Yea!!! I got it yesterday, and it's filled with all sorts of yummies! Of particular note, there are TWO new Border Beardeds listed at $25 each, and if you purchase one of his Specials you can get them for $l0 each! And what beauties they are! The first is one of those pictured on the MBIS website, GLIMPSE, a white/blue amoena, and the blue looks like a hand painted overlay on the falls. And the second is not pictured, BOY GENIUS -- and what a dazzler that one is!

I'll give the description for BOY GENIUS here, but unfortunately I don't have a scanner and I don't know of any pictures posted anywhere else of it. But the standards are a brilliant golden yellow, and the falls are near black with a bright golden yellow edge -- oh yes, and it's a luminata with that golden-to-white glow up by the beards. Utterly gorgeous! Here is the description for those who are interested:

BOY GENIUS, BB, 25", VE-E
High Master is bringing the luminata pattern into what we refer to as the Rich Raiment coloring of yesteryear. Standards are gold with black tint at midribs. Falls are almost solid mahogany black with gold dotting around the gold beards. Hairline gold lace edge. Good branching and grows well, may hit the limits of the class but always in proportion. No. 04-44B: 02-160: (00-98B: (Feelings x U97F, unknown) x High Master) X 02-317Q: High Master x 00-98B).... $25.00

This is exactly how he listed the parentage, but it doesn't quite make sense to me -- too many colons and not enough parentheses? But anyway, it looks fantastic -- I think this looks like something Lucy would be interested in, although maybe too tall? But absolutely beautiful!


Edit: I went back to the MBIS website and I'm copying the link here. And GLIMPSE is the Border Bearded iris that is shown. He must have decided on introducing BOY GENIUS after they were posted to the website.

http://www.montereybayiris.org...

I am going to the mail box anxiously each day waiting for the Ghio catalog.....now the BB intros will increase the anticipation. I worked in the yard yesterday in a bed that I planted iris I ordered from Ghio last year. 'Adoree' has 6 nice increases, 'My Beloved' has four.

Ah yes, spring is DEFINITELY on its way now -- and I just hope everyone back east starts feeling it soon too! Paul, I thought of both you and Lucy when I discovered the BB's, and I'm going to have to get both of them myself! My big problem is that in order to take advantage of the $10 per BB price I'd have to get one of his three Specials, and the ones I really wanted are not combined in one of the Specials. Here are his three Specials:

GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY X SPECIALS
$123.50 per collection
TRIPLE CHARM SPECIAL: Bravery, Passionate Kisses, Winning Hand
TRIPLE PLAY SPECIAL: Beauty Within, Brouhaha, Magnanimous
TRIPLE TREAT SPECIAL: Double Platinum, Pontificate, Superhero
Add either or both BB to any above collection for an additional $10 each

The ones I really want are BRAVERY and MAGNANIMOUS, but the Special I'm drawn to is the Triple Treat... and there are quite a few Blyth irises I want to get too... and I don't want to spend a small fortune... decisions, decisions! It's not easy being me!!!

25" is fine for a BB. top height is 27 1/2. I just don't have space for another BB this year unless something has died over winter. Need the space for my own seedlings.

I would like Bravery and Super Hero so I am in a wondering which special to choose also. I will like to see pictures of the BBs.

There are two whole pages of Pacificas and the prices are so reasonable, but I just can't bring myself to pay now for something that will be delivered in October or November. Who knows what my circumstances might be by then?

I think I will break down and get Super Hero

D

With only ordering BRAVERY and MAGNANIMOUS and the two BB's of all the new introductions, and then adding in all the Blyth irises I want plus quite a few from the Bargain Section, I'm already up to a small fortune! Help Meeeee! The only good thing about this is that with a large order Joe is EXTREMELY generous and hopefully will throw in a few of his new intros. Last year he included PLOT LINE as a bonus, along with three or four other new intros, and my order wasn't as large as this one might end up being, so I can only hope for SUPERHERO that way. I think he sent something like 14 bonus irises last year.

One thing I forgot to mention earlier is Joe's SUPER BONUS program on p. 9 of his catalog:

On bearded orders of $100 or more select one of the following as your super bonus: Cardinal Rule, Engagement Ring, Enjoyment, Famous Last Words, Illusionist, Polite Applause, Spectacle, Uninhibited. On orders of $200 or more select one of the following as well: Day On The Bay, Double Platinum, Passionate Kisses, Plot Line, Pontificate, Winning Hand.

It's in a little box after all the Pacificas are listed, so it can be easily overlooked. But there are some fantastic irises listed there that you can get as bonus plants.

Zuzu, I think you can order by email possibly through August or even September, and he'll let you know if what you want is still available and the amount to send.

I got my Bay View Catalog today, I think I like Super Hero the best, followed by Bravery, and Brouhaha. I'm most likely not going to get them though, as I have decided on Darling Deception by Tom Johnson, which is much like Bravery, but more of a plum colored fall. I have not had the best of luck wintering the Ghio irises here in Wisconsin, although the ones I planted last year near the house seem to have done better in the sheltered area. I only have so much room there though. So I'll wait till the price goes down, and then give them a try. Now if I win the lottery, I could buy a place down south, and have two bloom seasons, lol. There are some good deals on older models too.

Thanks, Betty. That's good to know. That changes my outlook on this wonderful catalog. I'll wait until summer to order.

I saw Boy Genius at Keith Keppel's garden last spring. Didn't realize it was a Border Bearded.

Thanks much for posting the picture, Kent! In the catalog the golden yellow color looked much brighter, so it's good to see how it will actually look in the garden. It sure is pretty, but it might be a little more somber than I want. I'll have to rethink this one...

For what it is worth, I remember it being pretty bright in person. One other thing to keep in mind is that last spring was an unusually cold one so most iris were darker than usual.

Wow. There were 3 from my wish list from other vendors in Ghio's catalog that will save me $26. alone. So I guess I'll have to buy a few more! lol Is there any help? I just may have to make another new bed. I'm hopeless.

I'm out of control also....sending off my Ghio order this morning. Betty...you and others are a bad influence on a weak willed compulsive person like me.

I'm mailing my order today too, Paul -- and I did end up going way overboard! In fact, in the middle of the night I woke up and decided I should go back and delete a couple of the expensive Blyth irises to decrease the shock value -- but then I went back to sleep and talked myself back into ordering them by this morning! I'm so good at that! I usually end up adding to my order by June each year anyway, which always increases my total, so now I don't have to think later about the others I wishI had ordered and then hurriedly email Joe to see if they're still available.

If I go to a nursery and see two plants I want I often just buy one thinking I'll save some money and then end up going back the next day to buy the second plant. Spending $10 dollars on two days somehow seems less painful than $20 at once. I meant to ask how is the cutting back going?

I've done that so many times myself, but now I mostly reconsider whether I want to take the time to trek back there later to get the other(s), and I decide -- hey, I'm worth it -- I should have it all NOW!

Life is much easier with my new philosophy -- although planting/potting and dealing with everything I keep bringing in is another problem. I suddenly realized yesterday that I'm rapidly filling up all my tables with daylilies I want to use for hybridizing and my little daylily seedlings -- and here I'm already ordering irises that I'll have to pot up and put up another 8' table to carry them over the summer until I can get them in the ground in Sept/Oct/Nov -- it's always something... I'm great on new ideas but not so great on follow-through, unfortunately.

But that never stops me from ordering -- absolutely no self-discipline here! I am cutting back on new irises, though. Two years ago I ordered something like 150 new irises that I had to make spots for, but by this year I'm up (down?) to 37 so far! But I also order 2nd rhizomes to add to the clumps of those I really like, and I'm up to 50 on those. But compared to a couple of years ago I've reduced by more than half.

Well, I'm off to a morning of grocery shopping now -- yuck!

I'm digging out more lawn....hate to ask my grandsons to help because I've told them so many times before that we won't be digging out any more lawn. My mother used to say "I've heard that before."