I hope Wintry Sky will make a nice clump for me too!

5 a.m. thoughts...
There are so many things to get done! I have to get busier making new signs.Because, finally, the right tags, a label-maker...No more procrastinating - think seriously about weeding out to make room. There are about 40 new ones arriving in July...looking forward to several, especially Ocean Liner! If I don't eliminate some I'll have over 600! Some beds need re-digging. More work for the teenager, who wants to work, bless him! Raised right.
I do love sharing the irises, and have made some new local iris addicts - some through my Facebook page.
Maybe sell some rhizomes at our small farmers' market...and have a free box too. Make a list of postage only freebies for the forum members.
Don't forget leaving time for working in the studio. More bowls!
And there's the upcoming visit to see the L.A. granddsons

Wondering why a few of my faves didn't bloom. Maybe they needed a rest this year. Loving reading others' posts. Iris-lovers.

Lilli -I'll bet Wintry Sky makes a clump for you too!

Jan - all those thoughts seem strangely familiar... (minus the bowls and the grandson!) Must be a symptom of that iris virus that has been going around?

The only cure, Lilli, is...more irises!

I thought I'd lost Sherbet Bomb



but it's presenting a new healthy increase!

I want it!!!

(Purely for medical reasons of course!! )

janwax said:I thought I'd lost Sherbet Bomb



but it's presenting a new healthy increase!

And I want it too Lilli! So beautiful!

Sherbet Bomb was a 2015 Blyth intro. I wanted it, but didn't buy it. Lo and behold, it arrived as a gift last season in a Keith Keppel order - (such a nice man)!
So it was doubly cherished. But SB took a while to get established - and eventually looked like a potato. This sturdy increase gives me hope!

Oh Sherbet Bomb is nicccce!

Jan, you left something off of your to-do list. Make room for the incoming boxes of irises from your friends at ATP/NGA.

:

Today I mostly stayed off the computer, and worked in the garden. Made half a dozen new tags, watered an area that I wanted to plant this week, and gathered pollen from Organza - making several crosses. The weather is nice, not too hot, and the wind has died down, Chris just borrowed a friend's truck and he brought a couple of yards of compost home from the feed store. We go through lot of compost - homemade and from the feed and farm store. I have plans for it.
Oh, and I trimmed 5 pretty porcelain bowls. A good day.

Lilli - your avatar looks like a noble dog. What's his/her name?

Jan! His name is Ratu, but he usually goes by Cuddles.

Cuddles looks like a very substantial dog. A Rottweiler?

Sherbert Bomb!

Leslie, I hope to see it bloom some day!

janwax said:Cuddles looks like a very substantial dog. A Rottweiler?

Dobermann, so he's taller but not quite as heavy as most Rottweilers.

I'm still in bed, (7:30 a.m. in my Pacific time zone) - with 2 cats next to me and Chris in the kitchen making coffee...and I'm thinking about fertilizer. Do I spend more money on an all-purpose kind in a bag, or shall I just count on the compost and some bone meal to carry us through to next season. Triple phosphate? Morning thoughts.

What are y'all planning to use on the garden?

Something that kills the aphids taking over my gardens! grrrrrrr

For what it's worth, Jan, I use different fertilisers for different soils and different plants. For irises, low nitrogen, but quite frequent applications in France where we have really poor, sandy soil. If you use a 'general' fertiliser and have decent soil it may cause irises to grow lots of leaves but not many blooms - or at worst, encourage rot.

We have 3 outdoor compost heaps in England, and the compost is great. In France it's too hot - so unless we add lots of water and other additives we get something that looks more like charcoal than compost.