I received my order from Rockytop Gardens yesterday, and unfortunately Phil Williams included a refund check for three varieties that were just too small to sell or had other problems. And one of those was Joe Ghio's MARCHING ORDERS, one of my favorites. I had ordered two more rhizomes from Rockytop because their price was a little better than Joe's, but it's one I really really wanted more of -- so I emailed Joe last night and asked if he still had two of those available. And he responded later last night with "No problem. Sure can. Have lots of beautiful stock left of a lot of stuff. Anything else? Joe"

Well, first thing this morning I went through his catalog again and here's what I've ordered and he's confirmed:

2 MARCHING ORDERS
1 DAZZLE
1 SPECTACLE

And I just can't resist posting pictures of these beauties just to remind us again of how beautiful they are because they are three absolute favorites of mine -- and it's been a while since I've seen pictures of them!

MARCHING ORDERS


SPECTACLE


DAZZLE

I got Dazzle this year at UIS sale...a little small so I hope it increases. I can wait a year for bloom. Spectacle is gorgeous. It reminds me of a nicely refined Decadence. Maybe I need to keep it mind for next year. There you go corrupting me again. The iris in my Ghio order are growing nicely. Lovely pictures are always welcome.

They're some beauties! I can't wait for next years pictures.

Sure wish I had a catalog from him. I emailed him early this year, requesting one, when some of you were raving about his new intros.
I can't believe he doesn't even keep a price list online.
So Betty, was the Rockytop order not as good as you had hoped?
Those photos you posted are just luscious.

Cindi....some of the top hybridizers are getting older, run small operations where they do most of the work and do not put their inventory on line. Some are down sizing. Keith Keppel only lists his own things for 3 or 4 years and then they are gone from his catalog. He also lists some nice recent Blyth iris. Send Joe Ghio $3 next year and he will send you a catalog.

Cindi, my Rockytop order was great -- Phil just sent me a refund for a few he felt were too small. etc., to feel good about selling. But everything else looked great, and he sent several gift plants too. This year Joe Ghio had to send me a refund for a few rhizomes I had ordered that he'd already sold out on, and last year Keith Keppel had to send me a refund for one of the Blyth irises that wouldn't grow right for him. This happens and I'm not upset about it at all, but I just really wanted MARCHING ORDERS and knew that since it is a Ghio iris Joe would probably still have some available. I contacted Joe before this late in the season and he was able to supply a Blyth iris I couldn't get elsewhere when Keith couldn't supply it, and Joe's catalog says he ships until early September, so I knew I could probably do it.

But my Rockytop order that I received was wonderful. Phil says he has his own well and it really paid off this summer.

Paul, SPECTACLE was my favorite new iris last year. It's tall with beautiful large flowers with those incredible Ghio bubble ruffles, and it grew better than DECADENCE ever has for me. So that's why I want to increase the number of rhizomes. I do that whenever I find one I really love.

Thank you, Betty and Paul.
I figured Ghio had a large operation since he is such a big figure in the iris world. I love his iris and they grow very well here in Kansas.
Oh do I ever know how it is to try to do everything by yourself. There's so many things I have not been able to do this year because watering has taken up so much time with this horrible drought. There's no way I could be digging and shipping plants by myself. I was all ready to go with my nursery this spring, but all it took was a big hailstorm and I was out of business for this year.
Now I'll be lucky to list half the inventory I had in March.

It's always something, isn't it? Here's hoping for a great year for you next time around!

Even though my own garden has looked horrible all summer, I've sure enjoyed looking at pictures on here of everyone elses' flowers. My iris were beautiful this spring, and the roses had 2 really exuberant flushes early in the summer.

We take what we get, Cindi, don't we? Thanks to the internet, we can enjoy gardens everywhere. It wasn't so long ago we were stuck with what was in our own yard and neighborhood. I'm sorry that your nursery plans went awry -- next year for sure, right?

My fantastic last-minute order from Joe Ghio arrived today, and I was totally delighted! In addition to beautiful, large rhizomes of the three I ordered, he included big rhizomes of three bonus plants:

ENJOYMENT (Ghio)

REVISION (Keppel

"SWEET SERENDER" (His spelling -- and I don't see a "Sweet Surrender" in the AIS Iris Encyclopedia anywhere. Is anyone familiar with this iris? I noticed in the Keppel catalog that Barry Blyth has a "SWEET SEDUCTION" and I know that sometimes Joe gets mixed up on the names, so I'm hoping that is the correct one because I looked it up in the AIS Encyclopedia and it's absolutely gorgeous!

I now think the "mystery plant" might be Schreiner's SWEET SERENADE (2011). It's listed in Joe's catalog, whereas SWEET SEDUCTION is not. SWEET SERENADE is very pretty and I think I might be able to identify it next spring if/when it blooms if that's what it is. Every year Joe gives me recent plants from other hybridizers as gifts in addition to his own plants, so I'm used to getting newer Schreiner and Keppel rhizomes from him.

Oh -- you poor dear, Betty -- getting all bogged down with those gift rhizomes. If you run out of space, time or energy with them, I'll be happy to take them off your hands. Purely as a personal favor, of course!!

Too late -- they're already potted up.

Prolly just as well...................(sigh)