Irises

The irises are Patty’s personal favorite crop…she enjoys seeing the progression of the iris blooms and noted ironically that the iris Zee in our garden is always the FIRST to bloom! Being a novice gardener, everything is a surprise to her. She wonders if it is significant that it seems all of the purple varieties seem to bloom at the same time? A question that still goes unanswered, she does know that types and amounts of sun do definitely have something to do with the blooming cycles.

How did we come to have so many irises? Tom happened to see on Craigslist that a small iris farm in northern Illinois was going out of business and selling all of their irises. Tom presented the opportunity to Michael, and he decided that he would invest in this new product area to make the farm more diverse and of course, more BEAUTIFUL! Labor Day (literally for Tom, Michael and Danny!) they drove to Illinois, dug up thousands irises, bagging each variety separately of course, and drove back to the farm by the end of the weekend!

The real work then began. The beds had to be prepared and irrigation put in place. The plants were put down and cataloging began. Much research has been done in the past 3 years to ensure proper labeling of each variety. We are currently working to produce a catalog of our irises to help our customers be able to order on line. Until then, we would love for you to visit the farm to view the irises in bloom, or send us an email letting us know what your looking for. We'll do our best to make sure you get just what your looking for to enjoy in your gardens for many years to come!