Some Irises, 5.28.2021

 These are Bumble Delite, Gay Parasol,  Edith Woolford, top to bottom.  I'm very happy with how well they did with the mulch.

An Itoh Peony and a Couple of Irises. 5.16.2021

 I dont know the name of the Itoh peony.  Most of mine are yellow-ish.  This one is a year after planting - not bad for a peony.  The irises are Wabash and American Classic.

A Few More Bearded Iris Photos. 5.15.21

 Here are a few photos from this morning.  Some plants were photographed earlier, using Iphone.  This time it's with Nikon SLR.

I really think the hand me down varieties are nice.  Most seem healthier than the bought newer ones.  My guess is that the newest ones are over-hybridized for lush flowers, but not for disease resistance or durability or hardiness.  The hand me downs are ones that flourished over the years in local yards to the point where they had overcrowded their spaces, and were thinned out resulting in rhizomes to give away.  Ones that did not do well and were not liked, did not survive to the point of being given away.   So local gardens did the sorting out of the better ones.

However, there are some newer ones that are very nice, such as "Victoria Falls".

Many of the Bearded Irises are Blooming Beautifully. 5.14.2021

 It's interesting, how nice they are with no effort on my part.  Most of these are historic varieties and most are hand me downs via the curb side "Free Iris Rhizome" freecycle method.  I've given away many that way too.

I still need to learn how edit better on Ipad or add the names on my lap top computer.

Beverly Sills

Curbside Hand Me Down

Immortality

A modern type but I forget the name.

Another Curb Side Hand Me Down.

This was a Curb Side Hand Me Down, many years ago.  I'm certain the variety is "Accent.

Another Hand Me Down.

Iris dalmatica

A "Found in the dog park illegally dumped" Hand Me Down.  Quite Lovely.

This variety is modern, "Red Dirt Road".

Irises. 5.10.2021

 The bearded irises seem to be quite happy with minimal maintenance.  I'll have to add the names tomorrow using my computer - this old Ipad doesn't allow it.

Iris dalmatica

Iris dalmatica

Iris "Alcazar"

Hand Me Down white bearded iris

Curbside Hand Me Down Bearded Iris.  I'm pretty sure this is "Blue Shimmer".

Some Irises. 5.9.2021

 The iris bed was too much to keep weeded, and I didn't get to mulch it last winter.  So it's pretty weedy.  The interesting thing is, this is the first year they didn't have leaf spot and bacterial rot diseases.  My theory is that they need ground cover, either mulch or weeds, to prevent soil spores from splashing onto the leaves and starting an epidemic.  The down side of the weediness, other than appearance, is there seem to be fewer flowers this year.

I love bearded irises so will continue to work on my growing method.  I feel certain that will mean a bark chip mulch.  Last fall I moved some to the vegetable and fruit garden.  Those are mulched and also have no leaf spot or bacterial rot diseases, and also few flowers.

Some flowers. 4.25.2021

 Some nice Spring flowers are blooming.  In addition to lilacs, there are the apples of course.  And this Prairie Fire crabapple, that I planted about 8 years ago.

Someone on the old GardenWeb site said it wouldn't grow here.  Obviously wrong.  I don't believe everything I read.

An Iris germanica and some Camassia.

I like the Camassia because they are native, and because deer and rabbits don't eat them.

Some Hyacinthoides.  In town, these are invasive.  Here at my country place, they have a hard time establishing.  I think herbivores eat them.  A few clumps survive.

An Iris florentina, in the woods border.  It gets almost no care - no watering and only weeding when I can.  These, and the I. germanica, are much earlier than most bearded iris.

 

Irises. 6.2.2020

With a week of rain, the irises are looking a little sad.  However, there are some bright spots.   I think I'll get rid of most of the rebloomers (four of them) from the main iris bed.  They seem to be much more disease susceptible in the rainy season when they should be at their best.  I'll also move the short ones, Bumblebee delight and Honorable vs Sans Souci, to the border by the vegetable garden.   That will make room for six or seven  rescue irises, so I can close down those beds.   I think the super modern, lavish frilly most colorful irises are the most disease prone and disappointing.   The older ones seem tougher and perform better for me.

Gay Parasol.  6.2.2020

Edith Wolford.  6.2.2020

Red Knight.  6.2.2020

Absolute Treasure.  6.2.2020

Not an iris!  A peony.  6.2.2020

Bumblebee Delight.  6.2.2020

Honorabile or Sans Souci.  6.2.2020

Unidentified rescue iris.   A keeper!  6.2.2020

A group of rescue irises.  I think I'll keep all of them, but move to the main iris bed.  6.2.2020

Some Ugly Irises. 5.23.2020

I need to do some thinning out of the bearded iris plants.  That's hard to do, they are my favorite flower.  However, some are ugly, and some do poorly.  This season will be when I make some decisions.

The iris garden is getting weedy and the rains and chills have not been kind.

The cultivar "Cheetah Cheese was more oranges and yellows in the photos from the nursery.  This one is mauve-ugly with white.  It's uglier in person than in this photo.  It will go into the trash  The cultivar "Blatant" is sold as a rebloomer.  In the internet photos, the flowers practically glow.  In my garden, they look like the skin of someone with a really bad blood vessel disease.  This one also did not bloom last year, and one of the two plants that I had developed rot.  This one looks like that might happen too.  I think some are over-hybridized and more susceptible to disease compared to some of the oldies.  Blatant will also go.  They probably shouldn't go into compost if they are possibly infected with something.

Bearded Iris "Cheetah Cheese".  5.23.2020

Bearded Iris "Blatant"  5.23.2020

Iris Garden Today. 5.15.2020

Sunny Disposition.  5.15.2020

Bearded Iris Garden.  5.15.2020

Victoria Falls.  5.15.2020