This story has been told on here before but, I’ll make it short. For many years I collected irises. It was always irises that had been given to me by friends or that we found along roadsides or in fields. I never bought any but they multiply quickly and friends had been very kind to share with me through the years. When I lived in Lake Charles, LA, a lady I worked with shared some of hers that had come from her mom’s collection. That was in about 1990. I dug them up and moved them with me to Kentucky and along the way, friends would give me this one or that one. When we moved to Missouri, I dug a sampling of the irises and brought them with me.
The move from Missouri to Texas was just a little crazy and very stressful and in the process of moving here, I never dug up any of my irises. I had them in four or five places at the house in MO.
Irises
In this picture, you can see that some have fallen across the front walkway.
Here are some on the side of the house.
Irises
I had planted them along the back retaining wall.
Irises
Here’s a very pretty one.
Iris
Last year I was moaning and complaining about not having any irises and a very nice blog reader offered to send me some of her irises. She did and I planted them in October, 2017. They all came up and were growing just fine. I doubted I would get any blooms this year. I went out the other day and I was walking past the irises, not paying much attention and what did I see?
Iris
This is one and there’s another one on the far end. They are going to bloom this year. I was so happy. I ran back to the house . .
Me: Vince! Can you please come outside? I want to show you something!
Vince: Is it a snake?
Me: NO!
Vince: Is it cherries?
Me: NO!
Vince: Is it pears?
Me: NO!
Vince: (As we were getting close to it) An iris!
I think he was as happy as I was to see it. Maybe he just knows how much I love them and he was happy that I was so excited. It’s been seven years since I had an iris blooming and I hope to have many more through the years.
Some day when I’m back in MO, now that Chad is back living in that town, not even a block from our old house, I may knock on the door and ask if I can dig up a few. I’d be really happy to have some of my old irises back. Even if I never get any of my old ones back, I’m happy to have some that a blog reader cared enough to dig up and send to me.
Carolyn says
LOVE IT!!!!
Sherrill Pecere says
I LOVE iris, especially purple ones! We have a place here called Argyle Acres (they’re also online) and I took my sister one year and let her pick out a few for her birthday. I had some at my previous home that DH and I had rescued from an old razed home and I didn’t bring any of them OR any of my mom’s daylilies!! SO mad at myself but hopefully when my sister’s lilies come up, I can get some. I did grab a few of her iris and put them in the ground. We’ll see what color they are.
Rebecca in SoCal says
How lovely!
I guess this is a hint to your choice of inspiration for the Impressionist MKAL! Do you think of irises as you knit?
cassews says
I love irises … We have some that were 20 years old (you know how that growth went from one to the next season multiplying) and they are so beautiful each year. We also have some Japanese Irises that were in the yard when we moved here. I transplanted them and they are growing wonderfully !!!
Yes you should ask if you can dig up a few when you go back to MO for a visit.. Maybe that house will even come up for sale for you go back one time who knows….
Joyce in Oregon says
My favorite flower! We have some from my MIL… those dark purple inky ones. Love them. So happy one of your blog readers came to your rescue. 🙂
dezertsuz says
Maybe I should plant those, then. I have had no luck with anything else with bulbs. I don’t know if the squirrels eat them or the ants, or what, but after a couple of years, nothing comes up. Three crocus bloomed this year, and the hyacinths still came up, but only one very sad and bedraggled partial bloom among the three. That’s the one I’ve counted on, but … all over Knox this spring, people’s tulips came up leafy, but hardly any actually bloomed! I think maybe they rotted with all the rain!
Laura says
I’m another iris lover. My husband Aunt gave me a laundry basket full of them about 20 years ago, and I have given them to all of my sisters, my mom, several friends and neighbors. The people I’ve given them to have enough now to give them away too. Irises can handle our dry, hot summers with little water. The rabbits and deer leave them alone, and they are beautiful too. What’s not to love?
Cathi in Texas says
I have some pretty magenta & yellow Iris. They were here when we moved in 2001.
Joyce says
Irises are my favorite flower. I have several large beds of them, and I’m always looking at adding more…of course they spread too, so I have a never ending supply! 🙂
Nelle Coursey says
Next Tuesday, not tomorrow, I will have you several in a bag. I promise! There are white ones on our Austin Avenue property and I have a pale blue and the purple. I will try to get you some of all. I have a friend who has some yellow ones and I will try to see if I can dig some of those up. I will see him Saturday at Pat’s reunion. Have fun and we will miss you tomorrow!
LK Smith says
I purchased two irises from Mercer’s bog two years ago at a plant sale. I planted them in clay planters because the squirrels dug up my last ones. Something is eating them, leaving straight lines on the leaves.The leaves are thinner where the lines are and lighter green. Does anyone you know what caused this? I don’t know how to treat it. Today I went to a nursery to buy some Louisiana iris and they had rust. The nursery wanted to sell me the irises plus a fungicide to treat the rust. I didn’t buy any. I love irises! I enjoyed your iris photos.
Lynne Stucke says
I love irises, too! However, since I have a brown thumb (and kill absolutely everything I try to grow), I have had to content myself with x-stitched irises. They are lovely, and I can enjoy them year round, but they just never quite take the place of the real thing. Thanks for sharing yours . . . will enjoy seeing them in bloom!!!