Like everyone here I like irises. I would.not.mind owning an iris farm. I was looking on Craigslist and.come apon a listing.for an iris farm for sale. He wants to sell everything together in 1 sale.

He has over 15000 plants and 631 variety of named irises. Everything is potted and you get all the pots, plants, sources of.things etc. He is asking $7500 for all. Whats an iris lover to do.?

15,000 iris plants to feed, weed, water, divide, medicate, guard, catalog, ..... I am getting a headache.

Sounds amazing, do you have a large property? I think the idea of owning an iris farm is spectacular, but definitely a lot of work.

Everything is potted....My question is why?

Bonnie, Its a lot of plants and would be a lot of work. The owner says they are all more modern/current irises no historical ones. Bonnie, I am not exactly sure why potted, but I think its cause most of the sales are done locally and people pick up the plants in person.
Liz, I don't have the room at the house, I would have to go out and purchase a property to work from.

If anything I might get a couple of each for my collection for when I am more in a spot to able to do an iris farm.

They may be a third party vendor and sell to nurseries, ect.. That's a lot of irises and a LOT of work instantly handed over. I kow you've expressed your vision though and I too share the same one.

Go with your gut feeling. Also, keep things in perspective. This ain't like buying a #2 at WacDonald's drive thru and switching to a #3 at the window either. Make a serious decision and have a plan ready yesterday. If the finances are right, treatment of plants are great then see into it. I prefer small scale and would work my way up the chain. If you have a significant other as well you maaaaay want to run that by them first also.

I wish you the best in your decision making. I always support people's visions and try to scare them too. You know your worth and capabilities...

Gaberial, she says she will support me in what ever I decide. Getting the funds is not an issue at moment and its an instant biz that don't come along everyday. Of coarse I would treat everyone here with specials if i got it. It's just space factor being an issue. With that many plants it takes alot of real estate literally.
By the way, I forgot to mention that the owner has a catalog that would come along with the business that's ready to go, and.he would send people to ya looking to purchase.and that would amount to alot.

Keep us posted. If you make the leap you know we are going to want a minute by minute update of your adventure.

Check his books at least and definitely get his customers.

You just want to win that special gift box from Tom don't you..

Good advice Gabe.

Cuzz4short said:
You just want to win that special gift box from Tom don't you..

.

I don't know. Something just doesn't sound right to me.
1.) Why does she have all the Iris in pots already?
2.)Did she give you a list of the varietals she has to sell to you so you can make sure your investment. If it's a bunch of stuff no one is going to buy then it's not a good investment.
3.) just kinda think it's weird that an Iris farm is listed on Craigslist? Why not with an AIS fourm or blog.
4.)And how do you know for sure the pots of Iris your getting are guaranteed that's what they really are? Is there some type of three year contract agreement if things bloom as they are not supposed to be?

I'm all up for an awesome business adventure, but something just seems strange that they are all dug up already.

Unless, this vendor grows and sells out of pots like nurseries do. But I agree a lot of caution is necessary when dealing with anyone these days.

100% with bonnie

I was going to go to the farm and.see.the.operations and.check everything.see the condition of the plants make sure they are what he says, etc.

Okay, so he is really just selling his inventory and not the farm right? Otherwise you would be deeded the land the irises are on. I would check all the details of what you are actually getting, then talk with a lawyer. You would want a contract for the buyers lists, etc. so you can do business with established clientele. Also, is he selling the name of the business/farm to you or just the stock of iris? If you are serious about buying it will be worth your money to hire a lawyer to make sure you are swindled in any way. In real estate law the adage "if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is" rings with truth. Just go into the deal, or any deal with a clear head and all the facts.

Best of luck to you!

We have a daylily grower locally and other north of here, both sell potted plants and only their displays around their homes are planted. One takes his to farmer's markets as well as selling at his home. I doubt if they have anything close to 15,000 though. I visit the closeby one and I would say maybe 800-1000 at most.

By the way if sounds it all.inventory you getting and sources. I would have legal rep with me. There's.no land invole.

Over a decade ago, a very old daylily farm east of Austin was shutting down and they dug all of the daylilies, potted them up and sold them
Good luck

creativeclover said:
He has over 15000 plants and 631 variety of named irises. Everything is potted and you get all the pots, plants, sources of.things etc. He is asking $7500 for all. Whats an iris lover to do.?

15000 plants and 631 varieties means there are about an average of 23 of each cultivar. I sure would want to know the names of them, and be able to verify that they are what they are represented as. If it's near you, wouldn't they be blooming now or very soon? Other things you might want to research:

How many of a cultivar does a vendor usually have before they offer them for sale to the public.

Names and dates of introduction of the cultivars, and possible price you could expect to get for them if sold. (if they are a bunch of old has been's that people can buy almost anywhere is it worth it?)

If they are potted, and there are 15000 pots, how many rhizomes in each pot?

If you purchase them how long do you have before they need to be moved.

Do you have a place to move them to with water resources to keep them alive.

Is your health and strength in a place to do the amount of work needed to make this work.

What's the name of this company and what kind of reputation does it have.

How much additional man power will you need to make this work, including book work, field work, advertising,/marketing.

Have a "bean counter" check over the books to see the profit margin of this operation.

Is there a property available that you can afford, in an area close to your home or do you have to re-locate.

And most importantly, if you have to purchase land to do this, do a cost benefit analysis to see if this is cost effective.

If this is really something you want to do with your life and resources, is this the best opportunity out there, or are there other ways to get to this goal?



What ever you do, I wish you success!