Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Specific Families and Genera => Iris => Topic started by: Paul T on February 04, 2008, 06:55:33 AM
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Howdy All,
OK, my wants were greater than my logic and I have just received Iris willmottiana and Iris graeberiana in the mail. I've had troubles with the junos in the past (I've tried bucharica a couple of times and lost it, kept damp in summer, warm and dry in summer... ::)) and I really shouldn't have bought these, but I just couldn't help myself. Can people please pass on their growing experiences with these guys (and the other junos for that matter) so that I have a better hope of growing them? I'd really rather not lose them.
I figure that whatever happens the experiences put down in this discussion will help others who are trying to get into these beauties as well. Thanks in anticipation. 8)
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Paul, as you'll know, there are many different types of Juno's and there are almost as many methods in cultivation.
I think the easiest are I. willmottiana and bucharica. They are grown here together with other bulbs
and fit well in storing together with other bulbs, i.e they need about the same time of heat as Hyacinths or Tulipa. You might even force them to flower from January-February on.
In that case keep bulbs in august at 23 C and then appr. 5 weeks at 20 C. Then you plant them in a box or pots and cool them 6 weeks at 9 C + 4 weeks at 5 C. and afterwards at 2 C.
Cooling has to start the end of September and after 15 weeks you can start taking them in the glasshouse
at 12 to 18 C.
If you want to know more about other Juno's then have a look at:
http://www.junos.ca/HTML%20Pages/articles.html (ftp://http://www.junos.ca/HTML%20Pages/articles.html)
Sorry I cannot do more for you to help.
Good luck
Luit
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Luit, your Link does not appear to work?
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Sorry, I tried several times with different FTP's but could not open them either.
So try this : search for Alan McMurtrie+Junos.
You'll come to a site where on the left you will see: Juno's-an overview.That's it.
Would like to know what I did wrong. I copied the http:// etc. and inserted it in my message???
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Luit, I will try it and see what happens.
http://www.junos.ca/HTML%20Pages/Junos-AnOverview.html
Later Edit: it works but is different to the hyperlink you gave-no matter it works ;D
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Thank you David.
Now you'll have something to read there? ;)
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What a wealth of information !
Thanks very much Luit (and David) - it will take some reading ... ;D
At first sight the site seems to have been abandoned since 2004 - is anybody aware of other, later postings by A. Mc Murtrie ?
He also mentions a book he's writing (end of the nineties I think) -
is this book on the market ???
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Luc,
Alan Mcurthrie is also famous for Iris reticulata and these pages seem to have been updated in Sept 2007. I have tried some of this reticulata hybrids bought via Janis Ruksans, he seems to get them from him to sell on. They are really great, there was an article by him in an AGS mag a couple of years ago on his hybrids. I will post a couple of pics on the reticulata thread. Don't know about a book on JUnos, prehaps he has got too envolved in hybriding the reticlatas
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Thanks Susan !
I thought the name sounded familiar - I did see it in Janis Ruksans catalogue... must try and get hold of some of these ret. hybrids.... ;D
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He also mentions a book he's writing (end of the nineties I think) -
is this book on the market
Luc, the only book of McMurtrie I know is one with beautiful paintings of Scottish Wild Plants which I
saw a few weeks ago at De Slegte.
But she was a lady. ;)
Luit
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Thanks Luit - you're a big help... ;D
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8) 8) 8)
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Luc,
Alan Mcurthrie is also famous for Iris reticulata and these pages seem to have been updated in Sept 2007. I have tried some of this reticulata hybrids bought via Janis Ruksans, he seems to get them from him to sell on. They are really great, there was an article by him in an AGS mag a couple of years ago on his hybrids. I will post a couple of pics on the reticulata thread. Don't know about a book on JUnos, prehaps he has got too envolved in hybriding the reticlatas
I first found Alan McMurties Web Site in the middle of 2007 whilst seeking information on the Internet on Iris reticulata varieties and growing tips. I noticed that the site hadn't been updated since 2004 and Emailed him asking if he intended to update the site or whether he had abandoned it. He replied saying that he had been very busy growing (and working!) but indicated that he would bring the retic. parts of the site bang upto date, and he did. I found him very approachable.
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Howdy All,
I've had troubles with the junos in the past (I've tried bucharica a couple of times and lost it, kept damp in summer, warm and dry in summer... ::)) and I really shouldn't have bought these, but I just couldn't help myself. Can people please pass on their growing experiences with these guys.
Hello Paul,
How can you lose I. bucharia ?
With your growing experience, what were the supplied plants like ?
I purchased three bulbs in 2004. All were put in clay pots each with a different mixture, a John Innes, second hand peat based and my garden soil (a nice loam). All grew and flowered the following year. Stored dry over summer in a greenhouse. They all have continued to grow each year but flowering has slowed down, due to me not feeding/watering enough I suspect. Last year I moved one to a plastic pot and I planted one in the garden. All are beginning to grow now. Hopefully they will be back to flowering next year.
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The Alan Mc Murtrie site is an enormous source of information.
Thanks Luit and David for pointing it out !
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Andrew,
I've asked myself many times how I could lose bucharica. They looked just fine as plants.... I blame my growing, not the supplier. I added extra sand to increase drainage, but maybe I kept things too dry in summer? I really don't know. With my new plants I've made a sandy mix this time for the junos, have watered them in once to settle them, but from here I am assuming I keep them fairly dry until they show signs of growth above ground? I know htey have the tuberous roots below the bulb, so those need enough mostire to say alive, but not enough to rot everything. A fine balance between enough and too much I guess? One thing I haven't done is put in any granular fertiliser like I do with other bulbs..... I'm assuming that they would be preferring less in the way of fertiliser?
With storing dry over summer, do you mean in the pots, or actually knocked out and dried? I realise if the pots are large enough that some moisture would be kept to keep the roots below the bulb alive, but if stored completely dry wouldn't those tuberous roots shrivel to the detriment of the plant?
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Andrew,
With storing dry over summer, do you mean in the pots, or actually knocked out and dried? I realise if the pots are large enough that some moisture would be kept to keep the roots below the bulb alive, but if stored completely dry wouldn't those tuberous roots shrivel to the detriment of the plant?
They are stored in their clay pots which dry out completely. The roots may shrivel a bit but the plants survive and increase, maybe not as quickly as they could but I am sure we would all rather keep a plant alive than rot it off.
Some of the others that have increased have been split, replanted into clay and plastic pots. I wonder if any difference will be visible ?
PS A juno has died in my care(?) when I first started ;).
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Paul, I hope this doesn't make you tear your hair out.
Back in April last year I bought a 3 litre pot of Iris bucharica in a Garden Centre clearance sale for £1-picture below. It sat on my patio from the end of April until the middle of August through one of the wettest Summers on record when I moved it into the greenhouse. In September I wondered if I should re-pot it, had a look and it was still very damp. I decided to repot it it any case and thought I might split it. I repotted the bulk of it in a 2 litre pot and made 4 smaller pots for the offsets. Back they all went onto the patio. I checked them today, having completely forgotten about them to find good strong shoots in all the pots. Now all I have to do is flower them! ;D
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David,
Oh Yes, I remember you telling us about it originally. The term "clearance" was enough to bring tears to my eyes...... in fact I think when you got to the mention of the garden centre was enough. Never here!!
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I don't really like admitting to it in case someone follows my lead and kills of their collection. But, I grow all my Junos outside in well drained beds and don't lift them in the summer, as David said it was very wet last year. They don't start dying down for me until late August and I feel what is the point of lifting them then. So far I have tried easier growing hybrids but last Autumn planted some more difficult ones (report later in the season) The hybrids have all bulked up well, most have been split, and are pushing up their noses at the moment.
Here are some picture of the ones that have been doing well for the last 3 or 4 years.
Iris Argument, Iris Blue Mystery, Iris New Argument
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I was always lead to believe that the "difficult" Juno's would simply be killed by rain after flowering... which is why they are kept under glass by the specialists ????
I don't want to offend anyone, but I do think you get some rain every now and then in Scotland ? ;D
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Yes luc, we do get a little bit of rain here, this year it has been worse than ever. I think it has, with the exception of September, rained here nearly every day since June >:( It might be an expensive experiment trying the other Iris outside, but what the heck you have to try.
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Paul ,I have over the last 40 or so years raised many Junos from seed-a lot from Russian Botanic Gardens-they used to be very generous years ago to share seeds with strangers like myself.But over the years i have lost just as many. which is so frustrating, as they and the Oncocyclus are amongst the most beautyful of all flowers- to my mind. As a general rule the smaller species are more difficult to grow and keep than the taller growing ones. Sadly, amongst the losses which can not be replaced
as they are no longer in cultivation , as far as I know,were I.stocksii , doabensis and baldshuanica,
all from Afghanistan.
Tony Hall, who used to be in charge of the most comprehensive Juno collection anywhere,at the Botanic Gardens KEW, London,was here in Melbourne a few years ago and gave a fascinating lecture,
and showed slides of every species in cultivation there.He is working on a monograph of Junos.
but most important: he left 2 pages of cultural notes ,I will post a copy to you in the next few days
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Hello Otto,
indeed your comments are not very motivating - how did you cultivate them? - in a greenhouse? -
I try to grow some of the more western species (also Oncos) which come from similar (climatical) areas as mine - till now they do well in the open ground in the garden - surprisingly also the more eastern distributed species which have lower temperatures in their habitat.