1. What is the best time to see the iris in bloom?
Since there are many classes of iris, and as our weather has been rather unpredictable of late, it is best to contact me to find out the timing for peak bloom dates. Also, because each class of iris has different bloom dates, you may wish to view the property more than once to see the various types in bloom. For instance, the MDB class can start blooming as early as May 8; the SDB class will likely start end of May and beginning of June; whereas the TB class doesn't start until July.
2. Do you have sales or sell any of your iris or other perennials, and do you deliver in person or by mail?
Yes, I will likely have a couple of publicly advertised sales this year. I do try to have some plants for sale at the time of tours, however, this is not a business, so I do not always have plants available for sale, nor can I guarantee which plants will be available at any given time. If you do see something that you absolutely love, by all means, ask if it will be available later in the season! All sales are in person and only at the property. My prices are generally lower than what you would expect to find on the mail-order sites, but vary according to availability, size, and condition. The main purpose of revenues from plant sales is to enable the purchase of new introductions, hard to find cultivars, and interesting perennials, so that the garden is ever-evolving and there is something new to see every year!
Check our Calendar for Plant Sale Dates
Check our Plant Sale List
3. Are photographs allowed?
By all means, take photographs, however, if you are a serious photograhper and have large equipment, please be sure to ask where it can be set up. Also, I would ask that you not remove seed pods or "dead" head the flowers, as I do collect specific seeds.
4. Do you have regular hours of operation where people can drop in to view the gardens, and is there a charge?
No, all tours and requests to view the gardens must be pre-arranged. There is no charge for tours. This is a private residence, and my gardens are my hobby, which I love !
5. Do you use special fertilizer on your lilies and iris? (submitted via website query form on January 18, 2011 -- Thank you!)
Iris typically do not need fertilizing. The only thing I do with iris is to make sure I coat the rhizome and roots in Myke (for perennials) at the time of planting.
Lilies, on the other hand, do require fertilizing. I use the same technique when planting the bulbs and I prefer to fertilize in the fall, after the lilies have died back and just before it snows (late October). I sprinkle the Pink fertilizer around each plant. If I don't get to it in the fall, then I will do it in the spring, just before the noses appear, but then I like to work it a bit into the soil.
The last couple of years, being very wet, I used iron chelate on all of my perennials.
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