Iris reticulata and forms 2008

[Lvandelft]

And an intriguing picture from me:
iris reticulata var. caucasica alba
a very rare wild form from our mountains

Zhirair,
looks definitely more white than the one in culture, I showed on page 6 of the Conn. Coll.
Hopefully it's a good grower too?

[Boyed]

Luit,

It is purest white and good grower like other reticulatas. I also had white with very pale sky-blue tint at the base of petals (again wild form), but, unfortunately, I lost it due to excessive moisture during winter time (I watered the plants very other week, like I do with my lilies).

I had a look at page 6 Con. As I see the sample illustrated has distinct sky-blue marks. I grow a trade form 'Natascha', which is white with blue overlay.

[David Nicholson]

And an intriguing picture from me:
iris reticulata var. caucasica alba

a very rare wild form from our mountains

The there are some colour variations of iris reticulata growing here. The usual form is purple (diferent shades), though sometimes bicoloured, sky-blue and rarely magenta and whites coulod be found.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! That white retic is stunning. I'm in a killing mood as well Paul!

[art600]

Zhirair

How do you grow your reticulate irises?  What compost do you use?  In Iran, they were growing in ground that was very like silt, not at all like the mix I use in pots.  Dirk Schnabel (Udo) grows in a mixture of grit and peat and achieves wonderful results.

I have no problem growing them in the garden, where they bulk up very well, but I would like to grow my 'special' in pots and will take advice from anyone on the best compost.

[fermi de Sousa]

The local group of the Hardy plant society puts in a combined order to Peter Nijssen every year - hence the quantities. I paid:
Iris Reticulata Spring Time   50   for  2.75

Talk about killing! That's about what we'd have to pay for a single bulb here!
cheers
fermi

[Paul T]

Fermi,

Yeah, sickening isn't it!! 

Guess we're going to have to convince Zhirair to set some seed and send it over to us Aussies!    Could you imagine what a bulb of a white like THAT would cost here? 

[Susan]

Is that Euros or Pounds.  Either way it is very cheap.  Oh that we were allowed to bring them in to New Zealand.....  I paid NZ$5.99 (about E3.00) for 5 Iris reticulata bulbs, which when and if they flower will probably be misnamed.  Two years ago the ones I bought never appeared at all, and had just faded/rotted away.  I think they are all brought into the country and were probably harvested 18 months before so are hard to get growing as they often appear to be somewhat dessicated.

Susan

[Boyed]

I know that you'd be very impressed with that white one. I know how valuable white forms of retic irises are among iris lovers. Actually I am planning to select some interesting forms from wild, get them multiplied and then I'll certainly share some of the interesting forms with you, guys. There are quite different forms growing here in wild and the possibilities for making prominant selection is quite high for me.
It is very boring to see that most of the companies offer the same varieties all the time and nothing special. I know that each of us are rather interested in special ones

Art,
The ordinary iris reticulatas I grow in the garden, but special ones I also prefer to grow in pots, though pot culture is not that appropriate here in our climate (not moderate). For all bulbs I use the same compost  - leave mould, which I collect from the nearest forest under the trees. I don't use any fertilisers and pesticides and get wonderful results. But now from my mistakes I know that I should be very careful with watering, especially when the vegetation is finished and during winter period.

Some more pics of wild forms and named varieties

[Lvandelft]

These caucasica forms are beautiful Zhirair! I saw and pictured maybe something like that as
White Caucasus this spring (Weekly Lisse Show)

I know that you'd be very impressed with that white one. I know how valuable white forms of retic irises are among iris lovers. Actually I am planning to select some interesting forms from wild, get them multiplied and then I'll certainly share some of the interesting forms with you, guys. There are quite different forms growing here in wild and the possibilities for making prominant selection is quite high for me.
It is very boring to see that most of the companies offer the same varieties all the time and nothing special. I know that each of us are rather interested in special ones

And the bad thing is that some companies, when finding plants originated from wild habitats,
immediately start to bring them under Plant breeder's rights (PBR), also known as plant variety rights (PVR),
which I can understand with plants where many years of breeding were used.
But with wild plants it seems wrong to me.

[Boyed]

Luit,

I am well-familliar with iris reticulata 'White Caucasus', which made a big splash in Holland. I saw your pic when you posted it in the forum and was highly impressed by its beauty. But I think we won't appear soon in the market.

Your statement about author's rights are, unfortunately, true, but sad. I even know some cases, when a comany obtained some prominant iris reticulata selections from famous Canadian breeder Allan and then registered those forms under its name not mentioning anything about the breeder. The case even reached the court; Allan won the trials, but didn't get any compensation and the amount promissed by the company for those plants. Aditionally, I should mention that all this were related with some iris reticulata white-flowered hybrids.

[art600]

Art,
The ordinary iris reticulatas I grow in the garden, but special ones I also prefer to grow in pots, though pot culture is not that appropriate here in our climate (not moderate). For all bulbs I use the same compost  - leave mould, which I collect from the nearest forest under the trees.

Zhirair
Do you mean you add a quantity of leaf mould to your standard compost, or do you mean just leaf mould?

Thanks for showing us some wonderful native Iris

[Boyed]

Arthur,

I just collect the upper 5 cm soil level under the trees rich with leaf mould (it is usually lighter than ordinary soil)

[Paul T]

Howdy All,

Not exactly sure whether this species should be in here or not, as not sure of classifications and how close it really is to retics.

This is a first flowering for me of Iris histrio (originally from Syria apparently)...... the flowers are just stunning.  Much larger than any retic type I have ever seen before, and they're not really even fully open yet I think.  Have been watching the buds getting taller and taller for the last week or so, and the leaves are 10 inches or more long (I can measure if wanted?).  Just in case anything happens to the flower overnight I photographed it late this afternoon when I got home from work and saw it for the first time.  I couldn't resist posting a couple of pics, even though they aren't perfect.  If people are interested I can hopefully post better pics tomorrow.  The spotting is just amazing!

[David Nicholson]

That's a lovely Iris histrio Paul. If you want a comparison take a look at  http://www.badbear.com/signa/signa.pl?Display+Iris-histrio+1+1

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Truly beautiful Paul !
Please post more pix when they have fully opened - they're worth it.

Thanks