Irises at Aitken's: Part Five - Seedlings

For the final installment in our virtual trip thru the iris rows at Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden I'll leave you with a set of photos of various seedlings growing for trial or increase before introduction. They were all so beautiful it would be hard to pick a favorite. I love the charm of these MTBs with their small dainty flowers on slender stems. It is amazing to see what the hybridizers are doing with the color and pattern range in this once limited class. Sorry, I have no information about them other than their seedling number as listed on the tags.












Thanks for reading along this week as I shared my visit to the garden of Terry and Barbara Aitken. Many thanks to them for their hospitality and kind encouragement. I'll be heading back there again to enjoy even more blooms. I think I'd like to visit in the summer when the Japanese and psudacorus bloom as they have acquired a large collection of Hiroshi Shimizu's 'eye-shadow' psuedatas (a species cross).

There is always something beautiful to see at the Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden. Be sure to plan to stop and visit when you are in the area at iris time. You won't be disappointed.

Irises at Aitken's: Part Four - Misc. Species

Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden grows a large variety of species irises. here are a few that were blooming last spring during my visit. First up is I. lactea, a lovely little species native to the Asian steppes across to Korea. I had never seen this species before and found it really charming, with a profusion of light lavender-blue flowers featuring narrow spidery petals and tall feathery standards.


I. tectorum is a species native to China and is one of the few species closely related to bearded irises. It has even been successfully crossed with them. It is a low growing species with a rhizome very like bearded irises, however its petals are adorned with a filamented crest where a beard would be. It has a very open habit giving the flowers more of a flat appearance. Terry and Barbara grow both the blue and the white varieties of this charming iris.




Last I have an example of a siberian iris to show you, not a wild species variety tho -this one is a modern hybrid and is really different. 'White Amber' (Schafer/Sacks 2001) is a large colorful flower showing a major advance in the range that this family has acquired thru the efforts of breeders over the past 30 years. They are really creating a revolution in siberian irises equivalent to what bearded irises went thru when the explosion of tetraploids first came on the scene in the late 1920's.


Unfortunately it was a bit early for the siberians and this was the only one blooming, but that is just an excuse to return again later in the season to admire a new crop of flowers in full bloom.

Tomorrow we'll conclude with a peek into the future - seedlings growing at Aitken's under trial for eventual introduction.

Irises at Aitken's: Part Three - PCIs

In the third installment of photos from my trip to Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden I'd like to show you the beauty of some of their Pacific Coast Irises (PCI). These are modern hybrids created from crossing the various species of PCI and then breeding for years to attain a phenomenal range of colors and patterns. They really do have one of the widest color ranges of any members of the iris family, it is too bad they are not able grow well outside the Mediterranean type climate we enjoy along the Pacific coast.

First up is 'Baby Blanket', a lovely creation of Joe Ghio from 1998. It is a deep blended pink with a large blue signal spot. It won an Award of Merit (AM) in 2004.


'Blue Moment' (D. Meek, 1992) is a lovely light blue-violet with deeper veining. It sports large, ruffled flowers.


Another Ghio creation is 'Earthquake' from 1991. Now this is really something special, even for a PCI, and it won an AM in 1997. Just look at this amazing coloration - gold changing to red, deepening to almost black in the center of the falls. It almost appears to be aflame!


Next we have another variety with the 'Wow!' factor - 'Pacific Glaze'. Every part of this iris is wide and ruffled including the style arms. This is one of the Aitken's own creations introduced in 2010. It is a bewitching blend of colors on an underlay of gold. Rich and stunning.


Last is a softer variety, 'Pacific Snowflake' (Shoop, 1995). It is a clear crystalline white with the edges blushing the faintest of blue tints. It is pure loveliness, and was awarded an AM in 2000.


So who is ready to move to the west coast just so they can grow some of these beauties? I'm lucky enough to already live here, and let me tell you how much I love having an iris species that is practically care free in my climate. If only they could grow everywhere. Tomorrow we'll take a look at various other species of irises Terry and Barbara are growing at their beautiful garden.

Irises at Aitken's: Part Two - Medians

Today in part two I'll show you some of the amazing and beautiful median irises that I saw when I visited the Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden last spring. We were there at just the right time for these smaller beauties to be showing off at their best.

First up is an Intermediate Bearded (IB) iris, 'Backlit Beauty' (Tasco, 2010) and what a bright splash of color it is!


Next we have Paul Black's award winning SDB 'Bluebeard's Ghost' (2006). A nice pure icy white with a strikingly deep blue beard.


Another SDB with quite a different color pattern is the Aitken's own 'Pink Latte'.


Intermediate Bearded (IB) variety 'Red Hot Chili' (M. Sutton, 2005) was a knock-your-socks-off combination of bright red and gold.


Terry and Barbara have a beautiful collection of Miniature Tall Bearded (MTB) irises and many were showing off during our visit. I love their small tailored flowers. They seem very simple and graceful in their beauty. First is 'Dollie And Me', a 2011 introduction created by L. Miller. A truly wonderful color combination and a real standout in the iris rows.

Another MTB with a harmonious combination of colors is 'Please' (Craig, 2005), with soft yellow standards over white falls blushed violet on the edges.


An unusual color combo is found in 'She's A Doll' (L. Miller, 2010). It features soft coral pink petals with the falls lightly washed with orchid pink. A very pretty effect.


Last, but by far the least, is 'Think Spring' (S. Markham, 2003). What a delightful flower this is, with it's soft lavender-violet coloring paling at the heart.


Tomorrow we'll take a look at some of the stunning Pacific Coast Irises that the Aitken's grow. Stay tuned!

Irises at Aitken's: Part One - Historics

Last spring I took a trip south to Vancouver, WA, to visit Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden. I had been to the garden of Terry and Barbara Aitken once before, when it had been one of the gardens on the tour for the 2006 AIS Convention in Portland. That trip was at the height of the TB season and the fields were full of color. This trip was during an incredibly late bloom season so I was fortunate to get to see lots of medians and species varieties that are usually gone by the time the TBs get going. This week I'll have a five part series of posts for you highlighting the beautiful blooms I saw there. I hope it will whet your appetite for spring as it draws closer. Enjoy!

Today I'll start with a few historic bearded irises that I photographed. These are varieties that are still here from Bruce Filardi's collection that I so enjoyed at the 2006 Convention, and are not stock sold by this garden. First up is 'Junaluska' (Kirkland, 1934). A beautiful, tall, glowing iris, it won an HM in 1936 and an AM the following year. Well deserved. I love the wash of rose in the standards and that dark red wire rim around them.


'Messaline' is an old French variety by Millet et Fils, introduced in 1927. It's small flowers are quite charming and display a complex pattern with delicate gold pencil lines decorating the edges of the orchid standards and falls washed and stippled heavily in red-violet, with gilded hafts and a golden beard.


Last is a pretty tall bearded variety from 1967 by Wright - 'Many Moons'. It is a creamy white self with just a touch of lavender to the fall. A really lovely iris.


I hope you enjoyed these. Please come back tomorrow for part two: Medians!