Loving all these stories. And I really like the name Bacon and Eggs for Honorabile. It is a good description of the coloring.

grannysgarden said:Oh My!!! Ok, I think Leon is a Master Grower! Look at that clump. I would like a start but lets see if there is something on my plant list that you would like a start of then we can talk. LOL

Now Bonnie! No such thing as a master grower here: I am a WYSIWYG.
(That means: What you see is what you get. And some days it 'ain't perty'.)

It would be fun (if possible) to pack up a truck load of rhizomes next month and
head out to everybody's place for distribution. Would certainly make a nice road
trip!

that is what my dreams are made of. sigh

Kind of like the Johnny Appleseed of the iris world.

tveguy3 said:Kind of like the Johnny Appleseed of the iris world.

Just give me a shovel & hoe; I'm happy!

I think that most of us have been inspired to love gardening by someone. In my case, it was my grandmother. She always had a large vegetable garden, and flower gardens that encircled her house and the borders of her property. Always there were irises among them. I remember her showing me how I can smell the blooms without hurting them. Inside her house she always had fresh flowers in season. She'd plant whole rows of zinnias, asters, bachelor buttons, gladiolas, and poppies among the rows of vegetables, just so she could have cut flowers in the house all summer. She even let me have a small space so I could grow some things too, usually radishes lettuce, and a few other things. When we would go to visit her, I'd run from the car to go see my little garden.

Summer time was berry picking time, and back then farmers pastured the woodlands. This allowed the wild berries to compete and our whole family would go berry picking in the woods. In the back of our property there was a wet boggy area where we had lots of wild blueberries, and among them there were the wild purple irises. She would always take a break from picking berries to show me the wild irises. As time passed, I remember that she was very happy to learn that they had developed a pink iris. Money was not plentiful in our family, so she had to save a long time to be able to buy it. I remember when it bloomed, she had to show every one that visited the pink iris. I have no idea which one it was, but she loved pink, and that iris brought her much happiness.

When I finally owned my own home, I was able to begin some flower gardens. At the time I was working as an Elementary Principal, so I had only a few beds, and a vegetable garden. 10 hour days were the average, and some were as long as 15 hour days when evening activities and meetings were held, so that was about all the garden I could handle. After retirement, I began adding flower beds in earnest, and among the things I planted, irises were at the top of the list. It is my hope that I can hybridize a pink, or mostly pink iris in honor of my Grandmother. She lived to be within 5 days of her 93rd birthday. She still had a small flower bed that she tended until her death. I hope some day I can plant "her iris" on her grave site.

I hope you can too, Tom. What was your Grandmother's name? Will you name it after her or a name she was know by?

I hope that you realize your goal, Tom.

I love all of these stories! Bonnie, I especially love you mother's explanation of the falls and standards. I love to tell my own children stories or meanings that go along with the plants I love. I plan to share your mother's story of the iris with them.

I also fell in love with irises when I was a young child. When I was growing up, the Friday before Memorial Day was spent harvesting huge bouquets of irises and peonies from my mother and grandmother's yards. I remember the smell of the flowers filled the car as we drove to the cemetery. My grandmother and my mom, my aunts and cousins, my sister and nieces would all gather to place these beautiful flowers on the graves of our loved ones. I remember it was a time filled with happiness for us children. We played together amongst the headstones as adults arranged the flowers. That cemetery holds many memories of loved ones and as adults we still remember the days we spent together there. Years later, I asked my grandmother what her favorite flower was and she said she loved the purple irises (she called them "flags") the best. For me, it is the smell of the old purple irises that reminds me of loved ones.

Great story Val!

I am loving these stories!!! Keep them coming!!!

Lucy -- I meant to comment on your story -- and forgot to do so.

I loved the part about your standing on the bottom board of the picket fence as a child, looking over at all that beauty. And how great that you married a guy whose family was already involved -- it kind of sealed your fate, didn't it?

yep His grandmothers were the gardeners. His mother had polio when she was 20 so mainly grew for flowers to cut for the house.

I think my dad built the fence so kids balls would not intrude into the garden

Really? For some reason, I thought only kids got polio................

mistake: she was 20. No adults get it as well. She was so glad when the shots against it were developed.

Wow. I had no idea

My family were city folk. Nobody gardened. I feel a little cheated I didn't have that but then I think of all I did get from my parents and grandparents and I think "I wasn't cheated at all. I got plenty from them."

From my grandparents I got a sense of pride in a good days hard work. From my father I got a love of music and physics and science fiction. From my mother I got the need to protect others. From all of them I got the simple joy of getting through life and standing up for what is right. I got the big mouth that our family has and can't keep it shut when something needs to be said. Everything I am I got from them.

Gardening is a bonus.

They were on their honeymoon in France when she got it & they came back to the USA she was on a stretcher. supposedly she would only be able to sit up in bed with a brace. but under the push from her Mom she recovered enough to walk (balance difficult) but helped train their Labrador retrievers for field trials. that is a long way from irises, but she did garden, although the irises were grown by her mother in law.

My family grew peonies in our hose garden & veggies in the neighborhood 'victory garden' during WW II.

Celia -- you are well-endowed with many qualities from your family. I think gardening is a bonus for us all.

Omigosh Lucy -- what a way to end a honeymoon. I'm glad that she recovered so well. I never heard the expression *hose garden* before...................

Polio can be so devastating. I knew 2 people who've had it.

I visited a Victory Garden in WV once. It was lovely.