Bearded Iris 2007 to 2009

[fermi de Sousa]

Joakim,
our conditions (especially when you are in Sweden!) are very different but I think it's always a good idea to unpot newly acquired iris and check for rotting of the rhizomes as they don't particularly like pot culture. When splitting up clumps in cold conditions I think a dusting with fungicide or "flowers of suphur" maybe a precaution to take to avoid rot.

Here are some more from the garden today,
The clump of blackish-red DBI with blue beards,(possibly "Tarheel Elf")

And a close-up,

A nice little apricot-pink shade,

And a better pic of "Mambo"

cheers
fermi

[Paul T]

Fermi,

I do like that blue bearded blackish-red, and the 'Mambo' looks nice.  Actually, so does the pink, so I probably should just say that they're all nice!    Buds on the TBI are growing at a great rate of knots, aided by the unseasonal warmth we're having.  Today felt so much like summer!!    Other than 'Making Eyes' the only DBI I have out at the moment was a surprise flower on 'Acid Print' which I discovered yesterday.  Yes, I know I should upload pics but haven't sorted them out yet.  Too tired now to do it unfortunately..... will see how I feel after dinner.  It's been a long work week. 

[Paul T]

Howdy Fermi et al,

Here's a couple of pics as promised..... Dwarf Bearded Iris 'Acid Print' and DBI 'Making Eyes'.  Off to bed now for an early night.  Sorry I haven't uploaded anything else to any other topics.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

They're wonderful Paul !
Good night ! 

[Joakim B]

Fermi really nice ones and Paul thanks it was a great ttreat.
Fermi what do You think about my guess of Your unknown DBI as "ginger bread man" several pages ago? It was my inital coment and it is farly well spread I think as it is an old sort.

I only had to make a physical break in two cases and for the ones going to Portugal it was not a problem since the cut dried and for the ones stying in Hungary they were planted without being watered. I was thinking on putting cinnemon ((canela) as they say in the rest of the world except the English speaking one) as it is working as a fungicide but did not do anything. Hopefully it is not a problem. Here is a picture of the one pot that did not need any breaking of rizomes since of fell apart by itself. First the obvoius ones and then 4 bonus ones. It was the last yer plant that had fallen into pieces. On the label it was stated that Low Ho Silver was an intermediate.
 
Does anyone else break up newly bought plants if they are big enough? It does not need to be out of being cheap it can also be a matter of trying in different locations conditions, even spreading over a continent is not the usual way. Sweden Hungary and Portugal covers Europe fairly well.

Kind regards
Joakim

[Gerhard Raschun]

Yes Fermi the unknown yellow and white came from Robyn R and I should imagine it is a species. I have grown seedlings from it by selfing it and I do think they were the same (without looking and a sometimes faulty memory says she!).

Dear Pat,

I suggest that your wonderful Iris spec. belongs to the I. reichenbachii - group, it`s the most complicated group....

btw, I have got two different clones of I. astrachanica, so I hope for seeds in the next growing season.

[arillady]

Dear Gerhard,
Thanks so much for that suggestion. I will work with that for now. Do you have any thought on the 'wild' two tone blue that Fermi posted too. We have this one as a 'wild' iris locally too - plus the white tall bearded. The blue and white is not as tall growing as the white and the leaves die down over winter to a certain extent.
Pat T

[fermi de Sousa]

Here's a couple of pics as promised..... Dwarf Bearded Iris 'Acid Print' and DBI 'Making Eyes'.  Off to bed now for an early night.  Sorry I haven't uploaded anything else to any other topics.

Paul, "Making Eyes" does look the same as the one I was calling "Tricks", so i guess I have more labels to correct!
I like "Acid Print"; we'll include that in the FTA!
Now here are a few more,
"Cupid's cup" very similar to the lilac one I posted earlier but a different beard!

I think this is what I had labelled as "Fairy Footsteps" so not sure how it traipsed over to where the other one is (I posted it earlier and Paul ID'd it) on the other side of the garden!
 
This is what Marcus Harvey listed as a "Blue on White Plicata", looks more purple to me, a bit stronger colour than "Knick Knack",

the latest to flower is a little maroony one called "Mini Dragon"

cheers
fermi

[Paul T]

Fermi,

'Acid Print' will have to wait at least a year to go to you.... it is currently coming back from the brink, with only 2 fans and one of those is flowering.  I am hoping for lots of offsets, in which case a piece will go to you as soon as feasible.  Your pic reminds me to go and look for my 'Mini Dragon'.... can't remember where I've put the pot, or did I plant it out?  Hmmmm?  And as to how the Fairy Footsteps got to the other side of the garden.... well it is FAIRY footsteps after all.  Where fairy magic is involved anything is possible.  Just ask Timmy Turner!!

Now THAT will probably confuse a few people..... TT is in a cartoon called Fairly Odd Parents. 

[Lesley Cox]

Joakim, we here rarely get a tall beared iris with more than a single rhizome or perhaps with a couple of very small new ones forming so not really breakable and while we do get the little kinds with several rhizomes, I never break them to start with. They establish much quicker from a larger "group" rhizome and if you want, break it apart next year when it will be even bigger.

In your first pic, I would trim away (a sharp cut, dusted with sulphur) the outer part of the rhizome, i.e. the part farthest away from the leaf fan, leaving just the current year's fresh rhizome growth. Nothing new will grow from the older growth. It always starts from the newest part of the rhizome. Actually there are two year's growth you could reasonably trim off. They'll only rot away anyway and encourage woodlice, slugs etc.

[fermi de Sousa]

Fermi,

'Acid Print' will have to wait at least a year to go to you.... it is currently coming back from the brink, with only 2 fans and one of those is flowering.  I am hoping for lots of offsets, in which case a piece will go to you as soon as feasible. 

Paul,
I'm nothing if not patient
One more to show today, this one is very similar to "Making Eyes" but is called "No Contest",

cheers
fermi

[Paul T]

Fermi,

Same colour scheme but definitely quite different, isn't it.  Seeing all your wonderful DBIs has me pining for my old collection of them.    I'd managed to forget how nice they were. 

[Joakim B]

Thanks for the comments Lesley.
The one with the multitude of plants was for sure in the place for several years since the main rhizome had rooted already.
I was a bit reluctant to do physical breaks with some of the others but if You want to have them in two places and are not sure they will not dissapear in the first I chose to make the gamble. The "old rhizome" had roots so I left it there hoping it would help the plant to get going. Now they are planted some 2000 km away and will have to manage on there own. Can the old rhizome not be "tricked" into sprauting again like back bulbs of orchids if it is separated from the new growth? Anyone tested?

Lovely little wonders there Fermi very strong personality I would say. Like all that is collectable there sometimes are not much difference between some plants and there is also a lot of variation in colour with temperature and sun I would bet. At lease the photo of the same plant differs depending on the nursery. Sometimes only the conditions on how the photo was taken and sometimes the differences are real.

Kind regards and keep them coming it gives me (us) a feeling of spring/summer.
Joakim

[Paul T]

Joakim,

I find that old rhizomes separated from the newer bits will quite often sprout.  it really depends how old they actually are, and in what state (i.e if starting to rot then nothing happens as it all goes to mush).  I have a bag near my front door of the left over bits when I dug and replanted a couple of irises in my front garden last summer..... lots of new shoots appeared.  Must plant them somewhere to grow on.... one was black and one was white so the combination of the two mixed up could look quite effective in a garden somewhere, if I had the space to spare.  I am still trying to find places for all the other irises I have in pots to go into the ground.

[Lesley Cox]

If you DO get some growths from the old rhizomes Paul and Joakim, they will be small and weak and never make really good plants. You can grow them on to flowering size eventually, maybe 3 years but by that time your original new growths will be bigger, better and with many new rhizomes of their own, much stronger, so why would you bother?