Yup, we might just have to call her that Neil, I wonder if you can get your handle changed on here???

Not sure how much snow she had, 4 inches here. I looked in my Garden log (it's not on line & our first pumila bloomed on April 24 last year. Our bulbous irises bloomed a month earlier this year, but don't know what the pumilas will do.

Careful Tom....if we can change names for people then you will be TheCheesehead, Brad will be GrandPoobah, and Rob will be TutuRainDancer... and I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting!

I'm so glad we can not change names...

You ALL are amazing (despite being sickened with the iris virus)! Thank you very much for such a warm welcome...and good enabling of the disease :-)!

I meant to say welcome to you too Barbalee...but forgot. That seems to happen frequently these days!

Well, I finally got my Mid America order in, and it adds 11 more irises to my total, so that puts me at 40, I'm at a "Good Start". Even counting any bonuses, I should be in good order to not be deemed the wackiest.

We are still under 30. Have to do the club auction (doesn't count for me) & our own mid-America.

Tom - You can't be the whackyist EVERY year. You are good sport to let others take this crown!

@Randall Dixon rockford or anyone else: I'm confused (no surprise)! What's an arilbred vs an SBD?

I gather order time is about June.... is that also planting time?

Barbalee, some information for you.

http://www.winterberryirises.c...

Bless you, Debra! Good reading!

@Barbalee Actually we have been ordering for months. One place started taking orders in mid-December. My first order was the first of February. Until I joined ATP last August I ordered after our club's Auction and Plant Sale in late July and some I wanted would be sold out. So far I have gotten everything I ordered. I've done two orders to one place and about to do a third. Another place that cuts off orders in mid-July I will soon do a second order. Each business shows their shipping times, usually July-August and most let you specify when you want shipment.

By the way is your avatar a coreopsis?

Thanks, Charlotte~ Yes, it's a coreopsis, one I've got on order and will soon be planting. If I start ordering irises now, will I need to pot them on the porch or plant when they arrive? How much room should each one have when I do plant?? See, I know zip-squat!!

Companies are supposed to send when right time for planting in the garden. If the catalog or website doesn't give a distance between plants Google Coreopsis and look for another with the same growth habits. I assume it showed the plant as well as the flowers. Growers certainly are introducing a lot of unusual coreopsis lately.

Yeah, I know about planting coreopsis, but it was iris that I was unsure about. I've been reading http://www.winterberryirises.c... from Debra~don't know how to make that a link here, but she linked a page from this site above. It's giving me some clues! I love the line "wet feet, dry knees." I've seen it several places. I gather they will be sent at the end of bloom time...maybe late June/early July, and they can be planted directly outdoors. Am I wrong???

No and yes, you are right about the planting, but most ship July-August and some into September. Usually you can specify. The best time to dig is six weeks after bloom. At that point they go dormant for a while. Commercial gardens have to stretch it out.

If you are still in the middle of your hot season then I would recommend potting them so you can keep a better eye on them and baby them with extra water. Then when the weather cools you can just put the entire rootball (which will have started to fill out) and the dirt into the ground. The less you disturb the roots the easier the transition for the plant. It should not go through any transplant shock if you keep the dirt and roots undisturbed.

updated total = 354

I now honestly have no clue what my count is until after my 2 surprise packages show up.