Terry, If you don't mind my asking, what do potted iris sell for California. I saw potted iris for sell the first time in my area this year. I was in a hurry and did not get the price.

I have seen very vew potted irises for sale in this area. What was in bloom was something like pallida or otherwise old fashioned. I have also bought Louisianas in pots out of bloom season, and they were incorrectly labeled.

I know Terry and jain got theirs from a reputable source.

Be sure the potted irises you buy are in bloom.

Walter Moores

hi terry, pretty nifty, starting a thread to not feel guilty about shopping! i guess i can say ditto to all of the above then~ i buy pots from napa because they work so hard to have a beautiful garden with fabulous plants. she sells the cream of the crop in her pots, meticulous cared for, with multi fans and large bloom stalks, that they stake, and cut to size, as you buy them. they have several 100 varieties, current, fabulous things, all alphabetized for easy shopping in 2 greenhouses. the price is high, starting at $8, going up from there depending on the cultivar. at napa they are worth it~
on my way home i stopped at place selling iris in my neighborhood, she had potted iris, i assumed they would be $3, no names etc, she said $10, i got back in the car, her field didn't warrant that kind of money, i rather save it for napa~

I probably would never buy an iris in a pot because I can see where they would have to be very expensive in comparison to buying bare rhizome. If I were to buy in a pot they would have to be in bloom. Lee Mincy

Our Iris Society just had it's Annual Flower Show and we sold close to 300 1 gallon pots for $5 each.

I think our local iris society sells pots for between $4 and $7, and it's usually an interesting mix of fairly new ones and historics. At Napa Country Irises. most of the pots were $8, but as Jain says, these are really well cared for iris. Many had 2 or 3 stalks shooting up. And the Painters seem like such nice people.

I realized when I got home that I had driven 120 miles round trip! I guess I have to add that into the price-- but that is a pretty gorgeous drive this time of year, and it is always a treat to see a lot of iris in bloom. (Small car fortunately.)

Hi! I'd just come over from the CA forum for a visit when I spotted this thread. I did something really different last summer related to this thread. I've been having a problem, here in the Central Valley, getting the bare rhizomes to survive once planted. Last summer I potted the new ones in 5 gal containers to let them grow roots. This spring I've been putting those potted, now rooted, plants around the garden where their color is needed. I'll plant them in ground-baskets after they're done blooming.

by-the-by: just who and where is this Iris grower in Napa, please? We have a really good one here in Clovis, but I'm always looking for more.

if you are that far south from napa you have lots to enjoy along the way... sutton's in porter valley, superstition in cathey's valley, woodlands in modesto and napa country iris is located in napa county, right next to lake berryessa in the hills about 15 miles from napa itself. everyone should be peaking in the next 10 days, it will be a busy weekend for me...

It is a good thing I don't live close to napa. I would probably do the same thing you all did and load my truck down. It would be hard to resist a beautiful iris I did not have if it were in bloom right before me and all I had to do was pay 8 bucks and take it home.

I bought a pot of Loisa's Song in bloom at the iris Society show 3 years ago. That gave me enough blooms to pollenate a number of flowers, and get some offspring before my other LS rhizome bloomed. Someone else from the society bought a large pot of Decadence in bloom and got the jump on some early seedlings. If it is the right plant it can be very useful. If I had the opportunity to buy top quality TB's in bloom from another area, before mine bloom, i would jump at it. I like to do a lot of SDBXTB and don't always have the pollen.
If you are a hybridiser it is worth potting up rhizomes, so they can be placed in a dry area at bloom time, to ensure youo get dry pollen.