Had we but world enough, and time...

The famous poet wasn't talking about irises, but his opening words somewhat apply to this.

I'm in the process of dividing a bunch of irises. Some of them are still in pots, some of them are (or were) in the ground (but far from ideal conditions). Because of these less-than-ideal circumstances, after taking the larger rhizomes (for myself, or my sister, or club sales) I am ending up with a fair number of small-med size rhizomes.

I don't have "world enough" (sunny acerage) to grow these until they are bigger (big enough for either club sales or bloom). My garden has a lot of shade, and what sun there is, goes to both irises AND daylilies, and I can't afford the room to grow very large patches of any one iris.

I also don't have "time" to spare from the rest of the garden (my dog, my house, etc.) to water even more pots than I have already (never mind that there's the CA water situation, so "water enough" also applies here).

So, it is a matter of "give them away" or "throw them away".

Before I start throwing boxes of rhizomes out onto the street (or into the yard waste), I thought I'd see if there was any interest here.

The "TLC" is because any takers would have to give the rhizomes some love, and not expect bloom next season (though it might be possible, and bloom should definitely happen the season after). (Apologies to those whom I may have sent irises to in the past, if they didn't bloom the first year. It was ignorance on my part, for not realizing that might be the case.)

The "Beginner" is because these are not new cutting-edge irises; but neither are they old or "historic" irises either. (Some of these I am continuing to grow in my garden.) The price is good (free, with discounted postage for a lucky few) to encourage potentially new iris growers (who otherwise might not want to spare the cash). I will put whatever spare irises I have that will fit into a SMALL USPS Priority Mail box, and ship it for free, up to about 6 boxes or so. (If you want more irises, then I'd ask for some amount of postage (put some of your skin into the game), but I'm not shipping more than would fit into a MED USPS Priority Mail box.)

If you would like to try some of these irises, let me know.

I will keep this thread open for about one week (or until irises are claimed), and update on what's available. FYI the first four irises were dug this past week.

IRISES

BUSY BEING BLUE good amount
NORDICA maybe a few (checking with a few people first)
PEGGY SUE some
SWEET MUSETTE lots
GLACIER BLUSH very few, probably small
BERNICE'S LEGACY (rebloomer) a couple-few, probably small
LUMINOSITY (rebloomer)
IMMORTALITY (rebloomer but not here) probably small

Marilyn,

That's actually a decent list of irises your giving away. they are all beautiful flowers.

I personally don't care for the color of BERNICE'S LEGACY. It HAS rebloomed here, though.

GLACIER BLUSH is a bit shorter than I like for a TB.

Can't keep them all!

The others will all be replanted or potted here. (Besides lots of shade, I have lots of tree roots... redwood roots are plant killers!)

I need to do more dividing, but it is currently hot (for us) here, and I also have other things to do.

I understand the need to send some away all too well. I have sooo many "classics" odd lots in need of homes too.

I am now in the process of digging some up for an old friend from high school. And this is only my second year. I already have too many, but need to make room for the new ones. I still have yet to receive a couple of orders.

Last year I got a "bulk shipment" and I need to thin that out a bit.

Someone I know said their church was asking for irises. Not sure I want to give a church my leftover small fry (after sale, replanting, boxes). That'd be like giving God the worst...

Marilyn,
I divided some of my white irises yesterday plus some other ones and went out of my way to give some to my neighbor, Karen. She already bought some irises and dug some up from her garden to plant in front of her new retaining wall. Karen is already in her mid 50s and I just wanted to be nice and helpful. She was so full of joy when she saw me at her front door with a plastic sack full of irises.

I also am making room for more irises from my grandfather. He is giving up most of his gardening since it is too much work for him. I am going over to his house Tuesday to help him demolish some of his gardens. He will also be giving me some oriental lilies, other bulbs, and some creeping phlox. I don't know if I'll have room for other plants since I will be getting an order of daylilies and surprise lilies + some other lycoris bulbs in September. So I am sorry if I can't get any from you again.

Anyways, I went outside today to take some pictures of my plants and I thought this was pretty interesting. I have a gorgeous orange double daylily that is blooming right now and I decided to take some pictures of it.

This is a front view of the flower



This is the same type of flower but a side view of a different bloom. I think that this side view looks like an iris in some way shape or form.

Ian,

Sounds. Like you will be busy for a while aith everything coming in and helping your grandfather.

Yes I will Richard, in fact I went to stilldew's (Susan's) iris sale yesterday and bought some irises and I planted them yesterday. The ones I got from her in the spring or 2017 are already making nice clumps. For example Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Sweeter than Wine') already made two scapes this spring and now has eight or nine fans. I might as well have to divide it in the next few years. I cant wait for my irises to make nice big clumps with beautiful blooms.

Free irises and free shipping, how generous is that!

I think 'Nordica' is pretty much spoken for, at this point. I gave a LOT away to the club sale (and 2 to my sister), and the rest go to a few people who responded to me, plus myself. (I have some rhizomes in the No Man's Land on the borderline between where I planted 'Nordica' and 'Peppermint Cream', so I MAY have some 'Nordica' in there too, but I'm not giving that away (uncertain ID) and I don't want to give up the 3 known-for-sure rhizomes that I saved for myself.)

I would be interested, last fall I planted my first batch of iris and would like to try more
Let me know if there are some still available.
Ed

Check your tree mail.

FOR ANYONE ELSE (unless you have already had a Treemail from me), at this point I think that I am probably done with the TLC/Beginner Boxes for this year. (Some irises are "sold out", some are too small, but mostly I need to start potting and planting things for myself (and I have other non-garden claims on my time).)

Check back next July!