Pacific Coast Iris

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Paul & Fermi,this week a mail order list of PCI arrive from Heidi Blyth,has some great iris's in her list,if you need a contact no PM me,or ring Tempo Two in Melbourne and they will give you her no.bye Ray

Hi Ray,
"great minds"! I saw Tim and Heidi at Tesselaar's Expo a fortnight ago and put my name down for a copy of the list. It's very impressive with lots of colour pics but no website! All in good time I suppose?
Some good cultural hints as well.
cheers
fermi

[Ray]

Hi fermi,forgot all about the Rare Plant Expo maybe next year.Do you go to the one at Mt Macedon in Sept? bye Ray

[mark smyth]

Is this a Pacific Coast Iris?

[Diane Whitehead]

Yes, it is, though that name has not been registered.

[mark smyth]

A few years ago this plant was sent from America to a friend as a thank you for opening her garden to the overseas visitors. It was named but the label is long lost. Are there any names with Raspberry or Ripple in the name?

When can I lift and divide my plants?

[Diane Whitehead]

There is a Razzleberry Lady and Raspberry Dazzler.  There is a Ripple Rock but that is yellow.  There may be other Ripples, but unfortunately books don't have a search function.

Here is a photo of Raspberry Dazzler - not mine, but from a CD produced by SPCNI, the Society for Pacific Coast Native Iris, in 2006.

If you can find out who the visitors were, I may be able to query them.  There are not many places that sell named PCI so it should be fairly easy to find out.  Meantime I will copy your photo to send to our hybridizers group, if I may.

[Diane Whitehead]

Regarding breaking up a clump:

 Pacific Coast species grow naturally where summers are dry and winters rainy. In fall, when the rains begin, they produce new white roots and push out new leaves.  This is when I dig them up for potting. In summer they are dormant so aren't inclined to settle themselves into a new home.

It is generally safe to dig and transplant a whole clump anytime, but it will require watering throughout its first summer.

Breaking up clumps in spring  resulted in a third of my divisions dying, so I now do it in October and November as the weather is still pleasant then.

However, U.K. conditions are quite different from ours, and PCI have been grown very successfully there for a long time, so local advice would be best for you.

[mark smyth]

Of course you can pass the photo round

[fermi de Sousa]

Is this a Pacific Coast Iris?

Hi Mark,
does it usually have so few petals?
cheers
fermi

Hi fermi,forgot all about the Rare Plant Expo maybe next year.Do you go to the one at Mt Macedon in Sept? bye Ray

Hi Ray,
I've missed the last year or two but hope to get there this year!
cheers
fermi

[mark smyth]

No, they are usually 3 and 3

[Diane Whitehead]

The hybridizers have all had a look at your photo, Mark, and so far
there is no definite name.

Here are some comments.  The final one is from a nurseryman who hasn't answered yet after I sent him the photo:

Not Rasberry Dazzler which has a little bit more modern or wider flower form.  Kind of looks like Distant Nebula, but I think there are probably a bunch out there that look like this, probably of the 1980's introduction vintage. Joe Ghio might be able to ID it.  He has a great memory for his (and other's) introductions.
 
From the photo, the iris may be Big Wheel, a Ghio hybrid from the 80s.

We still grow and sell Big Wheel, an incredibly tough plant.

[Diane Whitehead]

OK.  We've got the answer from Terry Aitken, who searched his slides without
success, and then found the picture in his 1995 catalogue.   

 'Big Wheel' (Ghio '84) Mitchell Medal '86

Terry owns Salmon Creek Nursery, in Vancouver, Washington. (not Vancouver British Columbia, but a former Hudson's Bay Company fort across the river from Portland Oregon)

   http://www.flowerfantasy.net/

[Maggi Young]

Well  done, Diane and Terry! All those busy Iris brains, beavering away to great effect! 

[Regelian]

Here is a seedling I grew from RHS seed some years ago.  Partly evergreen, I have considered it a form of douglasiana or a close hybrid.  Any comments from some experts?

[mark smyth]

I never said thanks for the trouble to ID my Iris.
 I must divide mine tomorrow