Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Specific Families and Genera => Iris => Topic started by: David Nicholson on February 07, 2008, 06:53:07 PM
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Here's a picture of my Iris lazica still sending up flowering stems albeit a single stem at a time. I posted the first one on 4 December. Now why can't I get my Iris uguicularis to flower? :( :(
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David, what a stunning flower, and doing so well for you.
As to your Iris unguicularis.... why should yours flower for you, mine never flowers for me?
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My I. unguicularis wouldn't flower until I totally neglected and ignored it and had weeds growing up, over and through it. THEN it started to bloom and still does each year, still covered in other rubbish and thriving apparently on being treated with contempt. It's never watered or given any love or affection whatsoever, which is odd as I do, in fact, love it very much indeed.
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Our I unguicularis has also failed to flower this winter.Could ir be that it likes a hot, dry summer?
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It certainly does. Maybe not the easiest thing to provide in north-east Scotland? :)
And although it always looks shabby, it DOES NOT like to have its old leaves removed. Many people cut them back on the premise that the rhizomes, thus exposed to the sun, will enjoy the baking but the plants doesn't appreciate the shearing at all.
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The patches of Iris unguicularis that have done really well are those in the full sun that get backed ... uhm but one patch has a huge rock on the western )setting sun) side. I might cut the tops back but only by a third to a half but I usually don't do a thing and they flower well. The might get some extra water if they are lucky. The best patch is just behind the large patch of Urginia maritima.
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Many Plants are flowering out of time and much earlier than normal - so this yellow Iris suaveolens the violet form flowerd here in january. ::)
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A really nice form Hans !
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Hans, very lovely!
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Here are two more photographed near Deskati in northern Greece
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now in flower-indoor
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now in flower-indoor
Lovely, but why indoors Gerhard?
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I would be most grateful for any recommendations for books on irises - varieties and/or cultivation.
Chloë
resolved to start bringing her book collection up to date ...
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I would be most grateful for any recommendations for books on irises - varieties and/or cultivation.
Chloë
resolved to start bringing her book collection up to date ...
Chloe,
there is ' Iris ' from Fritz Köhlein - 1981 Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart
unfortunately in German - maybe there is an English version published later?
Gerd
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Chloe - another very good book is "The Iris"- author Brian Mathew - this is also a bit older ( 2. edition 1991?), it is more detailed than Köhleins book - and easier to obtain.
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Thanks Gerd - I'm afraid my serious German reading is limited to recipes and menus! - and Hans - I'll look it up.
I see that the Members Book List page has among New Books in February "Irises - Claire Austin". Presumably recommended, otherwise it wouldn't be there :)
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Chloe, I don't want to actually recommend 'Irises' to you or you may feel entitled to a refund if not completely satisfied :o
The book is an Encyclopedia describing both species and cultivar irises with photographs of most of them. I think it is very comprhensive and it is a book I like.
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Chloe,
I have Claire Austin's book and it is quite good but a bit pricey. It really depends, I think, on what you want to achieve and the state of you present Iris knowledge.
The first iris book I bought was Irises by Linnegar and Hewitt, it is in the RHS Wisley Handbook series and cost me £7.99 and I find it very useful indeed. You can get a new copy of it from the Abe Books Web Site for £0.95 plus £3.35 post and packaging.
Another good buy is The Gardener's Guide to Growing Irises by Geoff Stebbings and a new copy of this on Abe Books would set you back £9 plus £3 p/p.
Gerd mentioned Iris by Fritz Kohlein, the Timber Press edition of this, in English, is available on Abe Books for £13 plus £3 p/p
see http://www.abebooks.co.uk/?cm_ven=ggl&cm_cat=Abebooks%20UK%20-%20corporate&cm_pla=abebooks_corporate&cm_ite=abebooks%5Bexact%5D
Hope this helps a little.
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Here are a few of the dwarf Irises flowering just before my trip away last week.
1 Iris Iris Katharine Hodgkin does much better in the humus rich soil beds than in pot but is often damage by the weather or possibly birds (I often find the flowerhead cut off and laying on the soil nearby).
2 Iris winogradowii has similar likes and habit but tkes to the pot a little more readily for me.
3 Iris winogradowii a closer look.
4 Iris reticulata Cantab just seems to do the one year for me, in or out of a pot but is so cheap in the garden centres to replace each year.
5 Iris bakeriana I can only grow in a pot and I am just nursing it back after its decline but is building up strength now.
6 The photographic club I belong to are always trying to pursuade me to take a different look at the flowers than just the conventional plant portrait, so here is another look at Iris bakeriana.
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There certainly is an English version of the Kohlein book. I have it and generally, it's a very good book, let technical that the Mathew book but that's the best of all, I think.
There's also "Iris of China" by (Jim) Waddick and Zhao. Though with a smaller range than the others. it too is very good.
There are many "gardener" books on irises (as distinct from specialist) and most will give something worthwhile, but the 3 above are essentials, for me. There's always Dykes of course, sometimes available in the later edition and at a reasonable price.
Try amazon.com and Timber Press too.
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Wonderful shots John !!
You make the Iris look even better than they already are. ;D
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Thank you so much for the iris book recommendations, David, David and Lesley.
Chloë
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Here two distinct Iris sisyrinchium - flowering today in my garden - first is a form of the Balearic Island, second is a turkish variant.
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Hans A. which island do you live on?
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Hans, very lovely flowers... I like these very much.... I am not sure if it is correct to call them Iris sisrinchium... these used to be Gynandriris sisyrinchium but I think that now the synonym Moraea sisyrinchium is used ??? Unless those taxonomists have changed their minds again, of course :P ::) :-\
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Hans, you may find this useful
http://www.badbear.com/signa/signa.pl?Moraea-sisyrinchium
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thanks - You are certainly right, I am sorry :-[ - In my garden they are still running as Gynandriris sisyrinchium, but I knew this name was not correct anymore - I did not remember well - but as Moreaea for me are southafrican plants I put them to Iris ;).
Mark I live on Mallorca.
John very good pics of your beautyful plants.
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but as Moreaea for me are southafrican plants I put them to Iris .
Understandable and also quite sensible.... 8)
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Every time I was on that isalnd little did I know what was there but that was in my teens. If I knew then what I know now!
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Every time I was on that isalnd little did I know what was there but that was in my teens. If I knew then what I know now!
Very profound Mark, very profound! :P
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In my garden they are still running as Gynandriris sisyrinchium,
Whenever I see this plant, I am reminded that for years I mispronounced it as "Gin and Iris" a bizarre but intriguing combination
;D ::) :o
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Well, I've been known to wander round the garden of an evening, with a gin and tonic in my hand. Gin and iris go well together in my (slightly wobbly) opinion. ;D
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an Iris lineata
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Rafa
A fantastic photograph of a beautiful Iris
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Rafa,
nice to share this perfect pic of this very rare cultivated Iris - just great- the small number of Regelias I am growing are still far away from flowering.
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I do second Hans' comment Rafa. I've heard of but never seen this one before.
David, if you're there, I should have a very few seeds for you soon of Iris barbatula. Just the one pod set.
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This is Iris paradoxa f. Sevan, quite bigger and darker than normal paradoxa. I include a virtual herbarium sheet that I did for compare with other Iris paradoxa
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Magnificent
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David, if you're there, I should have a very few seeds for you soon of Iris barbatula. Just the one pod set.
I'm here Lesley, if you have some to spare I would love some please.
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this is Iris paradoxa f. Sevan, quite bigger and darker than normal paradoxa
Oh scrumptious!
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Hello Rafa,
great plant, and as usual great pics ;D !
Which size have the standards of this paradoxa form?
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I like the cupped or arched standards rather than the more open ones of I. p. `Choschab' and the falls seem a little larger than in that form. Beautiful markings on the falls and style arms too.
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another regelia
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David, if you're there, I should have a very few seeds for you soon of Iris barbatula. Just the one pod set.
I'm here Lesley, if you have some to spare I would love some please.
David ,Vlastimil Pillous ,Czech Republic offers seed of I.barbatula in his current seedlist -Lesley my plant of Iris lineata is tiny and most likely will not see any flowers on for a few years ,
Otto.
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My seed will be fresher though David/Otto. When I sowed the previous pod, the seed only a couple of months old, it took 20 months to germinate. Seed sown of fresh I. hookeriana (pseudoregelia group) from the pod which formed in the summer of 2006, has germinated just this week.
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Thanks Otto for the tip about Vlastimil Pilous' seed list. I did contact him and he has virtually sold out of everything on his current list but he will send me his new list when it is available.
I'm hanging in there Lesley ;D
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I also ordered Iris barbatula and they are germinating, so David, I will send you one plant If I have luck with these seeds.
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Rafa, that is extremely kind of you, thank you very much.
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I'd like to introduce myself. I am an iris grower for 20 year already, member of the Russian Iris Society and AIS. I'm trying to test modern american and australian varieties in our unappropriate climate. Being interested a lot in species, i'm trying to travel and find irises in the nature.
As debut I'd like to show Iris glaucescens, a real gem of the Mugodzhary rocks in Kazakhstan.
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Nice to meet you Yuri,
I follow your pictures in Signa Iris Database, and Yahoo groups abut Iris.
I think I e-mailed you sometimes...
Interesting picture, I haven't seen many pictures of this species, do you have any close up? I saw many pictures with the name Iris scariosa, many of them from Dr. Sergey Banketow.
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Rafa,
Iris scariosa and Iris glaucescens are totally different species with different areas and ecology.
Unfortunately Iris glaucescens shows up sometimes under the name scariosa, but Iris scariosa shown by Sergey Banketov is true.
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Thank you very much for explanation, so this species is not so variable in colour like I. scariosa insn't it?
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Welcome to the Forum Yuri, it is good to have you with us. I have seen your name in other places.
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Rafa,
Iris glaucescens from Siberia and North Kazakhstan has only anthocyanin pigment in its flower, so it varies in the color from violet to white only.
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Interesting!
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Welcome to the Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum Yuri and especially welcome to the Iris page if you will be posting pictures like the one above. It is a beautiful species, not seen in New Zealand I should think, so a real treat for me. I wish you every success with your southern hemisphere hybrids but yes, our climate is VERY different from that of Moscow.
Kind regards from another Irisaholic. :D
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this is Iris paradoxa more comnon than f. sevan
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Wonderful flower Rafa !!! :o
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My problem is I haven't yet seen an Iris I didn't like! ;D
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It could be a common problem, I have the same ;D
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Wonderful flower Rafa !!! :o
I guess I can repeat my previous entry.... 8)
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certenly! it has beautiful mixed colours :o
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Wonderful flower Rafa !!! :o
I guess I can repeat my previous entry.... 8)
Me also.
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What a super Iris stolonifera!
I'm afraid it would not like my loamy soil :'(
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Ir think Iri stolonifera is easy to grow if you protect it against high humidity. The following is quite difficoult to grow..
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:o :o :o :o :o :o - just great!
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Wonderful Irises and wonderful photography :) ;D :)
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Thanks Rafa,
but beside loamy soil I think my habitat is to wet for I. stolonifera. I can't protect them in the open garden from heavy rainfall.
I. afghanica is real stunner. Wow :o 8) :o 8)
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Thanks Rafa,
but beside loamy soil I think my habitat is to wet for I. stolonifera. I can't protect them in the open garden from heavy rainfall.
I. afghanica is real stunner. Wow :o 8) :o 8)
This goes for me too.
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Oh Rafa :-* :-* :-*
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Beautiful!! 8)
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I got Iris 'Sari' out of the Czech Rep. last year. As instructed it has remained bone dry until two weeks ago. How long does it take to wake? How much water do I need to give it?
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thank you to all.
I got Iris 'Sari' out of the Czech Rep. last year. As instructed it has remained bone dry until two weeks ago. How long does it take to wake? How much water do I need to give it?
Mark, I don't know in what shape your plant is at the moment, but Iris sari should be starting in early october to grow leaves with the first rains, and bloom now in march-april. After blooming or eventually fructifying they starting to dry the leaves and it has be dry during dormancy. (may-june to september-october).
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I got Iris 'Sari' out of the Czech Rep. last year. As instructed it has remained bone dry until two weeks ago. How long does it take to wake? How much water do I need to give it?
Mark the advice given to you might have been assuming outdoor culture in a more continental climate - in the Czech republic they grew oncos outside, just not a possibility in our maritime climate. I water all my iris with all my other bulbs as per the BD's instructions - mid September then mid October (that's 2 weeks added for my being well south of Aberdeen).
My Iris sari (it's a species, so small s, no quotes) has good looking foliage at the moment, so I pray for buds in the next couple of weeks or so (they are perhaps a bit later here in UK than in warm Spain). Then very warm completely dry rest in the summer. I find oncos and regelias difficult to flower here and the dry rest is crucial.
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Rafa,
I. afghanica is another real stunner ! Wonderfully photographed too !
Thanks again.
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Here's one that opened up for me today :D :
Iris reichenbachii
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beautiful wine form!, I usually see this Iris in yellow forms.
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Nice one Luc.
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Mark, I totally ignored the instructions and planted it out in my gritty bed when I got home. There are some good leaves showing now but I think the plants were too small to flower this year anyway. I will decide what to do with it later in the summer.
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Iris sari should kept dry in summer and winter but watered in autumn and spring - should.....
the saris I grow receive a lot of water in winter (rainseason) and it does not seam to be negative - one plant tends to be evergreen here and showed green leaves last year even in summer.
Luc, very beautyful form of I. reichenbachii!
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A couple of pics of my Iris suaveolens.
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very beautiful plants a very good pictures David :o
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Thank you Rafa. :-[
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A lovely form David.
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yeah, I love it too ! :)
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Now flowering:
Iris mellita from Turkey
Iris attica from Mt.Parnithos near Athen/,I also have one with blue flowers.
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Very nice Iris, :o they are so tiny
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Hi Rudi,
that Iris mellita looks very much like the one I was given as Iris attica, but which I'd presumed was Iris suavolens!
[attachthumb=1]
Do you know how to tell the difference?
cheers
fermi
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Iris attica is one of the forebears of the smallest dwarf beared hybrids and has similar short, upright foliage while I. suaveolens (syn mellita) has recurved, scimitar-like foliage. The flowers are similar yet different once you know them both.
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I understand that it has been decided that the iris attica from around Delphi and I think Athens is now suaveolens.Does this mean there is no such thing as attica. Mellita is just a form of suaveolens.
Two of mine from SW Turkey
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Thanks for the tips with I sari. I'll leave it outside now for the rest of the summer
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my iris pumila from the raised bed and then a coup[le of pictures of iris schactii from Turkey
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Lovely Iris schachtii Tony, those plum coloured bracts are beautiful. Do you keep it under glass, I note Brian Mathew suggests it is difficult to keep in Northern climes? Mind you he says that about Iris pumila but yours looks healthy enough.
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David apart from that one pumila all my dwarf iris are under glass.I get quite nice growth but hopless flowering. Last autumn I changed greenhouses for them and they are now in a much sunnier area to see if this helps.I am also feeding which is a new venture for me.here are two forms of lutescens but they may be pseudopumila,I like the blue but think the other one is horrible.
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I'm with you all the way-I like the blue! ;D
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Hi Tony,
I like all iris and though your first lutescens is a bit strange it would probably be a great parent! Do you ever get seed or do any hybridizing?
cheers
fermi
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hi Fermi
I do sometimes get a bit of seed but as I said my biggest problem is getting them to flower in the first place. I do not try and do hybridising because I really concentrate on the species and have no spare room for others.I think iris are a problem because they bloom for only two or three days and then just sit there for the rest of the year needing looking after.here is a large bearded one that I collected in Turkey which I have in the garden.The site has now gone,its a block of flats. I think it is a very lovely colour
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"...trade paradise, to put up a parking lot." :(
I don't quite agree with your time frames Tony, most irises once established would outlast crocus, tulip, narcissus or snowdrop patches, but all the same, it's why I think they're best grown in among many other kinds of bulbs and perennials, even shrubs. Then the off times are un-noticed. But sure, there's nothing so miserable as a bed if beared irises once flowering has finished.
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Firs lovely pics I have been drooling for a while
Last Year I asked about an "iris" I got in a pot of a bush bought. To be honest I bought the bush for the iris but anyway. Maggi used the bad pics to try to identify it and came up with Libertia
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=143.msg10245#msg10245
I am now happy to say that it flowered again and that I am better in using the camera so maybe it is possible to confirm the identity.
Here are the pics on flower and bud as well as on foliage.
Hope anyone will manage to identify it so it can get proper care. So far it has not improved or become worse but I hope to make it bigger and stronger.
Kind regards
Joakim
Note from Maggi: well, now I see that it is not a Libertia! Perhaps a Sisyrhinchium?
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Hello! Lesley proposed to me post my pics with wild selected forms of Iris pumila there to Iris page. So, well done! ;)
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Oakwood
:o :o :o :o :o 8) 8) 8) 8) ;D ;D ;D
Nice one thanks for showing us.
Do they come from the same area or are the plants from many different places?
Kind regards
Joakim
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Joakim! It's from different populations but all was collected in the same geographical region - steppes of SE Ukraine. Now I've got 15 clones of this species in my garden.
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Dimitri, those are very, very wonderful irises!!
Olá Joakim, great to see you here again!!
Chloë
in wet and cold Portugal
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:o :o :o wow Dimitri - what beautyful pumilas - I supose you selected them among thousands of "normal" coloured plants ? ::)
Thanks for the pics.
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Hans, they all are "normal" except number 3 probably, the red pumila is really very rare thing.
Dmitry, glad to see you here ;)
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Congratulations Dimitri, very nice pumila collection!
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Dimitri, super pumilas :o 8)
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Yuri, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
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Maggi, Thank you!!
A bit more Iris pumila, now from North Caucasus. They grow on sandy pasture.
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Beautiful Iris pumila - thanks for sharing them with us! It is great to see them in their natural home. Perhaps I should try them in my sandy soil here? :)
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Yuri, thanks a lot for the information and this superb habitatphoto - and happy birthday. :)
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Happy birthday Yuri, you have given us a beautiful sight!! but we should have been the ones who gave you a present ;D
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Dimitri thanks for the information and congratulation to have such nice varieties in the nature and now in the garden :) 8)
Yuri Happy birthday and thanks for the nice picture of the habitat of the pumilas.
Anyone able to confirm the Id on the "iris" on the last page?
Maggi with the better picture can You con firm that it is Libertia and if so can anyone help with growing instructions?
Chloe nice to be back and thanks for the welcome :-*
Kind regards
Joakim
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Wonderful view you offered us Yuri ! Stunning !
Thanks for sharing it and happy birthday from Belgium as well !
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hi Fermi
I do sometimes get a bit of seed but as I said my biggest problem is getting them to flower in the first place. I do not try and do hybridising because I really concentrate on the species and have no spare room for others.I think iris are a problem because they bloom for only two or three days and then just sit there for the rest of the year needing looking after.here is a large bearded one that I collected in Turkey which I have in the garden.The site has now gone,its a block of flats. I think it is a very lovely colour
Tony, This plant remeber me Iris mesopotamica, maybe introduced?
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Nothing earth-shattering here - Iris danfordiae taken on the 15th here. I love the green markings. It's so easy to pass over the common ones.
It still surprises that Iris Katherine Hodgkins grows well here and even spreads given its rather temperamental parent. It seems not so long ago it was nearly impossible to obtain. Now we see it in chain stores.
johnw
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Happy birthday from me too Yuri, though I think it is MY birthday with that fantastic picture. AN IRIS LAWN!!!!!
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Hi, Yuri! glad to see you too here! About my wild collected "red" form of I. pumila - it's not exeptional case in Azov steppes. My friend found yet recently 3 forms of such coloration there. But in wild conditions they aren't so saturated-red, they are more rose and lighter. This coloration appeared only on my extremely fat tchernozem-soil! ;D
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In the proximity of Vienna grow Iris pumila.
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Oh, my word!! I cannot believe how beautiful these pictures are.
A revelation and delight, thank you, Franz :-*
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:o :o Extremely beautiful, Thank you Franz!
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Franz Very nice I hope my parents see them around a stop at the highway when they go to Hungary. They are going from Linz to Vienna and then Gratz any chance to see something like that there? The risk is if they existed people would take them so most likely they do not exist on the "Rast plätse" by the highway.
Very nice and I am impressed with the variety.
Kind regards
Joakim
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I'm sure Thomas won't agree but it seems to me that a superb IRIS lawn could be achieved, to compete with (or compliment) a crocus lawn. I'm already drawing up plans. ;D
Do the posters of these super little iris pictures ever collect seed from the different forms? I'm asking because here in NZ no new work is being done with I. pumila, only the taller I. chamaeiris which is taller and whose hybrids stand warmer climates whereas I'd like to be able to try some smaller, colder-loving forms, to make new forms for our rock gardens in the south. You see where I'm heading here. If it is possible to get seed of these many different forms, I'd be very interested in either buying or exchanging. Thanks.
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@Franz - thanks for this wonderful pics - i always was at the wrong time in Vienna to see pumilas in flower ::) (mostly in the time of ""Heurigen" 8)) - for humilis it is still to early, right?
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Thank you all together for the kind comments.
Joakim, your parents have no chance such plants to see.
Hans, for I. humilis it is not to early. In my garden it already flowers.
Lesley, it is strange, but nobody collects seeds of these Iris. I also do not know why.
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Lesley, it is strange, but nobody collects seeds of these Iris. I also do not know why.
Perhaps they would do? If asked nicely?
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Yuri, Dimitri and Franz,
thanks for posting such great pics of iris, my favourite! (White fever is nothing compared to RAINBOW fever!)
Like Lesley, I hope some of you may think about collecting seed of the different colour forms and distributing them. I'd be glad to buy or exchange for them!
cheers
fermi
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I can only echo the others and ask that seed of the different coloured forms of Iris pumila might become available sometime soon. PLEASE!
How can anyone who has seen photos of the different Iris species in their natural habitat ever find the newest and frilliest tall bearded iris beautiful is beyond my understanding - but everyone to their own.
An small Iris pumila lawn might be more likely than what I envisaged years ago - aril dotting all my hillside - kind of getting there gradually though in patches.
I do so enjoy my visits to this site when I see the different gurus talking on their subjects.
Pat T
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Anyone able to confirm the Id on the "iris" on the last page?
Maggi with the better picture can You con firm that it is Libertia and if so can anyone help with growing instructions?
Joakim
Joakim,
I think your unknown is a Sparaxis by the look of it, although the flower isn't fully open. The leaves, flower and bud I think fit that genus.
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The Iris pumilas that have been posted here and elsewhere or late are absolutely amazing. I too would be another one interested in growing some of these from seed. As I said once before, I had no idea that colours like this occurred in the wild, and I adore these smaller Iris types. If anyone IS able to collect seed of some of these I would be very interested in getting some of them. Maybe Fermi and I between us can grow on a few seeds and see what we get, then share between us to maximise colours we have.
Thanks again for the wonderful pictures. An absolute JOY!! :D
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Paul thanks for the input bout my "iris".
I will check it out on Internet and also try to see it live again and hopefully take better pics.
Kind regards and a belated happy birthday Paul
Joakim
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Joakim,
You're most welcome. Happy to help if I can. 8)
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Here Iris orientalis ( bought as Iris ochroleuca 'Gigantea') a species of the Spuria - section has started to bloom - I planted it about 5 years ago, and this is its first flower - normally I have less pacience ::) :P
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Well worth waiting for Hans!
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Hans, a lovely "Gigantea"
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Well worth waiting for Hans!
I agree :D
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Here Iris orientalis ( bought as Iris ochroleuca 'Gigantea') a species of the Spuria - section has started to bloom - I planted it about 5 years ago, and this is its first flower - normally I have less pacience ::) :P
Hans I don't know I orientalis, but for I. ochroleuca Gigantea you would need a lot of space.
So maybe not to bad, getting I. orientalis.
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Luit, following Brian Mathew Iris ochroleuca is the synonym for Iris orientalis - and you are right - its a large plant ::)
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Excelent Hans, beautiful plant I was worth it
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Yes it is a beautiful iris - I have grown the straight species but not Gigantea. Iris ochroleuca syn orientalis does well here.
I am waiting - after nearly 10 years for my seed grown plant of Iris grant-duffii to flower - it keeps coming up every year up the back on the hillside and then I keep checking for a flowering stalk and then it dies down again. It does have a few increases - any hints on forcing it to flower - calcium?
Pat
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Can someone tell me if Iris taurica is suitable for a trough? I bought some last week is small pots that make them look suitable for troughs.
One of the pots has produced creamy yellow flowers. Is this a yellow form or another Iris?
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Can someone tell me if Iris taurica is suitable for a trough? I bought some last week is small pots that make them look suitable for troughs. One of the pots has produced creamy yellow flowers. Is this a yellow form or another Iris?
It is suitable for a trough or scree. Several of the species of dwarf bearded irises do have yellow and purple forms. By the way, Iris taurica is a synonym for Iris pumila. It was once considered a subspecies but now just included in I pumila.
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Thanks Diane. The plants that I have bought dont look like I. pumila shown in the forum
From the same source, Timpany Nursery, I bought Iris bloudowii. I cant find any information on it. Is it suitable for troughs or pots?
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Iris bloudowii-shortened quote from Brian Mathew's 'The Iris'
Subgenus iris, Section Psammiris (things may have changed?)
...... allied to I. humilis. Grows 15-35cm in height, strong leaves up to 30cm long and 7-13cm wide. Plant looks much leafier than I. humilis. Very inflated bracts containing 2/3 yellow flowers which have purple or brownish stain on lower part of segments. Falls have yellow beard, flower rather larger than I humilis, usually 5cm in diameter. Native of Siberia and Russian Central Asia in Tien Shan Mountains, est to Mongolia, possibly also in China. Flowers May/June in wild. Appears to be less tricky to keep than I. humilis.
Pretty little plant.
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5cm! Mine tip to tip are just over 8cm. Thanks for the info
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I'd put II.taurica and bloudowii or humilis on the rather large size for a trough unless it was quite a large one. They all make good clumps, increasing to over 40cms across after a couple of years.
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I agree with Lesley Mark - they are pretty big but short stemmed flowers, looking excellent for a trough, but the clumps will rapidly outgrow their allowed space.
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OK but as my troughs are probably too small they will have to go on the rockery
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They'll look great there Mark. The little beared irises love a rock to snuggle up against where the reflected heat ripens the rhizomes for a good flowering next year.
For a trough, if you can get hold of it, I. flavissima is excellent. It is very close botanically to I.bloudowii/humilis but is smaller and neater and the foliage dies right down for winter. The flower is similar to the one in your pic above, a little smaller though. Or you could try I. melitta and its lovely smokey purple form, var. rubromarginata.
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This is our native tall bearded iris Imbricata, that I brought 2 years ago from the south of the country when was in an excursion. It only started to flower this year and I am prity impressed by its tender cremish-yellow blooms
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Zhirair - really beautiful colour - is this the normal coloured form in the south of Armenia ? I remember to have seen more often white ones on pictures.
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Lesley I havent heard of those but when I get home from work I'll look in the Plant Finder
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Hans,
I haven't seen iris Imbricata blooming in nature. I collected few rhizomes in November, when we went to an excursion to Syunik Region. It was crocus speciosus blooming time. We found the plants just on the hills near the road around the town of Goris. Now 1 out of 6 bloomed. Who knows maybe others could be variable in colour. For example, in pictures I saw more yellow forms
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Beautiful indeed, I usually saw it more yellow
(http://i1.treknature.com/photos/3525/img_7463.jpg)
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Lesley I. flavissima isnt listed in the book. I. mellita var. rubromarginata is listed as suaveolens var rubromarginata. I found your 'Grandma's Hat' while Googling. It's not listed can you tell me more?
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It may be that I. flavissima is considered as a synonym for I. humilis but mine is distinct, as a smaller plant. It was the name given to my plant by Georgi Rodionenko with whom I corresponded at one time. More recently, Gote Svanholm in Sweden sent me some seed.
Iris melita (suaveolens) v. rubromarginata is similar to the purply forms of suaveolens as seen on spring show threads last season but has a clearly defined red outline to each leaf.
I. `Grandmas's Hat' is very neat and small (makes a wide clump though, so too big for a trough) and is of colouring such as one's grandma might appreciate, plummy blue, grape colours. Though as 5 people's grandma, they're not colours that I wear very often. It is a little beauty however, and if you like I can send a plant. Now would be quite a good time, with the little bearded irises dying down here, into winter mode. Mostly summer planting is recommended, following flowering and that's fine but I never had a problem with lifting, dividing at any other time of the year.
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A few months ago, Lesley showed us pseudacorus-ensata hybrids called eye-shadows iris. Glad to say, they are available now at Draycott Gardens.
http://www.Draycott-Gardens.com/
Enjoy!
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A few months ago, Lesley showed us pseudacorus-ensata hybrids called eye-shadows iris. Glad to say, they are available now at Draycott Gardens.
http://www.Draycott-Gardens.com/
Enjoy!
Thanks for that link Yuri. I only wish they were available to ME!!! >:( :'(
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http://www.draycott-gardens.com/psframe.html (http://www.draycott-gardens.com/psframe.html)
One day hopefully they will be available in the UK
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I bought Ryugan and Shirabyoshi from that nursery this month, and Gubijin,
the pseudacorus pod parent that produces the hybrids when crossed with Japanese iris.
I'll let you know if I get some seeds.
Tamberg mentioned a pseudata that produces some pollen, but he is not selling
plants this year.
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Iris germanica var. florentina or Iris albicans?, I'm not sure but I'm think it's Iris albicans reading Brian Mathew's Iris
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Rafa, in my opinion you have made very beautiful photos of I. albicans. :)
Here a Iris pseudacorus Alba (?) opened a flower.
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This is definitively a rarety :o, did you made a marshland between onco gravels? ;D
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Great stuff guys !
Talking about white - this is white ! Truly beautiful :o
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Nice with a white I.pseudacorus. We have them (edit later The normal yellow) in Sweden in normal soil and they do not get that big foliage 75cm and flower stems a bit taller. Only seen hose in hose type before as a variant.
I did visit the botanical garden in Lisbon and there was a mini version growing in a trough in a creek that was only 20-30 cm high but still had flowers.
They also had a more normal version of 75 cm in the dam. This was smaller than the ones I have seen in nature here in Portugal that is 75 cm-100 cm.
Have anyone seen this small one before?
The pictures are not as good as I would have liked but I wanted to have the signs there for size comparison.
Kind regards
Joakim
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This is definitively a rarety :o, did you made a marshland between onco gravels? ;D
They are growing in my water ditch which protect my Oncos ;D 8) - yes I agree,it is a very beautiful form - with other swamp iris I supose I would have problems because of high pH-values -(it would be nice to combine it with Iris fulva ::))
Joakim - I do not know if there exists a dwarf form - I have seen also very small ones flowering but I think this depends of the space and the nutrients the plants have - small plants planted in rich deep soil turned large very quickly.
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Here's something to throw into the conversation. Iris pumila isn't a species but is an ancient hybrid probably between I. attica and I....?
Any comments?
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Here's something to throw into the conversation. Iris pumila isn't a species but is an ancient hybrid probably between I. attica and I....?
Any comments?
....... most probably Iris pseudopumila, according to Brian Mathew, following some work on chromosome structure and geography by a couple of Americans?, Mitra and Randolph. The overlap in distribution between I. atica and I. pseudopumila being in the Adriatic region of Yugoslavia.
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Iris pumila is not an ordinary hybrid between I. attica and I. pseudopumila because it contains full chromosome sets of both species: attica and pseudopumila
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Iris pumila is not an ordinary hybrid between I. attica and I. pseudopumila because it contains full chromosome sets of both species: attica and pseudopumila
Yuri, I think that the research carried out by Mitra and Randolph was in 1959 so no doubt much work has been done since then.
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Lesley, I was getting rather worried about my Iris decora seedlings not showing (thought I might have dried them out too much) but today I noticed little green shoots are showing. They are in 3 inch pots, should I re-pot them?
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That's about right David. Mine doesn't come through until early November or perhaps a week or so earlier.
If you can see roots coming out the bottom of the pots you could repot but otherwise they'll be OK for now. They're better repotted in growth - from now on - than while dormant, in my opinion. Sometimes if disturbed while dormant they give up altogether but in growth, they seem to go on OK. Their flowering time is early to late summer, around pre-Christmas time here and once a clump is big, it will go on until the end of Jan/early Feb.
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Iris subbiflora, this rainy day
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Wonderful pictures Rafa ! Great plants too - how beautiful to see them in nature !
Thanks again ! :D
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Rafa is the white a form of subbiflora or another species. Your photos remind me of a patch of irises that are on a nearby property where there used to be a copper mining town in the 20th C. I have been trying to identify the "two-tone" iris for years now. One spring when I visited the site there was much of the two-tone and sections of the white which I took to be Iris albicans or ? But there was one bloom which was half and half - half white/half two-tone. I did dig the rhizome and it is now growing at home - still waiting on it to flower again to see if it does it again. Both these irises occur locally at a couple of sites. I don't think I have a decent photo to share at the moment. I grew Iris subbiflora years ago from seed but it was lower in height than what your photos appear to show.
Pat T
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Is the same species, just a white form.
You said in Spain? I suppose as it is Iberic endemic. In Spain there are about 14 places, and about 20 In Portugal (in UTM 10x10) where it is decribed as a lisbonensis variety.
I don't think Iris subbiflora could be bicolored, so if the plant you saw aslo it was near a human settlement it is probabily Iris albicans (I think Mathew sais thait it could be be coloured). Or also any garden pant.
If you think in a close species like Iris lutescens, you can see yellow, purple/blue, white... but I never seen the standars and the fals with different colours in theses species.
Don't worry! post it
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Last September I planted a small bed with 20 Dutch Iris bulbs. Sods Law said that they would all be the same colour when they came up, well, not quite. Although the majority look as though they are going to be yellow/white there is a nice blue as well.
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The Iris subbiflora is beautiful. One of the tragedies caused by the modern - and frequently beastly - tall bearded irises, is that so many growers regard the tall bearded species as rubbish, not conforming to the breeders' imposed and artificial standards, whereas in truth they are elegant, simple and in every way preferable, to my mind. It's a great pleasure to me to see such species in the wild, as we so rarely now, see them in gardens.
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Here is some photos of the irises found on the copper mine site just down the road from where I live in South Australia. Certainly not Spain even though one day I would love to visit.
Any suggestions on the two different irises? - especially the blue one.
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How wonderful Pat, to have these irises naturalized near your home.
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Pat,
I agree with Lesley - a wonderful Iris.
I'm sorry can't help with identification.
No idea.
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Pat, I am no help to you either, but I couldn't resist a comment on these lovely Iris... to see them naturalised in such profusion... delightful, thank you for these photos.
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@Pat - thanks a lot for this surprising pics - Did no expect this type of Iris naturalize so freely - have you observed if the plants get seeds?
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No idia of what species could it be, maybe it is a cultivar.
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Hans I have not observed any seed pods at all. The blue is possibly a cultivar - pity Nigel Service is not online at all - I believe that the North Rhine Mine was started around the early 1840s with about 40 families with a shop and post office established in 1860 according to the local history book. Water in the mine was a problem. Keyneton is an English/German settlement. Have wondered if the irises came from Germany. There is also another patch of both growing together north of our property on the same road where there used to be a house. I find these irises intriguing and so any suggestions will be gratefully received. I would say that the blue grows to about 18inches (flower stalk).
A very lonely sheep grazing spot now with only the mine tower and a couple of ancient (for Australia) trees.
Pat
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And two more photos that I scanned at the same time as the others.
Pat
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Have returned safely from Iran. We were unlucky to encounter acountry suffering from drought, so flowers were few and far between. I was delighted to find one of my own Irises had flowered whilst I was away and a friend photographed it.
I will be posting Iris meda and acutiloba photographs soon.
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Hi Pat,
we have the same irises naturalised around here though not in the same profusion(!); they are known as "Settlers' white" and "Settlers' Blue"!
I would say that the white is Iris albicans, but I have no name for the other except That I call it the "Florentine iris". Actually I'm not sure that our blue is exactly the same as yours; I don't think the two-tone effect is as strong. I'll take a pic when they bloom again, though I'm sure I've posted a pic of them before.
cheers
fermi
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Welcome home Arthur, hope you had a great trip.
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Another pretty Dutch Iris from my new bed.
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Here is a different picture of my I orientalis. It has flowered for a wile and is extremely vigorous. It is now 110 cm in foliage and around 140-150 in flower. I have seen it in two different places here in Portugal (in gardens both seemed to be with more white than my plant. I do not have as much yellow as on Hans A´s plant but from devision it took only a year to flower and it produced many flower stalks with 3 flowers.
Kind regards
Joakim
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together with oncos I photographed other irises
iris pumila 2 forms
and I show iris pumila in the garden, where it is very floriferous and easy-growing
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and this is iris (juno) caucasica
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Here is the fourth colour variation from my patch of Dutch Iris from the garden today.
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David how many flowers did You get from Your 20 bulbs?
I managed to have mine too wet, so a majority rot but I had fewer colors than You from the 50 i bought. ::) :'( 8) 3 in total with a majority being the white and yellow You first showed.
This year I spent a full 1.98€ on 120 bulbs all "blue magic" so it will be interesting to see what i get. Most were planted in pots so they might not like it but quite a few were planted in a mixed bed so I will see what happens. I actually hope to get mixed colours. 8). Maybe I only will get expensive humus in the soil in the pots but the ones in the bed seems to survive. I gave away 25 of which 15 is to be planted elsewhere for cut flowers. We will see how that works.
Kind regards
Joakim
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Joakim, I got 18 flowers from 20 bulbs, not bad really.
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David I would say 18 of 20 is a good result especially if the material was garden center stuff.
Now it will be interesting how many for next year ::) 8)
But You planted in Your new rock garden bed did you not? It looks like gravel/sand on the pics so that would help survival a lot.
Kind regards
Joakim
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Joakim, no not in the bed you are thinking of-the bed you are thinking of I use for general bulbs and in particular Iris reticulata cultivars. My Dutch Irises share a bed with Pieris Valley Valentine which is odd really since the Pieris doesn't like lime and the Irises love lime. I got over the problem (I think!) by rolling each Dutch Iris bulb in Dolomite Lime before I planted them. They were garden centre bought bulbs so I suppose 18 from 20 bulbs is pretty good. Yes, it will be interesting to see how well (or not!) they come back next year.
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When I visited Mt. Cuba in Delaware last month I found this striking Iris. No tag that I could find but a Flickr response to my posting there said it was known as Iris 'Gerald Darby', a cross between I. virginica and I. versicolor.
-Rob
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An iris blooming today in our garden. Purchased from Wrightman Alpines as Iris sp. Mongolica it was collected by Joseph Jurasek in the Mongolia Altai at 2300m.
-Rob
probable ID : Iris flavissima
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Outstanding plant and picture Rob; reminds me of butterfly wings. Any idea what it might be?
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Very nicely marked flower.
You have done a great job growing it.
Kind regards
Joakim
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An iris blooming today in our garden. Purchased from Wrightman Alpines as Iris sp. Mongolica it was collected by Joseph Jurasek in the Mongolia Altai at 2300m.
-Rob
Now that is an Iris I would definitely like to have in my collection.
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Wonderful Iris !!! :o
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I love it. I hope I will have one that looks similar, though it is
a PCI. The bud looks like an insect.
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This dark Iris japonica is from seed Daryl Probst sent to SIGNA in 2003.
The source of his plants was East Sichuan.
The stalks have many flowers, so there is a long period of beauty.
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very beautiful plant Diane, and congratulations for your success growing by seeds :o
This perspective remember me Alophia drummondii colours!
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Diane,
agree with Rafa - very beautiful :)
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Purple-stemmed Iris aphylla clone is ready to bloom
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Yuri,
Where is this form of aphylla from? It is a stunning plant. Hope that you might have seeds available sometime.
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Pat,
it was collected near Lvov, Ukraine
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Yuri very nice one. Hope You are able to propagate it. 8) ::)
Kind regards
Joakim
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Here is the last of my Dutch Irises to flower this year and a nice colour break too. That makes 5 colours from a 20 bulb pack.
As one species ends another begins and the first of my Iris sibirca cultivars to flower-I. sibirica Sparkling Rose
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I wouldn't like to hazard a guess about the little Mongolian iris but in general, I'd suggest it may be in the section which contains II. arenaria, bloudowii (maybe syn. flavissima) and humilis, in which case, a regelia iris. Certainly some of this section can be found in Mongolia. If so, it won't be very easy to grow, the chief enemy being summer dampness. Some are called "sand irises" which will give a clue to what may be helpful.
likely ID Iris flavissima
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Some Iris from various sections,some are easy to cultivate,others are more difficult.I planted
Iris japonica together with a bamboo(Phyllostachys vivax)and now it grows and spreads like
a weed.Maybe it likes the company of its fellow countryman.
008 (2)Iris japonica
011Iris dolichosiphon v.orientalis
013 (2)Iris milesii
016 (2)Iris tectorum
025 (2)Iris aphylla
028Iris 'Gingerbread Man'
064Iris ruthenica nana
085Iris reichenbachi.
020 (2)Iris pseudacorus double flowered.
077 (2)Iris pseudacorus variegata
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Lovely to see I. dolichosiphon. I've had so many batches of seed as this but it never it. :'(
I think the pic of I. milesii may be a form of I. setosa though. I. milesii is one of the crested irises with reddish colouring and white/violet markings, rather spotted, and a distinct crest at the hafts of the falls.
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I agree Lesley, and I think Iris ruthenica var. nana is Iris graminea. Anyway they are beautiful!! many thanks for sharing pictures.
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Lesley and Rafa,thank you for your friendly comments and the corrections.
As I am just an amateur gardener and no Iris specialist I believed the labels on the
bags of the seed exchanges.It is so good to have the forum and the communication
with such kowledgeable friends.
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Lovely pictures Rudi, an Iris inspiration.
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I should have noticed that Rafa. Yes, it's good to have a wide pool of growers, and great that we're happy to be corrected when necessary.
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Here is Iris chrysographes-a young plant that I didn't expect to flower this year.
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Oops! Sorry about the gigantic picture folks, I chose the wrong file.
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One of the 'Black Knight' grex by the look of it. I ADORE flowers this colour. :-*
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When I visited Mt. Cuba in Delaware last month I found this striking Iris. No tag that I could find but a Flickr response to my posting there said it was known as Iris 'Gerald Darby', a cross between I. virginica and I. versicolor.
-Rob
Rob,
Looks right for that variety. The flowers are a blue-mauve colouration in form similar to the species mentioned. The stems of the flowers are black, and flowering is very late (every year I think mine aren't going to flower, then suddenly they're there). The purple in the foliage ends up predominantly at the base, but the good green foliage nicely sets off the flowers and the lovely dark flower stems. Can br grown as a water plant or in the normal garden.
David,
The chrysographes is glorious!! Have had it before but lost it. Must try it again some time. Like Lesley I just love black flowers!! ;D
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Does the form of Iris setosa with ink black seed pods have a name? Also below, a seedling of I. chrysographes 'Rubella'.
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I've never seen that form of I. setosa with black pods. They look very dramatic! And very nice! Do the seedlings have the same colour pods?
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I'm afraid I haven't tried raising a second generation, so I don't know. Only one out of maybe 15 seedlings showed this trait, the seeds came in a trade from Alaska.
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It's a very handsome and different form so worth isolating the black-podded sdlgs and hand-pollinating amongst them.
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Todd Boland at Oxen Pond has been doing some Iris crossing. Some rather nice yellow foliaged plants coming from Iris sibirica Alba x Iris hookeri Alba and Iris sibirica Alba
x Iris hookeri. Hope I've got the parentages right.
johnw
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These are very interesting but I have to say I'm always a little doubtful about yellow-foliaged irises. In my climate at least, they tend to burn badly and beside their greener relatives they tend to look sickly. Each to his own I suppose but over time I'd be surprised if they are vigorous.
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These are very interesting but I have to say I'm always a little doubtful about yellow-foliaged irises. In my climate at least, they tend to burn badly and beside their greener relatives they tend to look sickly. Each to his own I suppose but over time I'd be surprised if they are vigorous.
Leslie - You're quite right about burn. Todd said some did exhibit burn even on their moist, low light climate. These are being weeded out and there are some that are holding up well. They looked fairly vigorous to me in that mineral soil, their native hookeri probably helps deal with that. Used smartly they could be quite something in the early perennial border.
johnw
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This is Iris variegata var. pontica
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Great photos, Rafa!
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Rafa, (as always) great pictures - to grow species is one thing, but to show them as you do make every plant very special, thanks.
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Many thanks to both :)
I usually use my pictures to make watercolors, so I need to have clear image of the plant and a black or white background could help very much.
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Can anyone confirm that the irises are true to names. The first 2 pics are taken yesterday, the last 2 - on May, 29.
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Still another picture of I. bulleyana.
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I think Iris bulleyana is correct, I. ensata is I. sanguinea (I thought it was I. sibirica) , and the others are Iris lutescens (purple-blue and white are common forms in the wild) var. Campbellii is very pale lilac.
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An iris blooming today in our garden. Purchased from Wrightman Alpines as Iris sp. Mongolica it was collected by Joseph Jurasek in the Mongolia Altai at 2300m.
-Rob
I think this could be any pale form of Iris blowdowii. I also grow this sp, but it is too young so I am very happy seeing how is it.
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Iris ensata is now the correct name for what used to be I. kaempferi, in other words, the big, floppy Japanese iris, whose many forms were called "Higo" irises. I ensata was at one stage also applied to what is correctly I. lactea which was also called I. hyacinthina in its nomenclatural life-cycle. Confused anyone? :)
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Thanks Rafa & Lesley fo help and valuable information
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Isn't Iris sanguinea a red-purple with much wider falls than that Rafa? Or is that just the form which was here in Aus? I used to grow it but have never found it again to replace it when I lost it a few years ago. What I had as sanguinea looked nothing like the pic labelled Iris ensata. I would have thought that was an Iris sibirica myself. ???
John,
The gold foliaged iris are quite interesting. I like variegates myself, but like Lesley I find that the gold foliages toast very easily in the sun here. :'(
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Iris thompsonii
I have just potted-on a batch of seedlings of Iris thompsonii from seed which I thought I had received from the last SRGC Seed Ex but I see it wasn't listed-maybe Lesley sent them to me- and I thought I should find out a little about the species. There was no mention in Brian Mathew's 'The Iris' and on first look I couldn't find it in the Iris Species Database http://www.badbear.com/signa/signa.pl?Introduction . After a detailed look I found it registered as a hybrid between Iris innominata and I douglasiana. Could anyone tell me if the taxonomists have recently re-classified it please?
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I collected Iris thompsoni seed in northern California last year and sent
the seeds to some forumists and maybe some exchanges.
Botanists are divided as to whether it should be a species or considered
a natural hybrid.
There is information about it here: http://www.pacificcoastiris.org/framewld.html
Click on "Wild PCI Hybrids" in the list at the left of the screen.
Here is a photo taken in the Smith River canyon:
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David, I greew I. thompsonii about 4 years ago from Archibald seed, but the couple that germinated died within 6 months so no, you didn't get the seed from me. I think JCA had it as a smallish PC iris. I don't recall there was any mention of hybridization in the description.
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Thanks for the Link Diane, it's a very useful and interesting Site. By the way, I've found the seed listed in the last SRGC Seed Ex. It's in the Wild Section, at the back of the list, number 4174, and you did send it Diane, so thank you. Whatever it is Iris thompsonii looks a very nice plant and I hope to be able to post a picture of it in a couple of years time!
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Can anyone help with the ID of this iris I received as a seedling some years ago named I.forrestii. Yoday it open the flower for the first time. Very nice but not forrestii
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It looks like Iris ensata var. spontanea, very beautiful plant :o
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Thank you both, I was just about to post this one:
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Thanks Rafa. You are a real expert
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I agree with Rafa. So much nicer than the modern ensata hybrids with their big, floppy, coarse flowers.
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Thanks Rafa. You are a real expert
hahah thank you Oleg, but I am just a newbie ;D.
Lesley you are right... I think it's not possible to us to make better what the nature create... artificial hybrids don't interest me at all.
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Since I had to dodge the monsoon showers and go out to the greenhouse to take a pic of some Lilium seedlings I thought I would take one also of one of my Iris decora seedlings.
These are from seed Lesley sent to me and were sown as a batch of ten on 15 May 2007. All ten germinated but I lost a couple over Winter (probably kept them a little too dry!), and gave one to my sister-in-law who promptly killed it. The remaing seven are doing well and I hope to see a flower next year, am I being a little optimistic Lesley? A second batch of ten sowed earlier this year is coming along fine.
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Before someone, rightly, tells me I don't know my 'r's' from my elbow I've just edited the above post where I called Iris decora 'decorum', but can't see how to amend the same mistake in my picture file title. It's time I showed a little more decorum :P
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But decorum is so DULL David. :)
You can indeed, reasonably expect a flower next year. I had a seedling of just 18 months, flower last summer, the only one in a potful of seedlings to do so, but showing that it's possible, especially, I imagine, as yours are potted individually - not the competition my little one had.
Iris decora is said to be short-lived. I'm not finding this - my two plants are now 10 years old - and as an extablished clump they can make 150 flowers or more on at least 30 stems, so it's a great plant for either sunny garden or a pot.
Seed anyone? I have some available now.
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So was this at some point a Moraea? Those flowers look SO like them. Beautiful display, stunning individual flowers.... not one I've seen other than here before (I think when Lesley posted a pic of it previously). Lovely!! 8)
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I don't think I. decora has ever been included in Moraea Paul. It is one of a very small group of tuberous rooted irises and dies down each autumn to a thick bunch of thong-like roots, not unlike those of a Juno iris, but without the bulb between the thongs and the stock. It is native to the Himalaya and
I. nepalensis is a synonym. Some books say it is weak and small flowered. I've not found either of these to be true. The flowers are about 7 cms across when fully open. They just last a day but there are many more over three months from Dec in the SH.
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Interesting, Lesley. I was just going by your pic, where the flowers look very Moraea-ish to my eye. It is a stunner, isn't it.
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Before someone, rightly, tells me I don't know my 'r's' from my elbow I've just edited the above post where I called Iris decora 'decorum', but can't see how to amend the same mistake in my picture file title. It's time I showed a little more decorum :P
I think the only way to edit the tittle of a picture file is to remove it then , having renamed it in your computer, repost the new file... all rather tedious, and, the corrected name in the text of your post is the only one the search engine will pick- up on. This last point, by the way, and for the information of all (not aimed at you , David,) is why it is necessary to have the picture titiles listed in the text of posts! 8)
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Before someone, rightly, tells me I don't know my 'r's' from my elbow I've just edited the above post where I called Iris decora 'decorum', but can't see how to amend the same mistake in my picture file title. It's time I showed a little more decorum
I think it is easier to resize a new picture from the original first and then go
to the posting and modify. Remove the wrong named pic. and go to Additional Options etc.
That's the way I've it done several times already.
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Done, file has been re-named. Thanks Luit and Maggi.
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Here's a picture, taken today, of Iris lazica, it actually has two flowers open. What a crazy climate this is currently, my first flowers last year were on 4 December.
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my first flowers last year were on 4 December
extraordinary, isn't it?
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David,
Flowering here at the moment too!! Has been in flower for a while, and usually goes until November or so, from memory. It starts well into winter, unlike it's unguicularis cousins, but flowers much later into spring. A very nice extension of the "winter iris" range.
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Here are two iris which are in flower today;
the first was received as "possibly I. filifolia"
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And the second was labelled I. albertii,
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Can anyone vouch for them???
cheers
fermi
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Not sure Fermi. I. filifolia belongs to Xiphium group, same as Dutch, English etc and I. albertii is a bearded species. According to Mathew ("The Iris") and referring to one Major-General M W Prynne, I. filifolia can be positively identified by a "purple- and white-blotched sheath which encloses the young shoot as it emerges from the soil."
I. albertii is described in the wild as varying from "lavender to purplish-violet with brownish-red veining on the haft of the falls."
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Iris filifolia looks right: Flowers: 1-2, dark reddish-purple; orange patch on falls; tube 0.12-0.3 cm long.
leaves: glaucous, 0.05-0.3 cm wide, appearing in autumn.
from A Guide to Species Irises
Pat T
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Fermi - not being specialist I think it looks more like tingitana than filifolia - please have a look here:
http://www.badbear.com/signa/signa.pl?Display+Iris-tingitana+4+4 (http://www.badbear.com/signa/signa.pl?Display+Iris-tingitana+4+4) - hope our spanish Iris and Narcissus specialist will have a look... ;) 8)
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Hans, Iris tingitana has silvery-green, thread-like leaves, appearing in autumn according to A Guide to Species Irises and Iris filifolia var. filifolia has thread-like leaves too.
I don't grow any at the moment - some seedlings coming on.
Pat
PS Yes where is Rafa when we need him.
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I grow both species and I think Fermi's one could be any Dutch hybrid based in Iris tingitana (x I. xiphium I think). It is very different fom the plants I grow... I enclose a picture of a classic Iris filifolia from my friend in Cordoba.
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Thanks for your comments, everyone. I couldn't show a decent pic of the foliage as the "filifolia" one is coming up through a clump of TBI and Lycoris! It is fairly fine foliaged but I'd side with Rafa's suggestion that it's a hybrid. The person I got it from got it from someone else who was doubtful of its authenticity even then!
The other iris (received as I albertii) I've decided is a form of Iris spuria, possibly ssp halophila.
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In the next pic you can see another iris which came from the AGS Seedex as I sikkimensis, but again appears to be ??a type of I sibirica maybe??
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Here's a close-up,
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Cheers
fermi
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Fermi,
Love that white. Quite short for a spuria too isn't it? Or is it just some of the spuria species that are tall? The spidery flower is quite unusual. Very nice, whatever it is. 8)
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You are probably right Fermi about the possible Siberian, an old form I would suggest. I like the spuria too. Any seed maybe later?
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You are probably right Fermi about the possible Siberian, an old form I would suggest. I like the spuria too. Any seed maybe later?
Hi Lesley,
is it on MAF? ;D
I did some "tickling" so there will hopefully be some seed set. I'll keep you posted!
cheers
fermi
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Yes, it is!
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Here's the first Iris unguicularis of the season here in USDA zone 7 Maryland, USA.
If you look carefully you'll notice that one of the night nibblers got to it before I did.
When I first tried to grow this species about thirty years ago, I eventually gave up because I never saw a fully developed flower. The plant would form flower buds, but they invariably froze before opening. I gave up and tossed the plant.
Then a few years ago a member of our local rock garden group distributed some plants at a meeting: his experience had been the same as mine. He was getting rid of them because he never got flowers. At that time I had a bit of space in a cold frame and thought I would try it there. But the season got very busy (i.e. there were many, many spur of the moment acquisitions) and the cold frame filled up before I got around to planting the iris. So the iris is planted in the open air against a SW facing wall and under the roof overhang. The plant took a year to dig in, but now it grows freely. It bloomed for the first time in late November 2006; in the season beginning November 2007 it bloomed more or less continuously from early November into April.
Now I understand why this plant is held in such high esteem in those other areas where it grows well. I still find it hard to believe that it will be a permanent resident here, but for now I'm one happy gardener!
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Yes, it is!
Good, it looks like the pollinated flowers are setting seed. Strangely enough, new flower spikes are arising and getting higher than the original ones! I wonder if there are two types of iris in situ? They'll probably be over before we get back, but I might ask a neighbour to take a pic if he has time.
The hybrid spuria iris are now coming into flower; this one is called "Golden Lady"
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Next to it is "Intensity"
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The hybrid siberians are also starting, this is "Blue Sapphire " or "Sapphire Rose", can't quite remember!
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And this is "Mesa Pearl"
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Due to our climate we grow Iris cristata in the shadehouse; here's the first flower for the season.
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Here's the first Iris unguicularis of the season here in USDA zone 7 Maryland, USA.
If you look carefully you'll notice that one of the night nibblers got to it before I did.
Jim,
slugs and snails were always a hassle in Melbourne where we used to live and why I didn't bother bringing any of this iris with us when we moved. However our neighbours grow it really well and I'll have to reconsider!
cheers
fermi
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Fermi, spuria hybrid 'Intensity' is a real beauty! Somehow the spuria hybrids had escaped my net until recently. But this year a very handsome one bloomed in the garden. Although I was sent what seemed to be a robust division, it took three years to bloom here. It came without a name, but it seems to match up pretty well with 'Chocolate Fudge'.
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The pictures on these pages make me realise all too well what I'm missingby not growing more Iris, but they're not really happy in our Aberdeen Garden.... at least I get to see them here.
Jim, thank you for your greeting "on the other side"....it was just a note posted for us by the charming Mary Sue..... I'm still just a lurker at PBS !!
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Maggi,
Have you tried Louisianna Iris? They love extra water, don't seem to have the heat and cold requirements of so many of the other iris, and can be grown in the ground or in a pond/bog garden. The flowers can be absolutely stunning, depending on the variety (and there are a lot of different varieties). Probably the Spuria iris would do OK for you, but I don't know whether they need summer warmth or not? They're definitely another that can grow from a pond to a garden bed, so they too are more tolerant of your garden dampness. ;) And then of course the crested iris such as Iris japonica, tectorum and wattii might be good as they grow from sun to full shade, which means that in your climate your full sun is like our shade!! :o ;D Just a few possibilities for you. I'd imagine that the beardeds don't like your climate at all, but if you're judging all iris by them, you're doing yourself out of some wonderful plants!! 8)
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I may be quite wrong Paul but I think the crested species such as wattii, japonica and tectorum may be marginally hardy in Aberdeen. Even here the foliage is sometimes damaged if the ground is wet when the frosts hit. And the Louisianas in cooler climates make masses of foliage but very few flowers. They like a dryish mild winter and a wet and humid summer. I've given up on them altogether. All the spurias like a hot dry summer though can stand extreme wet in their spring period.
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Lesley,
Hadn't even thought about the cold intolerance of the crested iris. You're spot on! I must admit I was just thinking from a moisture point of view for many of them (I know some Spurias that are grown in permanent boggy conditions and still flower very well, so some at least don't need summer dry). Sorry for the misdirections Maggi..... my climate biased experience is showing. :o
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Well of course some of the spurias will tolerate almost permanently wet conditions. According to Kohlein, I. s. ssp halophila which Fermi showed a week or so back, is the most northerly growing of the group, in Russia, Siberia etc and can be found growing on stream sides or in wet meadows. I. s. ssp musulmanica grows in saline soils and salt marshes. They have incredibly tough and stringy root systems which go very deep.
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I believe that Sibiria in the summer is sunnier than Aberdeen and that may help the plants to flower.
Maybe Maggi should go for some old types I. sibirica? They tend to tolerate and flower in a lot of different conditions even if they might not excel in all conditions. Check what they neighbours have and You may be finding someone there.
Kind regards
Joakim
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Joakim, practically the only Iris survivng here are old I. siberica types but even they are not doing well these days :'(
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Have you tested having them or even in almost pure sand to get good drainage?
We have had them almost to dry due to big trees taking a lot of the water but not the sun so if it is too wet that might also help.
If it is lack of sun the see if there is a sunnier place in the garden. I think in a raised bed one could have bearded ones too if you have old cultivars with high tolerance for too much water and lack of sun. :)
Are they worth the hassle? I do not know they grow easily for me.
kind regards
Joakim
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If it is lack of sun the see if there is a sunnier place in the garden
In Aberdeen, in a garden that is turning into a little wood? I think I have to accept the fact that my Iris days are over. :'( :-X ::)
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If it is lack of sun the see if there is a sunnier place in the garden
In Aberdeen, in a garden that is turning into a little wood? I think I have to accep the fact that my Iris days are over. :'( :-X ::)
Maggi, in bad days the Chinese used to grow I. tectorum on the roof. ;) ;) 8)
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I could try that, Luit.......if my Iris tectorum hadn't died :(
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Dear Maggi,
The Chinese Iris tectorum is a unpretentious species: It grews in full sun and light shade too.My clumps grew bigger every year, so if you want I can send plants..(Then you can try to grew hem on the roof ;)
best Gerhard
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Gerhard, you are very kind, but I have given up! My tectorum were overgrown by Actaea spicata and Tropaeolum speciosum when I was not paying sufficient care to the Iris and my punishment was their death. If I had a suitable roof I would accept your offer..... Ian is talking of making a roof garden over a shed... if he does this I will contact you in the future!! :-X
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Here is a pic of my rather 'beat up' Iris unguicularis taken today. When we left home last Sunday for a week away nothing was showing. There is a story behind this plant (probably very boring!). I bought it in 2006 at a plant sale in Norwich whilst visiting friends and forgot to take it home with me. My friend, who hates gardening, was persuaded to plant it in his garden where it flowered in 2007 (pic attached). When we visited again in Spring 2007 I dug up a division, brought it home, and planted it in my garden where it refused to flower in 2007 and Winter/Spring 2008 causing much mirth in Norwich. So, now I get my own back with hopefully more, and better, flowers to come.
Can anyone give me the cultivar name please?
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Strangely enough, new flower spikes are arising and getting higher than the original ones! I wonder if there are two types of iris in situ? They'll probably be over before we get back
Luckily one flower ( of Iris spuria ssp halophila) opened the day before we left and it was identical to the earlier flowers, but stands about 15 cm taller - how strange!
cheers
fermi
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So Devon slugs rival Cork ones in their enjoyment of I. unguicularis David ;)
It looks similar but not identical to what I have as 'Mary Bernard'. Are you sure it's a named cultivar?
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Hi Ashley, I have trouble remembering what I did yesterday so 2006 is cloaked in velvet uncertainty© ;D As far as I can remember the plant came with a cultivar name and I think it was a girl's name but the label bit the dust in Norwich so you could well be right.
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cloaked in velvet uncertainty
what a great phrase... I shall be stealing that one... always supposing I can remember it ::)
I know I've moaned this before.... these Iris are another type that won't grow for me! :'(
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Maggi, just made a small edit to my previous post. The phrase may be used after copyright payment-chocolate will do!!
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While I've grown several of the named cultivars of I. unguicularis over the years, I've never had one that was as good as those grown from any batch of seed. Better colour, more robust flowers and stems, freer flowering. Wouldn't bother with a named form now. except 'Starker's Pink' of course, but even from that I've seen much better seedlings with pinker colour. Not in my garden unfortunately.
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Maggi,
Don't despair. The Pacific Coast irises, (called Californian iris in the U.K.
despite their growing also in Oregon and Washington), are perfectly
happy growing in shade.
Here are a couple of wild ones growing in the forest, and then a photo
of what needs to happen before any non-PC iris (like bearded, or Siberian)
bloom in my garden. This is one of the trees that blew down onto the
house in a recent storm, and the next year some 35 year old bearded iris
put up a few of their very-infrequent flowers.
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Diane, we barely have these beauties hanging on by a thread here :'(
Do you SEE why I'm distraught? :(
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Oh dear. I won't mention any Evansias, then.
I grow my Pacific Coast iris from seed, and the survivors thrive here.
Note the word "survivors". Here is the only one out of fifteen seedlings
planted from seed received from a grower near San Francisco.
I still have a few named ones which I bought in California and Oregon,
but most such plants died. These were not bare-rooted and mailed - they were
imported by me, growing in pots, and planted immediately.
The answer to having PCIs growing successfully out of their native
region is to grow them from seed, and I have masses of it, as I forgot
to list it with SPCNI (Society for Pacific Coast Native Iris) before I flew
off to Western Australia. Let me know if anyone wants some. I have
pictures of the parents at http://picasaweb.google.ca/home?tab=mq
I have seeds from most of the ones in all the albums except for the
multi-bud. It had so many hundreds of pods that I just composted them.
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The answer to having PCIs growing successfully out of their native
region is to grow them from seed, and I have masses of it,
In that case, Diane, I will have to ask you humbly to send me some seed.
After all, hope springs eternal....and this may be the seed that takes happily to life in NE Scotland ;)
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It's true that Pacific Coast irises do well and flower in shade, but I know that they also do well and flower a lot better in sun, or at least half sun. They need some moisture too of course.
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Yes, Pacific Coast hybrids are amenable to almost any condition,
because almost all of them have a good dose of I. douglasiana genes,
a coastal species that grows in grassy areas, in full sun, though
I have also seen them among trees.
Iris douglasiana is not eaten by cows, so it grows into enormous
clumps in pastures. When I was preparing for a talk, I drove to
California to take pictures, and was surprised to find that all the coastal
pastures were iris-free. It was obvious the farmers had weeded them.
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Iris douglasiana is not eaten by cows, so it grows into enormous
clumps in pastures. When I was preparing for a talk, I drove to
California to take pictures, and was surprised to find that all the coastal
pastures were iris-free. It was obvious the farmers had weeded them.
This amazes me.... where once farmers weeded their fields assiduously, nowadays here it is common to see fields full of the most noxious weeds and no-one seems to be bothered one way or the other....to see a weeded field now is MOST unusual... and I'm not just meaning fallow fields... fields with livestock in, too, can be full of weeds, many poisonous to stock. ::) ??? ???
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There are at least 2 reasons for this Maggi, or there are in NZ anyway. One is that in the past, farmers invariably walked around their paddocks (fields to you) and knew exactly what was growing there so that weeds were grubbed out in their early stages and not left to seed as they frequently are now when "farming" is undertaken from a utility truck or a 3 or 4 wheeled farm bike. The second is that when subsidies were totally removed from all farming activities back in the 80s (?) there was simply not enough money to employ labour or to hire spraying companies to control major weed infestations. Before, even small farms had an extra man or a boy, often a married couple as farm staff. Such farms are rare now. I believe NZ is the only country in the world which has totally abandoned subsidies to farmers. It was very painful at the time but overall, our farmers have become the most efficient in the world.
Two major farm weeds here are Californian thistle and ragwort. Stock avoid both. In both cases there are new biological controls but it takes many years for there to be a measurable effect from such control methods.
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I last posted a picture of my Iris lazica flowering on 18 August. Here it is today and it's been flowering on and off since then. Currently it has four flowering spikes.
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Maggi it's rag weed that is a major pest in field here. I remember when I was young police stations had posters up to tell farmers to get rid of them
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This seedling has appeared in one of my raised beds. It is Iris clarkei and at about 60cms is way too tall for the bed. I'll move it when it's finished flowering or maybe when the foliage dies down. Hopefully some seed first. The yellow butterfly patch is typical of I. clarkei.
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Too tall for the rock garden Lesley but one very beautiful flower !!
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That is lovely!
Just appeared? Did you fill your raised bed with the contents of pots
that didn't germinate?
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The bottom compost of the raised beds is all old potted stuff that died or was discarded and was thrown into a heap then eventually reused somewhere so I guess that's how it appeared. If you look in the Southern Hemisphere page for this month, there's another that just "appeared" too. (Or there will be in a minute or two.)
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Lesley,
this I. clarkei is a real beauty - my compliments ;)
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really beautiful Lesley :o
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I like the spuria too. Any seed maybe later?
Lesley,
as they say in the classics,
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This one has your name written on it!
cheers
fermi
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well, fancy that! ::)
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Lesley,
That I. clarkei is a stunner!! Beautiful markings. Haven't seen it before, so Great stuff!! 8)
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splitting off this thread into smaller sections