Iris and some Irids 2011

[ruweiss]

Rudi,
Your photo of Iris lutescens is the closest I have seen to an old iris that seems to may have been in the district from the 1850s when it was settled as there is large massed clumps - one on a roadside verge, an old farmhouse site, and another at the site of an old copper mine. It is also found in the Victorian countryside too I think.
Many of the early settlers around here were of German extraction - Silesia, Brandenberg and Posen in Prussia.
I do wonder if this iris and the white tb came out with the settlers.

Pat, this Iris is one of the oldest species in my collection was collected near the famous antic Pont du Gard in France
many,many years ago.

[ruweiss]

Rudi, what height is your Orange Caper. Mine was bought as a dwarf bearded but it's very tall

Mark, my Orange Caper is approximately 25 cm ( 10 inches ) in height, I obtained it from the
Gräfin von Zeppelin Nursey, a good and reliable source for perennials.

[Tom Waters]

a tardy little Iris pumila (listed as "cf. clousiii (taurica blue)" by Beaver Creek Greenhouses, but I don't attach much meaning to that).

[PeterT]

a lovely little form Tom.
flowering for the first time here Iris anguifuga,
also flowering Iris cristata alba

[arillady]

Rudi thanks for the history of your Iris lutescens. Could you please scan or photograph a flower more closely so that I may compare it to the one I have here when it flowers in spring?

[arillady]

I have attached two photos of the iris that I grow Rudi. I would say it is a medium iris - not a tall bearded and not a small iris.

[Knud]

Iris lacustris started blooming here this weekend. I have had this plant for 10 years, and it is quite happpy in our garden. There is now two patches each 25-30 cm () 10-12 inches) across. It rarely blooms as richly as shown in the picture, normally it keeps going with one or two flowers per patch for most of the summer.

Knud

[PeterT]

A  beautifull patch Knud. I believe it is a protected plant in the states.

[Regelian]

here is Fritillary Flight, an MTB, which I cherish for its colour and flattened form.  I keep trying to cross it with an aril, but no luck so far.

[Knud]

A  beautifull patch Knud. I believe it is a protected plant in the states.

Thank you Peter. You are right, I think, it is protected. It grows on the northern shores of some of the Great Lakes, mostly in the state of Michigan. Locally it can occur in very large patches, however, its already narrow and specialised habitat is under pressure, mostly through human activity. All the more reason to take good care of the plant that has ended up in our garden. Not that it requires much care, left on its own in a place it likes it spreads quite willingly. My plant came from a small Norwegian nursery about ten years ago.

Knud 

[WimB]

In flower here now:

Iris cristata 'Alba'
and Iris inominata

[Regelian]

Wim,

nice I. innominata.  I have three pots of seed coming up at the moment, all wild collected.  I'm hoping for some interesting variations.  Let you all know in a few years!

[ruweiss]

Rudi thanks for the history of your Iris lutescens. Could you please scan or photograph a flower more closely so that I may compare it to the one I have here when it flowers in spring?

Pat, here are two pictures I took today from my Iris lutescens, the height is approximately 25 cm. These plants are
normally lower if you grow them in full sun, my plant gets some partial shade.

[arillady]

Rudi I am not sure but I will add some photos of one of the old patches near the copper mine - photos taken a few years ago. We only get about 20" of rain a year so it is very dry in summer where these plants grow in the paddocks that sheep graze.
You will see that the white iris is also there

[arilnut]

FWIW, I vote "not Paltec"!

Value your opinion Tom. Could you add a few words as to how my plant differs from the "true" 'Paltec' please?

Here is Paltec blooming today in the wind.

John