by Mike Unser
It was a long, cold, wet spring in the Pacific Northwest. Thankfully, I love photographing irises when they are sparkling in the wet.
Here are some of my favorite photos taken this year of the historic irises in my collection.
by Heather Haley
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the American Iris Society (AIS), members received five fantastic supplements to copies of the quarterly bulletin IRISES. Their publication was a labor of love for the managing editor James (Jim) W. Morris and assistant editor Janis Shackleford. Three years of research, writing, and editing produced over 470 pages to delight novice and veteran iris enthusiasts alike.
These supplements are available for purchase through the AIS Storefront, and have recently been published in a single bound volume titled 100 Years Bold! This work contains many wonderful stories and remembrances of the irises and people that will delight any iris enthusiast. The following outlines the contents of each supplement and the addendum that comprise the bound volume.
By Kathleen Sayce
I wrote about the golden iris misses in my garden during my search for Iris innominata plants and or seeds from various sources in October 2021. Since then Tom Fischer, a member of the Society for Pacific Coast Native Iris, took pity on me and shared seeds from his plants with me two years ago, and this spring, here's the result--flowers!
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| Iris innominata flowering in my garden with good dark yellow base color and red veins. |
I have several pots, so my next garden project is figuring out where to grow my own patch of this species. It is going to take a few years for my plants to come close to their parents, but as we know, gardening is all about patience.
All it took was 27 years of patience and a determination to keep trying! Thanks, Tom!
by Tom Waters
Although I am an unabashed iris enthusiast and grow a garden that is dominated by irises, I want an outdoor space with more than just rows of irises. In particular, I like my garden to be a pleasant and interesting space to sit in or walk through, any time of the year. So over the years, I have acquired a collection of mostly care-free plants that flower during the months when the irises are not in bloom. I live in the arid southwestern US although at an elevation (6000 feet) that keeps us a little cooler than the true deserts of this region. My location is in the United States Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zone 6a.
Although most of the plants I describe in this article will be happy in most of the western US, this post is not really intended as a plant list, but more as a recounting of how I have gone about making my outdoor space a garden that features irises, rather than just a giant iris planting. If you share that goal, I hope that you will pick up a few ideas as you read on.
Although I love to read books and watch television programs
about garden design, I confess I am not the type who plans a garden on graph
paper and then goes out to buy the plants. Rather, I create the garden first,
try lots of different things as I think of them, and then see what works. If I
like how something turns out, I do it more. In this way, the garden is more the result of
evolution and editing than of advance planning.
I grow a few daylilies too, as they are showy and bright. I
have heard some people recommend not to mix daylilies and irises, since the
irises don’t like as much water as the daylilies need. Frankly, in my climate,
it’s almost impossible to give irises enough water to bother them. Mine do fine
together!
Last year, I grew a stand of showy milkweed (Asclepias
speciosa), thinking to do my bit to help out the monarch butterflies. I completely
misjudged how big these things get! I love them, though, both the
flowers and the raucous cotton-candy like seed heads. This year, they are
getting some severe editing. I will restrict them to areas in the back of the bed, behind the
irises, not amongst them!
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| Fallugia paradoxa and Penstemon eatonii |
I also grow quite a few different penstemon species. Most bloom
at the end of iris season or shortly afterwards and their flowers last maybe a month or so. Some penstemon species bloom longer. Red ones are pollinated by hummingbirds, although I have seen hummingbirds
enjoying the violet ones too.
Most of the other plants in my garden look their best in
early summer, and the garden tends to ramp down as the year progresses. My
favorite autumn-blooming plants are the hylotelephiums, such as ‘Autumn Joy’
and its ilk. I need to remind myself to get more of these. I have only a few in
one spot, but could enjoy them in lots of other places.
One of the consequences of not doing advance planning is
that you can end up with “holes” – periods of time when there’s not much in bloom
and the garden seems on hold. One solution is to stay alert for this; and when
the lull comes around, go visit friends’ gardens and local nurseries and see
what looks good. Even if you don’t buy them right away, you can record which
plants could be introduced to fill the gap.
I don’t put a lot of effort into finding plants that bloom
in autumn. Summers here are hot and dry, and everything gets stressed.
By the end of the season, both garden and gardener are looking ahead to the
peace of winter, rather than seeking to recreate the exuberance of spring and
early summer. I do, however, love the autumn crocuses (Crocus speciosus), which
pop up suddenly after a rain and give a final burst of color as the gardening
year winds down.
With a little experimentation and some time, it is possible
to have a garden that is mostly irises but still holds interest and looks
nice year round. Even iris nuts deserve a pleasant outdoor space!
In previous blog posts (Dec 2020, Jan 2021, May 2021, Oct 2021, I've been sharing information about the Dry Creek Garden ) and events leading up to the 2019 American Iris Society national convention (Part I, Part II). In this post, I will continue sharing memories of "The Sun Sets on Rainbows."
It’s now two weeks out to displaying the iris planting at the Dry Creek Garden for the first time. All the years of preparation and planning have been leading up to one important day, April 27, 2019. Only our volunteers knew what was growing on the hill in Union City, California. As final touches were made at Dry Creek, few were present to see what was happening. The convention began on Monday and most people were busy completing convention tasks at the hotel in San Ramon and in other host gardens. We got rain up to the week before the convention, and then a heatwave arrived on Tuesday. We wondered what 91-degree temperatures would do. Were miserably hot temperatures in store for us? It was at this time that I realized that a fantastic showing was on the way!
Bearded irises in full bloom in the Dry Creek Garden
On Wednesday, I entered some flowers from Dry Creek in the convention iris show. While there, the convention chair, Shirley Trio, asked me how the bloom was. Not wanting to give anything away, I just said it was “ok.” There were lots of happy iris people walking around at the show. I was like the fly on the wall, observing the acquaintances chatting and happy to be together at an iris convention. I really didn’t know anybody except the locals, but a few famous people were pointed out to me. National conventions often attract the "Who’s Who?" of irisdom.
For the next few days, I was back at the garden while convention attendees went on their tours of the other guest gardens. With 737 guest irises there were a lot of stickers to put on iris labels to indicate which convention awards each iris was eligible for. Stars... lots of stars: red, green, gold, silver, etc. But finally, it was done! The day before the garden tour at Dry Creek, out came the tables, chairs, tents, restrooms, and banners. You’d think someone was getting married. As I left Friday evening, just hours before visitors arrived, I just stood and looked at what we did. All for one day: April 27, 2019.
Pathways made it easy to get close and appreciate each of the hundreds of irises in bloom
Convention attendees poured in and spread out like warm syrup, stopping along the way to snap photos, stare and smile. Everything was in bloom! The tall bearded, border bearded, species crosses, intermediate bearded, miniature tall bearded, arilbred, spuria, Louisiana, and Siberian irises, and (of course) the poppies. California poppies were front and center. Irisarians from all over the United States and Canada were joined by six people from China and two from Mexico City, and all got to see California poppies in all their glory among the iris beds and beyond. And ... the weather was perfect!
Native California poppies and flags waving gently under perfect blue skies
A musical ensemble consisting of a harpist, viola and bass played for visitors to enjoy, including the general public. They too had been waiting for us to open. Just after noon, the other two buses arrived to have their lunch before seeing the garden as they had just come from the beautiful Cummins garden in Scotts Valley near the coast. After they arrived and mingled with the first two buses, the first buses loaded up and went to the Cummins garden.
Convention attendees enjoyed delights for their eyes, ears AND stomachs!
It was a wonderful day that I will never forget! So many heartfelt compliments. Our pathways were very wide, so those with mobility issues could actually get close to any clump they wanted and take their own picture. They asked what kind of fertilizer we were using to get such big plants and flowers. "None" was my answer. No sprays for leaf spot either. Just great California Sun that Sets On Rainbows!
John Jones conducting an in-garden judges training session
Jeff discussing irises in the garden with volunteers, hybridizers, and guests.
As the last visitors left to get on the buses, I drew a breath of relief. My job was done: have lots of flowers blooming on the day they visit!
Please come visit Dry Creek Garden some spring in Union City, California. A beautiful iris display awaits you just up that hill.
A sign with painted irises is ready to welcome you to the Meyers Cottage and Dry Creek Garden
All photos courtesy of local photographer Cali Godley
