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

Iris of the Day: Repeat Performance. 5.9.19

Tall Bearded Iris "Repeat Performer"  5.9.19

I planted "Repeat Performance" late last summer / early fall. Due to the timing, I didn't expect a bloom, but here it is. Very large, lush looking flower. Nice fragrance.  We'll see how it does as the clump establishes.  The name emphasizes that this is a repeat blooming variety, so we'll see if it does that, too.

The photo below shows the largest group of clumps that survived and bloomed in the woodlot border.   Very nice, I think.

Back to front, Iris flavescens, Alcazar, and Lorelei.  5.9.19

I

An Ugly Iris. 5.8.19

I  bought this iris, "My Friend Jonathan" late last summer / early fall at Costco.   It was in a package with the variety " His Royal Highness".   The rhizomes were very vigorous, grew rapidly, got through the winter without problems, and just started blooming.

What can I say?  This color is like an old faded Kodachrome.  It looks like there is a layer of dirt covering a nicer looking flower.  But there isn't.  It has a faint fragrance.

Iris pigments don't always photograph true.  I think the photo is nicer than the flower in person.

I'm not usually one to dig up a healthy plant and throw it away, but this one will go when it finishes blooming.  There are countless better looking ones.  This cultivar has the advantage of reblooming, so you can look at ugly twice a year.

I hope "His Royal Highness" looks better.

Bearded Iris rhizome "Blatant" 10.16.18

Today I was at Portland Nursery.  I didn't see much that interested me, but did not want to leave empty handed.  This bearded iris caught my eye.  It's a rebloomer, described as very fragrant.  This will be a test.  It's very late to plant bearded iris rhizomes, these looked very dried out, and they are not all that large.  I think it's unlikely there will be bloom in Spring, but as a reblooming variety, maybe it will bloom later next year.  Rebloomers are considered more vigorous and faster growing than traditional bearded iris, so it's possible.