Thanks for sharing that. We just moved here and most of our family members are on the west coast now, so I just might use that website. ~SJN

Walter....I'm sorry you seem to be having trouble with my questions and concerns about growing iris. I mis-spoke when I said to Carlos...'so wouldn't you have trouble with West Coast iris, the same as New England would?' That was clearly a blanket statement that was not something I could speak to with experience, let alone for all of New England. So I do apologize, because I just wasn't thinking about what I was saying. Having said that though, I think you might be reacting a little strongly to my post. I think you even missed two of the more important points to my post, which were that I did not plan on becoming a collector and wanted iris for companion plants in my garden, and that I was looking for information about what I could do to prepare the iris I ordered from the West Coast to insure success when I plant it. I just read Carlos' post and he refers to...." Walter's 'method' of letting them dry out and shrink before potting and planting." I am assuming that he is referring to you, or was it another Walter? I don't know where you live Walter, but if you have developed some method of preparing iris from the West Coast differently than irises grown elsewhere, then you must be aware of differences in growing them and have had failures with West Coast iris in the past, correct? Clearly, someone is having trouble growing them and having to accommodate them with special treatment. I had already gotten this impression that it is more difficult to grow an iris raised in one climate and attempting to grow it in another. If you remember right, the person who responded to me in another forum who was not an iris expert, told me that and gave me the same advise about 'drying out' the WC iris before planting. So she evidently knew what she was talking about. I asked for help in trying to grow WC iris successfully. This 'method' was exactly the information that I was asking for and you didn't offer me that information, for some reason. According to Carlos' post, you are actually an iris hybridizer and your point of view, is different than mine. Getting information and advise from ordinary gardeners who try to grow iris in my part of the country is certainly of value to me. Getting advise from you, Carlos, or an AIS member, who will do what ever it takes to grow iris, is of value to me too. I need both, to find my own resolution of whether growing iris at all, let along iris from the West Coast, is something I will be able to succeed at with the amount of time and effort and cost that I am willing to put into growing them. As for contacting AIS, I did do that and asked about a sale that was coming up. I couldn't make the sale because they are over an hour from me and the timing wouldn't work, so they suggested that I could mail order from a member that does that. It was the Herman Medlar Walk that you recommended as well. Have you been to that website? Only 20 iris offered are tall bearded. They grow more of the shorter iris than the tall bearded. None of the photos of the tall beardeds they offer are iris I would have an interest in growing. Since you are a hybridizer, and AIS members are, I assume, for the most part, collectors and specialize in iris, then you would naturally invest in new iris and I guess you feel it comes with the territory to have to purchase a perennial and 'try it out' to see if it will grow for you. In my little gardening world, I usually do the opposite and look for perennials that are 'sure' to grow for me. So please excuse me if my fondness for iris has not reached your level of passion just yet. [g] I am at the moment enamored enough to give them a try and rest assured that I will be back giving you every detail of how it all works out. :-) pm2

What a fun website! I'm going to need some new curtains before long, so I'd love to know if anyone has ever bought curtains from them. I received a catalog the other day called Smith+Noble and it's similar to the website you posted where you can choose different fabrics. I was also wondering if anyone has used them. Laurie Here is a link that might be useful: Smith+Noble

bird lover, I am a pillow nut (as well as a chair nut) I make dozens of pillows from fabric with great trim and from tapestries and needlepoints that I get from ebay. I make all shapes and sizes and bolsters too...Use your imagination and check out ebay for needlepoints and tapastries. I won a piece of needlepoint on ebay for 99 cents, and made an adorable pillow out of it. If I find the pic I'll post it. BTW, I love birds too... Here is a sample of a 'few' pillows I made...(I have many more ) As a matter of fact I have one that I have to apply the fringe to. Sorry that I don't have any good close-ups.