That's great Jan and you have one about to bloom in the pot next to it too! Love the kitty!

I'll have to check that out, Rob. You have good eyes!

You're right. Rob! It's Alberta Clipper. an intermediate by Paul Black. ( missed it!)
Something else to look forward to. Maybe others?

Today I have four hours of a real gardener to help me. She's young and strong and experienced. While weeding,
she came across a lot of sorrel - wondering whether to cut the tops,or go after the long root - without damaging the rhizomes. Anyone else have experience with sorrel?

Do you mean Sheep Sorrel? If you don't get the roots you are wasting your time. That stuff is very difficult to get rid of.

...and it likes to self-sow!

Jan - I see your little stitches has the white beard tipped purple. My first blooms had that too. Later blooms had the darker beards and more red at the hafts. Robin said, and I found this to be true too, that the later blooms also have more purple veining on the falls. I would love to know if your future blooms change too. I want to see if it is a trait that is carried by all Little Stitches, or just mine.

tveguy3 said:Do you mean Sheep Sorrel? If you don't get the roots you are wasting your time. That stuff is very difficult to get rid of.

Oh Darn ! - We did get a load of aged Sheep manure! !

The good news is it's edible.........I didn't say "tasty", just "edible"
http://www.ediblewildfood.com/...

Another gardener I met called me up to give me some "grape bubble gum" scented Iris she divided. I am going to pot them to protect them from the hard frosts. Her yard is amazing. An acre they fully landscaped with an irrigation ditch and a European style home they built.

Another source for sorrel use:
http://chocolateandzucchini.co...

Our sorrel doesn't look like pictures of sheep sorrel, but it's small and young. It actually is kind of pretty. It's mainly affecting one bed.
The hired gardener is coming back in two weeks and will tackle the job. We may move everything out to be sure we get it all out, and re-make the bed. She did a lot today in 4 hours. I helped a little, and I'm shagged out! Chris dug a new bed for my seedling crosses and I made new tags for many. More pics to come - but I'm going to take a nap now.

When I went to cover the iris blossoms I noticed that my fall blooming seedling is showing some color. Looks kind of blue, but it was getting dusk when I did it, so will have to look closer tomorrow when it's light out.

Watered the new beds at my mom's house and the rebloomers a little heavy. 40% chance of rain here=no rain, which held true. Mountain range always blocks us off. Sometimes good and bad.

Flash flooding here, yikes! I suppose my flowers need the rain, but this feels like a bit much. Hopefully they get a chance to dry out before any new storms hit.

Your getting what we didn't. Be safe NE folks. Saw the news and it doesn't look fun. Didn't know yall were in drought conditions either.

Ps. You only get storms like these when you buy lots of irises. I swear we're all getting our share of crap weather this year.

I took some photos of what we did yesterday.
I'm envious of some of you with your very neat beds, sometimes wood-lined. We're just
tucking iris into available carved-out spaces. We've cut back into a big long-lived herb mound, with just a quarter of that devoted now to thyme, oregano, etc. As I mentioned recently, we've discovered sorrel invading one of the beds. Because of the long roots, we will probably have to dig up the entire bed, remove the sorrel, and re-plant the iris.
We also "lined-out" one of the crosses that was much bigger than other crosses made at the same time. I haven't given them a "hair-cut" and wonder if I should. To me they're so beautiful. We also need to do a lot to our funky, 30 year old country house. So much to do!
The hose coming down from the upper deck is connected to a rain barrel that also gets warmup water
from our shower. Every drop counts during the drought!












sorrel invasion


my first seedling cross






...and one more. Deck, pots, cat!

A forum friend recommended that we put blocks or feet under the pots to save the deck. Better air circulation.
I can do that with fired clay squares!
All suggestions welcome!!

Jan, those iris fans are amazing! Your first seedling cross looks wonderful - healthy looking foliage - can't wait to see what blooms you get. (We have a few but all bee pod seedlings and not as impressive as yours.) And great looking house, too - from the photos I'd say it's full of character, just the kind of place I imagined you would live in.

Thanks. Mika. I hope the crosses bloom!

Jan, your friend is right. Water will sit under the pots and allow wood eating creatures the moisture they need to soften the wood and decay it. I use several different things. Because you are a potter you could make creature feet such as frogs, rabbits, lizards, etc. I also like to use old rusty shovels that the handles are worn out of but I like old garden implements and rusty metal. I place them in a ring so that the ends of the spades are under the pots. Make sure they do not stick out far enough to trip anyone. If you make turtle feet you should make a tail and a head too. How pretty it would be to see a turtle carrying a big potted plant.