Puttering, a little. Tree protection. Bearded Iris Seeds. 11/2/14

No photos today.  Mostly homework, and fatigue.  Today the fatigue is rather bad.

I did cut more 1/4" hardware cloth sleeves to protect trees.  As long as I do a few at a time, I can get most protected before the coldest weather sets in.  Many already have sleeves from previous years.  The largest Greenspire linden needed more room, I added a larger sleeve for that tree.  Most of the figs and fruit trees are protected.

I also moved some fencing loops to shrubs that the deer like.  No effort.  I used those to support plastic tunnels last winter.  Coincidence, they are good size and shape to protect some shrubs.

Image of German Water Vole.  via commons.wikimedia.org

I've come to regard protection from animals as an inseparable dimension in gardening, equal to mulch, fertilizer, water, pruning.  In town, sometimes not such an issue.  In the country, it is.

Rain is near continuous now.  I like that.  It ranges from mist, to drizzle, to pouring, with some breaks in between.  Even in rain and overcast, sunroom is suprisingly bright.

Finally planted some bearded iris seeds.  Only a few seeds, from Pallida dalmatica.  No way to know if it was self pollinated or cross pollinated.  I would bet self.  If they grow, we may find out in a few years.

The image is not one of our local voles.  I image they look similar.  This one is a German water vole.   Despite their compelling cuteness, voles are not wanted.  They can kill a 10 year old tree by girdling the bark, in one night. 

That's about all. 

Historic Irises. 5.13.14

Heritage Iris Bed #2

Heritage Iris Bed #1

Mostly Heritage Irists

Heritage Iris "Indian Chief"

Heritage Iris "Loreley"

These aren't the best pics.  Forgot camera so used Ipad.  Now it's in the 70s and 80s. Much drier and warmer.  The onslaught of illness has abated.  These can be considered among the toughest and most resistant, simply because they survived and bloomed.

In Iris Bed #2, "Orange Harvest" looks out of place, so should be removed.  It is labeled as fragrant but I don't smell anything.

Caprice and Pallida dalmatica both have a grape soda fragrance.  Very nice.

The colors here are fairly true, but a little washed out.  That is effect of Ipad and it is very sunny.

Beared Iris Order. Traits to seek. Lessons Learned. 5.7.14

Today I added orders for 3 varieties of bearded iris.  Two are heritage varieties.  Heritage varieties are 30 years old, or older.

Beverly Sills.  1979.  Listed as vigorous.  Pink.  There are not a lot of pink heritage varieties.  The vigor would be welcomed as well.  Bloom time early midseason.

Gingersnap.  1969.  Fragrant, listed as root beer scent.  I bought this last year, but it succumbed to bacterial rot.  I am taking a change to try again due to the fragrance.

June Kraus.  2009.  Not a heritage variety.  Nice ruffled pink.  Listed as late season.

Traits to seek.  Lessons learned.

Currently the irises that were not in the raised beds, did not develop bacterial rot.  Some were in beds that had added compost.  I had over-nurtured the raised beds with dilute plant food last summer.   Ultimately, all of the irises in the raised beds had some bacterial rot.  This hear, I will not over nurture them.  Just remove weeds. remove some of the unwanted varieties and replace with new ones or others I already have.

So -

-Don't water in summer or fall.  Or be very careful.
-Don't fertilize.  Or be very careful.
-Take note of the least affected varieties.  In this case, that's Pallida dalmatica, Pallida vareigata, Germanica, and a few others.

In addition, the earliest bloomers are the most affected by rain.  It's drier here after early may.  Try to aim for late season varieties.

The tiny ones can be nice, but are so short, they are difficult to see and almost impossible to smell.  I will remove some of those to make room for later, taller varieties.

That's the plan.

Despite the bacterial rot, there are more flowers this year than next year.  The worst seems to be over.  Some references state remove all of the affected varieties, but in my case, that's everything in all of the raised beds.  So I will depend on plant hygiene and more appropriate growth conditions, and see if they grow better this time around.

Irises. 5.3.14

Iris Beds #2 and #3.  5.3.14

 Now we are past some 80 degree weather.  I am hoping the bearded iris beds have taken their damage and the present iris clusters will recover.  The leaf fans appear firm and new leaves are growing.  I lost a few completely, as far as I can tell:  Gingersnap, Frost and Flame, and Deity.

This seems to be the blue / white  / purple stage.  Given the bacterial rot damage to leaf fans, I'm glad I grew bulbs in the iris beds.  The alliums and camassias look nice, with colors that complement the current iris flowers.

Iris florentina.  5/3/14

Iris "Red Zinger".  5.3.14

 Cherry Garden is tiny and the flowers are not rain durable.  I have 4 clusters.  I think I will narrow them down to 1 cluster.  They were not damaged by bacterial rot.

The Iris florentina is quite elegant and has a beautiful fragrance.

The Iris pallida dalmatica was not at all affected by bacterial rot.  It is quite tall, and also beautiful fragrance.

The Iris pallida variegata was also not at all affected by bacterial rot.  Not blooming yet.  Much smaller than the nonvariegated version.

Red Zinger is striking, but small.  This would be a good selection for elevated setting or elevated container.  Fragrance is amazing.  I am not good at describing fragrances, but it is truly elegant.  Just hard to get to, because the plant is miniature.  Red Zinger was from a dried out rhizome I thought was dead, from sale rack, planted winter 2012/2013.  Last year it did not bloom but spread nicely.  Disease resistance seems fairly good.

Iris germanica looks more true to a wildflower heritage.  The fragrance is pleasant.  Disease resistance seems fairly good.

More to bloom soon.

Iris germanica.  5.3.14

Iris dalmatica.  5.3.14

Looking Back. June 1 2013

Heritage Iris Bed #1

Pallida variegata

Looking back at June 1 2013.  Most of the heritage irises and some off the others were blooming.  Most of the heritage irises were in their first season here, so had not established.  This gave me a chance to view the flowers.  I think in their second year most will have more flowers, and they will be larger.  I think some will be clusters of flowers, instead of one stalk per rhizome.

The colors are very impressive.

Looking back, I didn't realize the NOID was so brilliant yellow, and the NOID plicata was so beautiful.

Honorable vs. Sans Souci

Quaker Lady

Caprice

 Gives me something to look forward to as we move into winter.

Iris flavescens

Iris pallida dalmatica

Pink Bubbles

NOID Yellow from Battleground WA

NOID plicata

NOID plicata

Historic Iris & Culinary Herb beds, progress report.

Historic Iris / Culinary Herb bed #2

This weekend I move more irises to the second raised bed.  I learned from last year's experiences.  Moving late Spring / early summer did not result in any negative consequences, and the irises I moved at that time flourished.

The varieties I moved from Vancouver were:  Cherry Garden 1966 (small variety), Pink Bubbles 1980 (small variety), and Gay Parasol 1973 (tall variety).  Any iris more than 30 years post introduction year is considered historic.  That makes me historic too.  I also added Los Coyotes 1992 - not historic.   I planted woolly thyme, which it looks like will stay very close to the ground, which I want.  The marigold sweet alyssum seedlings are about 1 inch tall.

Historic Iris / Culinary Herb bed #1

The first Historic Iris / Culinary herb bed.  Still in Bloom:  Quaker Lady, Iris pallida dalmatica, Shah Jehan, and Iris flavescens.  Iris flavescens is especially florifeorous.

Roman chamomile is too rangy.  After bloom, it will have to go elsewhere.  Greek oregano is also too tall for the small iris plants.  Lime thyme, French thyme, and sweet alyssum are ideal size.

Iris Raised Bed, heritage Irises

Heritage iris and culinary herb raised bed

 Heritage iris and culinary herb raised bed.  Now I wish I thought of this before.  They go together very will

Caprice.  The photograph color is not the same as the flower.  In person is is more of a rosy red, not so blue.  Nice sweet fragrance.  In the literature this is described as a grape fragrance.  That is not far off from reality.
Quaker Lady.  Also a nice sweet fragrance, floral.

Pallida dalmatica.  Also, sweet grape - like fragrance.  Sweeter than grapes.

Sold as Honorabile but Historic Iris Preservation Society states most likely Sans Souci.  No fragrance, which I knew when I ordered this variety.  I liked the appearance, and in person it is better than I anticipated.  Ideal little iris for this bed.  I don't know what I should call it, but leaning towards Sans Souci, since that is probably the right name.

Flavescens.  Also unscented, and also ideal for this bed.

Helen Collingwood.  I think I already posted that so will hold off doing so again.  Also nice floral fragrance.

Iris/herb bed #2 is also coming along nicely.  Both got a dusting of crushed eggshells this weekend for calcium.

Caprice 1898

Quaker lady 1909

Pallida dalmatica 1597

Honorabile 1840 (Sans souci? 1854)

Flavescens