Irises today. 5.12.19

Unknown, Old Yellow Iris.  5.12.19

I didn't see anything that special today, although I'm enjoying the iris garden and there were some additional varieties blooming. Of those in early or peak blooming today, I think I like "Owyhee Desert" the best.

The yellow that is unidentified, came with the place.  There's no way to know the variety.  Looking at the Historic Iris Society website, it could be one called "Antigone", or one called "Country Butter".   It's a nice, old-type (mid 20th century) iris, so I'll keep it as a link to the past at my place, and just call it unknown, old yellow iris.

The lavender iris here is pinker in person.  In the photo, it looks more blue.  Not fragrant.  I think I will cull it, I have more than I can take care of and it doesn't have any special characteristics that make me want to keep it.

"Play to Win" came out quite nice.  It's kind of a standard, white standard / yellow fall iris.  Nice form.  Some fragrance.

The Unknown Pink was in the woodlot.  If another pink blooms and they look the same, then there's a tentative ID.  Possibly - but not certain - Beverly Sills.

"My Friend Jonathan" and "His Royal Highness".  5.12.19

Lavender iris.  5.12.19

Another photo of "Owyhee Desert".  5.12.19

"Play To Win".  5.12.19

Unknown Pink.  5.12.19

Irises of the Day. Blutique, Owyhee Desert, and Loreley. 5.11.19

Blutique.  5.11.19

Today has three "Irises of the day". Mostly, the iris of the day is one that comes into bloom on that dat. I tried twice before to grow "Owyhee Desert" but had disease problems in those iris beds, and gave up. It turns out to be as nice in person as in the photos. Blutique was a surprise. I thought that maybe the ones I planted in early July might bloom this year (Owyhee Desert among others) but doubted the September plantings, such as Blutique, would bloom in their first May here.
i was wrong.  Most of the new ones are blooming.

I think "Blutique" will make an awesome large clump in a few years, and "Owyhee Desert" will be striking as well.

Both are fragrant.

Loreley.  5.11.19

Loreley has been grown since some time between 1900 to 1919. It's a sturdy variety, and seems more disease resistant than most. I've been growing it since 2012. The color variations make it interesting, and it's a nice coincidence that all three of todays irises have variegated flower patterns.

Owyhee Desert.  5.11.19

Pepper Plants. 5.11.19

Pepper Plants, started from seeds in January.  5.11.19

I'm moving these on to outside life.  I potted them up from tiny 6-packs into these pink packs that were saved from petunias that I bought last year.  Peppers like it warm, and it's been in the 80s during the day.  The largest, in bloom, are Cayennes, followed by Jalapenos.  This year I want to keep them in containers, for protection from soil herbivores and to keep them warm for better performance.

Sarracenias. 5.11.19

The Sarracenias are coming to life.  The yellw flower is on "Extreme Green".  5.11.19

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

Laburnum in Bloom. Kitchen Garden Today, 5.8.19

Laburnum at 7 years.  5.8,19

I planted this laburnum as a sale tree from Home Depot, in summer 2012.

For some reason, it's never had the long trailing flower clusters of others that I have seen.  Still, it's a nice tree, with nice flowers, and has stayed a moderate size.  This tree now males it through the summers with no watering and receives almost no care.

In the kitchen garden today, I planted the rest of the sauce tomatoes (Ranger).  A dozen plants is plenty for me.  Getting them into the ground, they are less apt to dry out in their little containers.

Iris of the Day. Indian Chif. And Some Others. 5.8.19

Iris " Indian Chief".  5.7.19

Iris Alcazar.  5.8.19

Another iris in the woodlot border opened its flower.  This time, it's "Indian Chief".

"Indian Chief" was released to the public, some time in the 1920s.  In the years that followed, the country would need something bright and beautiful, that  could multiply and be given to others.

It's not a large clump.  I may move it out of te border and into the bearded iris bed, where it can have better care.

I did not appreciate a fragrance but need to check again.

Below, the clump of Alcazar shows off its vigor and pride.  The clump of Iris flavescens to the right, has just begun to bloom.

I weeded here, after taking the photo.

Iris flavescens.  5.8.19

Note: I initially identified "Indian Chief" iris as "Dauntless". Reviewing old blog entries, this is "Indian Chief".  The photos match perfectly.  I will move it to the main iris bed, where it will have more sunshine and better care than here, in the woodlot border.

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.

Planting Sweet Corn Seeds. 5.7.19

Mesh to protect sweet corn seeds, planted 5.7.19

It may be too early.  However, this promises to be an early summer, hot and dry.  So I planted two blocks of sweet corn.  I generally plant a new block of sweet corn seeds, for 4 rows of 5 plants per row, every 2 or 3 weeks until late june.  If it does turn put to be too early and these either don't germinate or don't thrive, I can replant the beds in a few weeks.

I planted the varieties Burpee's  Farmers' First se hybrid, and Bodaceous se hybrid.  I placed mesh over one block, and fencing low tunnels over the other, to reduce herbivorous browsing of the seeds and small plants.

The soil is quite warm and dry now. Midday soil temp was in the 70s.  It feels like midsummer soil.