Reticulate Iris 2009

[art600]

Exquisite Iranian Iris.... Herr Zschummel knows a good plant when he sees one..... seed from that source is always a gem, eh?

Maggi

Seed is generally collected without seeing the flower - so an even greater pleasure when you get one as nice as Tony's

[art600]

Arthur, I hope you're looking at the "YES!!! The "I'm so happy" thread

Lesley

It is one I look at 

[Maggi Young]

Exquisite Iranian Iris.... Herr Zschummel knows a good plant when he sees one..... seed from that source is always a gem, eh?

Maggi

Seed is generally collected without seeing the flower - so an even greater pleasure when you get one as nice as Tony's

Well, of course,few plants are in flower and fruit at the same time... which means it is a clever collector who chooses the best plant!

[Tony Willis]

Lovely retic. Tony, what's your seed sowing regime please?  Pity about the Iris hyrcana though, was it from a company who have remained nameless??

I sow almost everthing as soon as I get it,either my own when ripe or others, in John Innes with extra grit and covered with grit. They just stand outside until they germinate or not.I look at them most days to see if I have any germination.Once they have germinated they usually get taken inside and be given tlc. However in this case i was given rice grain bulbils so it was love and attention from the start

[Joakim B]

Alternative one visit the plants in flower and do the choices or even pollination to collect the seeds later.
Maybe not always possible but maybe sometimes?
This regarding nice plants from seeds and the selection of them.

All the best
Joakim

[Tony Willis]

The really clever people find a wonderful form in flower and it has one of last years seed pods still attached !

[Hans A.]

The really clever people find a wonderful form in flower and it has one of last years seed pods still attached !

  


Great pics of all! 
Tony G - this plant of Mr Zschummel origin is great - Should really try to grow more of this section...

[Luc Gilgemyn]

One from me :

1) Iris histrioides major - opening up yesterday
2) same - fully unfurled today

In reality a bit darker than my pictures show 

[David Nicholson]

Very nice Luc, I knew they would come eventually. Snow forecast for us in the early part of next week, you may get some too

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Very nice Luc, I knew they would come eventually. Snow forecast for us in the early part of next week, you may get some too

This one's inside David - and it's very fortunate - -4to -6 last night and the same forecasted for tonight again... and yes... snow anounced for next Monday... 

[Armin]

Luc,
a good start. Garden ground here is still frozen - but many noses visible...

[David Nicholson]

From the greenhouse today Iris histrioides Lady Beatrix Stanley. The greenhouse thermometer was showing a lowest temperature of exactly freezing point but, in-spite of, at the moment, a sunny clear blue sky the wind is freezing cold and the soil in the garden is rock hard. Soon beat the retreat back into the warm.

I've been trying to grow LBS for the last three years with complete failure, so my one bulb will be cosseted in the greenhouse for some time.

[art600]

What no snow 

[Luc Gilgemyn]

She's a very nice Lady David !! 

[David Nicholson]

Here's a couple that have spent the night in an un-heated bedroom (not ours!) to persuade them to open.

Iris reticulata 'Palm Spring' from Paul Christian's catalogue last year. In the catalogue he says "A new hybrid bred from Iris reticulata 'George'. Vibrant very rich, blue and deep indigo flowers with deeper falls intensying further around a lovely canary yellow crest with the finest flick of white......" Not a bad description really but my camera enhances the blue rather than indigo. Nice though.

The second is Iris reticulata var. bakeriana, maybe! from Miniature Bulbs last catalogue. In 'Buried Treasures' Janis says  "........ and is characterised by whitish claws, and whose flowers are blue without a yellow ridge on the falls. The leaves of var. bakeriana have eight ribs in a section, but Iris reticulata typically has four ribbed leaves.....". Mine has a thin yellow crest, and though there is not a lot of leaf at the moment it strikes me as being four ribbed. Ah well, it's another pretty one and maybe this is Dutch raised stock and has got mixed up over the years.