $250 every time it happens.

but I think I'd be slamming the door real fast if it was me. I've been mugged by a "potential buyer"

Mugged by a "potential buyer"? That's a racket I hadn't heard of.

Realtors in our area tend to be dressed to the nines, jewelry etc, and carrying cell phones, credit cards, laptop, portable printers, etc. actually, we are frequently targets. we even post signs so folks can find us!

That is disturbing!

one of the continuing ed courses we can take is on personal safety. safety is one reason an agent now asks everyone to produce ID, too. Cell phones have made things safer. and no one here holds an open house by themselves anymore. let's face it, would you like to advertise in a newspaper that, during a certain period of hours, your door is going to be unlocked and you might just be alone inside?


back to Cooley's questions - has anyone else grown
Around My World?
the one I got as a bonus didn't survive in a bed that got some rot issues that year. I was at Cooleys in May '07 and saw that and Clouds And Sky and
White Capped Waves.
would like something those colors, can't decide.

Also, anyone growing
Hot Property or
Glowing Smile?
lost them too, and was wondering if they were worth a second try or if I should move on to try
Zesting Lemons
- from the photo I'd love it!

also lost
Equalizer
that year - worth a second go? it did bloom first, but never increased. I loved loved loved that bloom.

usually try to get one new intro - but none of these, without their bloodlines known, is calling to me. I didn't care for
ring around rosie,
but have seen it used in many breedings since and like some of its offspring. can't make up my mind which would be a good one to try for breeding, though. any comments?

bonjon- I can't believe that with all my iris, I only have one on that list:Glowing Smile. The flowers are great, but doesn't seem to have show stalks. My daughter is a Remax agent and loves selling! Not me! The only thing I can sell is flowers. Idon't know how you folks can deal with all the phone calls. I work in her Parsons, KS office part-time!! You know, enough to buy more iris! LOL Happy Easter BIF's!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Happy Easter Polly!

is the Glowing Smile vigorous, or sturdy, Nicky? I'm beginning to get on the Mid Amer bandwagon, it's got to be garden sturdy first, show worthy is nice, but.....

We lost Glowing Smile also (probably from the cold) it was a Cooley's.

I have Sun and Sky by Spoon. I only got it last year, so, I have no idea how well it will do over the full year.