Showing posts with label bearded iris. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bearded iris. Show all posts

Thursday, May 14, 2020

More Bearded Iris Blossoms. 5.14.2020

Here is the white orphaned irise today.  It's nice.  Unlike "Immortality", it doesn't look like wet tissue paper after a rain. 


Here is what that iris rhizome looked like 5.21.2020 after I cleaned it up, after pulling it out of the brush pile.  It's amazing that it bloomed in almost exactly one year.  Irises are rugged.  That blossom was probably from the largest of these rhizome pieces.




Here is a view of the iris garden today.


"Immortality".  It actually does not look like wet tissue paper this time.  5.14.2020

Honorabile or Sans Souci, which may be the same thing.  5.14.2020

"Spiced Custard"  5.14.2020

"Red Dirt Road".  5.14.2020

"Edith Wolford".  5.14.2020

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Orphaned Bearded Irises, First Bloom. 5.13.2020

These grew from rhizomes found while walking Rufus.  The white one was in the power company easement where a lot of people walk their dogs, and some dump yard waste, which is probably illegal.  The others were from a curbside "Free Irises" box, just rhizomes.  The sign said "purple and yellow" but that doesn't quite seem accurate.  One is not quite open, looks similar to Shah Jehan.  The last is the variety "Sunny Disposition", which I thought had died and I three the rhizomes into the woodlot, discovering growing rhizomes a year or two later and planting to see what would grow.  At the time, the only yellow that I had was "Sunny Disposition", and this looks exactly like it, so that clinches the ID.

Unknown White Iris from Walking Rufus.  5.12.2020
Unknown Irises From Walking Rufus.  5.13.2020

Iris Sunny Disposition.  5.13.2020

Monday, May 11, 2020

More Bearded Iris Blossoms. 5.11.2020

Bearded irises are my favorite flower.  Here are some more photos, taken today 5.11.2020
This was a "free rhizome" from the curbside while walking Rufus.

I pollinated "Immortality" with "Spiced Custard" and this is what grew.  I call it "Golden Caterpillar Climbing the Snowy Mountain to the Temple".  :-)



"Repeat Performance"


"Zin City"

Not an iris!  I planted this Itoh Peony from Home Depot a few months ago.  It's nice to have a sample flower now.  "Scarlet Heaven", I think.  5.11.2020

Another photo of  curbside rhizome, I think is "Blue Shimmer"  5.11.2020


Bearded Irises. 5.11.2020

Bearded iris "Iris pallida dalmatica"  5.11.2020
 Here are some irises in bloom today.  This is the best they've ever done for me.  Many are recovered from a few years ago when I gave up and deposited the rhizomes in the woodlot, only to find they did well in that situation so I recovered them and replanted.

I think the biggest problem is I'm reluctant to mulch them.  Everything I read says "don't mulch irises" but in reality, I think they do better that way, less fungal and bacterial disease.  Maybe this year I'll do that.

The watermark is my prior blog.  I'll change Picasa so it correctly shows this blog, in the future.
On the left, "Hemstitched" (I think).  Unknown on the right.

Modern bearded iris from Schreiners, "Red Dirt Road".  5.11.2020

The yellow iris is "Sunny Disposition".  I've grown this one for 20 years.

Various historic iris.  5.11.2020

Historic iris "Alcazar".  5.11.2020

"Left on the curb, free!" iris rhizome.  Possibly "Blue Shimmer".  5.11.2020

Iris "Play to Win".  5.11.2020

Iris "Sunny Disposition".  5.11.2020

Iris "Spiced Custard".  5.11.2020


Sunday, May 19, 2019

Two More Rescued Iris Cultivars. 5.19.19

Bearded Iris "American Classic".  5.19.19
 These are two more rescues from the woodlot.  Now having bloomed, I can identify them.  It's a little like going through an o,d closet or attic and finding clothes that are useable and liked.

"American Classic" is modern, developed by Schreiners in 1996.  "Gay Parasol" is modern to my eyes, but also considered historic, developed by Schreiners in 1973.

Historic varieties are at least 30 years old.  This  one has nice color and form, and a little bit of ruffle, but is not as big and lavish as many of the 21st century developments.  Now that they are identified, I'll label them again and move them to big iris bed when they are dormant.

Today while delivering meals, I saw a large, obviously many-years ago established, border of Gay Parasol.  The house  is much older than the 1973 date, so it's possible that this iris was planted there 20 or more years ago.  There were others that I could not identify.  All very nice.


Bearded Iris "Gay Parasol".  5.19.19

Bearded Iris Test Garden. 5.19.19

 I'm pretty happy with how the irises have done this year.  Some are not done yet, but I can see the results.  Only two of the old, rescued clumps were not up to producing at least one flower.  Of the new cultivars, bought by mail order, only one ("Cheetah Cheese") produced flower at all.  I had 2 rhizomes of that variety, and unfortunately the one of those that did bloom was something else entirely.  I also had a new one, "Blatant", that I had bought locally and which was small, dried out, dead looking rhizomes, that I think I planted in October.  I didn't have a big expectation that they would survive, let alone bloom.  They did survive, are growing vigorously, so might bloom next year.   I expect that next year, these new ones may have more flowers, and the stems may be taller because the plants will be more established.

Next I will want to cull a few that are really not worth the space and effort.  In addition, I want to re-combine a few cultivars that are separated into more than one bunch, which will free up some spaces and look better.

I think I want the smaller cultivars together at one end of the bed.  I also want the re-bloomers together, because they benefit from extra care during the summer while others will be dormant.

The main thing now is I get to enjoy these beautiful flowers, and the bonus is most bloomed this year, a year sooner than I expected.

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Irises Today. 5.15.19

Most of these are the same as other recent photos, but it wasn't raining today and I have a better camera this time.
Iris bed.  5.15.19
Mostly, Iris "Golden Caterpillar Climbs Snowy Mountain".  5.15.19
Iris Helen Collingwood.  5.15.19  Variety created in 1949 by Smith.
Iris Honorabile.  5.15.19  Variety created in 1840 by Lémon
Iris Loreley.  5.15.19  Variety created about 1909 or before, by Max Goos & August Koenemann
Iris Alcazar.  5.15.19.  Variety created by Phillippe de Vilmorin in Paris, France. It first bloomed in 1905.
Iris "Pay To Win"  5.15.19  Variety created by Hager in 2002.
Iris "Red Dirt Road".  5.15.19.   Variety created by Schriener in 2013.
Iris "Red Dirt Road".  5.15.19
Iris "Sunny Disposition".  5.15.19  Created by by Zurbrigg in 1989.
Historic Irises.  5.15.19
Mislabeled Iris.  Maybe Kinkajou Shrew.  5.15.19

Saturday, May 11, 2019

Iris of the Day: Victoria Falls. And Others. 5.10.19

Victoria Falls.  5.10.19
Moving into more active iris blooming season. I'm impressed that so many that I planted last summer and fall are coming into their first bloom.  True, only one flower per rhizome (Except the ugly "My Friend Jonathan" which has two flower stalks), but it gives me a chance to see how they look.  They may also be smaller than they will be when established.

Today's most interesting is the modern "Victoria Falls", a fragrant, pale blue, rebloomer.  The color is nice.  In the sunlight, there appears to be a dusting of diamond dust on the petals, that glitters in the sun.  Very nice effect, which I have not seen before.

Of others, "Blutique" is not open yet, but the white spatters on blue show through the bud.

"His Royal Highness", the other half of the package that contained "My Friend Jonathan', is OK.  Strong looking growth, dark blue, slight fragrance.  Nothing that makes it stand out from other blue irises, but not bad.  Also marketed as a rebloomer.  I was thinking, maybe "My Friend Jonathan" might be more interesting if it actually reblooms in summer, when the light and other other flowers are different.

Blutique.  5.10.19
I recall "Spiced Custard" as being a larger flower.  It may be that my rescuing it from the edge of the woodlot, it didn't have time to build energy for a better performance.  I don't detect any fragrance.

And finally, a white iris with a golden beard.  This resulted from my pollinating "Spiced Custard" with pollen from "Immortality", many years ago.  I grew a number of seedlings, but this was the only one I kept.  It looks as good as any, with a golden beard instead of the white one of  "Immortality".  Mildly fragrant, smells like an iris.  So for my own record keeping, it's "Golden Caterpillar", short for "Golden Caterpillar Ascends The Snow Covered Mountains to Visit the Temple".  :-)
His Royal Highness.  5/10/19

Spiced Custard.  5.10//19

My Hybrid, "Golden Caterpillar".  5.11.19