FLOWERING HOBBY BECAME BOOMING BUSINESS.

Byline: Tim Hearden Merced Sun-Star 

When iris eyes are smiling, Betty McMurtry is happy.

Every year, she cultivates some 70,000 iris plants, sending the flowers to nurseries throughout the San Joaquin Valley.

Since 1971, the garden has been a diversion for McMurtry, who works with her husband, Clyde, at farming and raising cattle. But the garden now surrounds the couple's home and attracts occasional visitors.

McMurtry has found that the plants' beauty goes beyond what people can see.

``It's very relaxing to your mind,'' she said of her gardening. ``It's more satisfying than washing dishes or cooking because you see your achievements. You have something pretty to look at.''

When the McMurtrys bought their place 25 years ago, there was ``nothing but weed and patch,'' McMurtry said.

So she bought a bunch of irises in Fresno and brought them home, only to discover that her husband had cut all the weeds down and found numerous iris plants underneath.

The previous owner had bought some 1,000 different types, and every year McMurtry buys some new ones - ``the ones I think are pretty.'' The couple has standard dwarfs, intermediates and tall irises.

She sells the plants to nurseries in a 60-mile radius between Fresno and Atwater.

``I sell them bare root and in pots,'' she said.

With thousands of flowers to cultivate, McMurtry always has something to keep her busy. But the plants are easy to take care of, she said, since they don't need a lot of water.

The McMurtrys mainly use their property as a cattle ranch, although they're leasing out some of their land to corn and cotton growers.

While the irises may not be the couple's main source of income, it's a major source of pleasure.