Nice score Rob!

lovemyhouse said:Hey, Rob, I know nothing about Iris auctions. At this time of year, I would think that nothing is blooming. How do you know what they look like? Does the facility/group/whatchacallit have photographs or video during the auction?

Debra, I used to be in charge of the daylily auction at club meetings when I was a member. I collected images from whatever source I could, made it into a powerpoint presentation and I created hand out lists with descriptions. It was a whole lot of fun and a great way for the members to get some bargains and wonderful plants. I would imagine it's something similar for an iris auction.

Thank you, Sue.

Thank you! They are all potted up, labeled, fertilized and watered.

Deb...We were sent a newsletter with photos and descriptions of the irises that would be available for the auction. For any additional irises that were supplied by others, they were labeled and had a photo stapled to them. The auction was for newer releases (max 2 years old) and then there was a surplus table of what ever else anyone brought in. That surplus table started off at $5 a rhizome and ended up at $1 by the end of the day.

Phlox, indeed! Under those circumstances, I'd say you were actually quite restrained in your acquisitions.

The surplus table didn't have much to offer really. It was more focused on the auction.

Now if they were blooming, I would have begun planting rhizomes on my roof.

Nice Haul, Rob! You and I got some duplicates.. and I got 'Expect Wonders' last year.. It's beautiful!


Tom, thanks for the close-up of the Phlox.. It's really a gorgeous variety. Does it have a good scent too? I don't know which variety I have- it was a shared plant from a friend... but it doesn't have the tight, flower-packed clusters that yours has. This was last year. Next year should be good again as there's a nice fat dead gopher stuffed back in the hole (revenge is sweet).

I've never noticed if it is fragrant, I guess I'll have to check that out. It does have a nice long bloom time, and some years it will re-bloom later in the fall.

Rob and Sherry.

I know what you mean Rob. At the spring iris show, when all the beautiful blooms are on display, people are busy writing down names of irises and taking photos. Onset of the fever....

Rob -- my brain is slow this morning -- did you buy the Irises that way? Or did you pot them up etc., once you got home?

Sherry the phlox has some fragrance, not one that I'd write home about, but not bad either.

I think he potted them at home, which is a lot of work after tiring himself out buying them, refraining from buying others, then of course blaming us for his purchases, and listing his wonders so "us" gets envy.

Good haul Rob!

Leslie got it right.

Well he wouldn't have been so tired if he hadn't beat up those ladies bidding against him.

Duct tape is a wonderful thing....

And it comes on colors, too.

Did you bind them with the Hello Kitty duct tape? (Seriously, why is there Hello Kitty duct tape anyway?)

Have you seen the patterns you can get on duct tape these days? Boggles the mind, it does.

I wonder if it comes in a Duck pattern.....Would love to buy some Duck duct tape.......