Bearded Iris Progress Report. 7.19.14

Historic Bearded Iris Raised Bed #2

Historic Bearded Iris Raised Bed #1

I really messed up the historic iris beds last year.  I gave them lots of TLC, compost, lime, coffee grounds, eggshells, and a small nitrogen boost.  Growth was lush and thick.  They looked great going into winter.

Then this Spring, they grew lush again, then were hit with multiple waves of bacterial rot.  Clump after clump was affected, with some losing almost all of the leaf fans, some losing a few.  A few were lost entirely.  Some have one tiny shoot remaining.

Meanwhile, the irises I planted in the fence-row, and in borders by the house, were entirely neglected and had no bacterial rot.  They bloomed reasonably well.

Realizing the TLC was the problem, but not knowing what aspect of TLC, I left the historic iris raised beds alone for the rest of Spring and early summer.

Meanwhile, this Spring I received an order of several varieties from Old House Gardens, and this week a partial order from Schreiner's.  I would not have ordered them, had I known the bacterial rot would be so challenging, but those orders were from some time back.

Today I weeded and culled Historic Bearded Iris Bed #2.  Culls:  All but one cluster of Cherry Garden.  That variety did survive the epidemic, but blooms too early, in the rain, which destroys many of the flowers.  The bloom time is short.  I still like it, very pretty, so kept one cluster.   I culled Romeo, which may be mislabeled, was ugly, bloomed only in Fall for 2 years, when the flowers are made even uglier by the rains.  Some varieties came through the epidemic like champions - Loreley, Sunny Disposition, and some fans of Los Coyotes.  The new rhizomes of Owyhee Desert and Gay Geisha barely survived, but have some small baby shoots.  The rest were in between.  From the areas where I removed rhizomes, or where there was no longer a cluster, I dug out the soil, replacing with powderized mole hill soil, without supplement or compost.  I planted the replacement Gingersnap  from Schreiners, where the prior one died.  I planted Mrs. George Darwin, Dauntless, and Crimson King where others were removed, in the replacement soil.  Dauntless has a suspicious area, may have bacterial rot.  Will try anyway.  I removed the weeds and all of the sedum, so there would not be plants shading the rhizomes.    I watered them in.  Debated doing that.  The summer days are hot, sunny, and dry.  I hope that means no further epidemic, and the watering helps them establish.  But no other TLC.

I pulled just enough weeds from bed #3 to plant the new variety "June Krauss".  That is also in un-enriched replacement soil.

I pulled some weeds and removed clusters of Chinese Chives from Historic Iris Bed #1. I liked the Chinese Chives there but they take too much room.  I dug out the first row, including the tiny remaining sprout of Shannopin and small sprouts of Flavescens and Alcazar.  I replaced the soil with unimproved soil, and replanted those 3 plants.  They may not have enough growth to bloom next year.  If they produce enough for growth the following year, that will make me happy.  I removed a few more weeds, watered the rest lightly because the soil is too hard to get the weeds out, and watered in the replanted irises.

I don't want to lose the Alcazar.  I hope it survives.

The Chinese chives are sitting in the shade.  They need a new location.  They are seedlings from my parents' yard, so I don't want to lose them.

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.

Heritage Iris Bed. 5.6.14

Heritage irises in bloom.  5.6.14

 More of the heritage irises are blooming.  Iris florentina and Her Majesty continue to bloom and continue to be fragrant.  Indian Chief is blooming and is lightly fragrant.  Iris pallida dalmatica is the tallest and most fragrant so far.

Maybe with warmer drier weather the bacterial rot problem will resolve.  I hope so.  No additional compost or other stimulants.

I thought the Caen Anemones were all eaten by rabbits or deer.  A few are blooming after all.  They survived the big freeze, but the animals are another matter.  Maybe they will continue to survive.

Bearded Irises. Bacterial Rot. New Order. 4.20.14

Iris Bed.  Bacterial Blight Takes a Toll.

The Last Shipment of Historic Iris Rhizomes.

That Package held a lot of rhizomes.

Disappointed.  All 3 beds of bearded iris are affected by bacterial blight.  Every plant.  A few have died, completely.  This follows another week of rain.  The photo doesn't look as bad as they do in reality.

The irises in the front border were not affected.  That must indicate, the TLC these got was detrimental.  I can't think of any other reason

Since every iris was affected, it's no use removing them and trying to isolate the diseased ones.  I'll continue weeding and pulling out dead fans.  Im guessing about 1/4 of the fans have rotted.  Maybe more.  Most of the leaves are at least a little affected.

Interesting timing for the order to arrive from Old House Gardens.  But they did.  I did not want to plant them on top of rotting iris rhizomes, so gave them a temporary place in what I planned to have as a vegetable bed.  After things dry out, if it looks like the disease rhizomes survive and come out of it, I'll plant them together again.

This is the first time this has happened..  It must be the combination of feeding them too well, plus the rainy chilly weather after a burst of growth.

Puttering. Progress Note. 3.25.14

Chinese Chives.  Compare established with 1 year old.

Planted dwarf gladiolus today

 Today "day off" from work.  Mostly homework and rest.  Lot of homework, and needed rest very much.

 I did make "rounds" in the yard and garden.  I planted one type of bulb - really corm.  The Nanus mix is a dwarf type, hardy species of gladiolus.  Some writers describe gladiolus as deer resistant.  Others state deer will eat the flowers.  I'll give them a try.

My success with "Joy of Gardening" brand bulbs from Fred Meyer is mixed.  Their mix of Anenome blanda was all blue, not blue + white + pink as pictured.  They did all grow and they look nice.   Their mix of Hyacinthoides hispanica is growing but not with enthusiasm.  The daffodil variety mix was almost entirely all yellow trumpet, not the various yellow / white / orange cup on the picture.  Still they are interesting to try and I bought on impulse.

The established Chinese chives are much more vigorous compared to the seedlings.  The seedlings are one year old.  The established ones were divisions I planted last year, from plants grown many years ago from seeds.  Division and planting in new soil invigorated them.

Last fall I planted daffodil and hyacinth bulbs in the bearded iris raised beds.  Both are considered deer resistant and toxic to other animals.  They make a cheerful display now, long before irises bloom.  They will be done with the irises bloom.

Iris Bed #1 bulbs blooming

Planting bulbs in Fall is an act of faith, that I'll be around in the Spring.  And I am here so that feels good.

Among the daffodils in my yard, Jetfire is the first to bloom, then Dutch Master, then various.  Minnow is almost blooming.  Triandrus is almost blooming

The raised bed garden is looking green.  The potato wells look like rustic monuments that could have been among the Easter Island figures, or some Mayan tomb.  No potato plants visible yet.

Iris Bed #2 bulbs blooming.

Raised Bed Garden

Iris Bacterial Rot

 A few irises have bacterial rot.  Disappointing.  I've had that happen with a few in the past.  The rhizomes survived but were set back.  This is variety Edith W.  The rain is hard on them.  If a variety dies out, I'll assume natural selection is doing its thing, and not replace that disease susceptible variety.

I have 2 rows of snow peas.  All I needed to do was protect them with chicken wire.

The Quince cuttings have leaves and flowers.  Hardwood cuttings can do that, then die without producing roots.  We'll see.

The quince cuttings border a shallot bed.  There are also plum hardwood cuttings, Hollywood and Shiro.  They are blooming too.  We'll see about them too.

I was about to give up on Four O'clock seedlings.  I see one has germinated.  I brought it home for better light in the CFL light unit.

It feels good to have things growing.

Snow Peas Growing

Quince Cuttings and Shallots.

Four O'clock Germinating Seedling.