About

Once upon a time there was a girl named Teresa. Her grandmother instilled in her

granddaughter a love for flowers, starting with roses. However, once Teresa discovered irises,

she was smitten by the hardy, drought-tolerant gorgeous flowers that come in nearly every color

(except red) of the rainbow, and beyond.

Even so, her dream of one day creating an iris farm seemed far away.

Meanwhile, there was a boy named Rex. Like Teresa, Rex was not afraid of hard work, and he

loved being outdoors. He grew up to own a piece of Happy Valley property, perfect for him to

grow vegetables, fruit trees, and his mother’s red and orange poppies.

Teresa and Rex’s paths crossed at church when they were both single, at a time of life when

many people have their sights set on retirement, and taking it easy. Not Teresa and Rex. They

married in 2022, the same year Iris Country was born. They haven’t stopped working since.

Teresa and Rex Moravec admit that their early attempts to create their iris farm were what Rex

described as the “drunken monkey” method, which included several rookie farming mistakes.

Even so, each error provided new learning opportunities to correct and adapt, which was exactly

what they did.

The Moravecs used heavy equipment to spread the chips between the walkways to a depth of

about three feet. Even now, as visitors walk between the iris rows, the ground is so soft from the

abundance of wood chips that it’s like walking on foam rubber.

Although the wood chips are good for basic soil augmentation, they’re not an ideal growing

medium for the irises. So Rex built shallow frames in which the Moravecs deposited quality soil,

and then they carefully planted the iris rhizomes – in rows, and in alphabetical order –

within the frames, surrounded by the wood chips. The system worked. The irises thrived.

Teresa developed a color-coding system, such as a red tag means a plant is sold out, and a

green tag identifies a rebloomer. There are bearded irises and fuzzy irises and tall irises and

miniature irises.

Don’t make the mistake of asking Teresa to identify her favorite iris — or two.

“I can’t!” she said. “It’s like asking someone to name their favorite child.”

Iris Country is official, with a business license, a website, and a pamphlet that contains the

names of the 170 available varieties.

The Iris Farm welcomes visitors for local sales, but the farm also caters to mail-order customers

across the country, keeping in compliance to strict USDA guidelines for preparing, packaging

and mailing the precious rhizomes.