Growing Irises Out East: A Visit to Draycott Gardens

 by Alleah and Heather Haley

Susan Miller (center) and Alleah Haley (right) during our visit to Draycott Gardens

Earlier this spring, we took a trip into northern Maryland with our dear friend Susan Miller, Vice President of the Eastern North Carolina Iris Society. This area is on the opposite end of American Iris Society Region 4 and was the site of their Spring 2022 Regional Meeting. During this meeting, attendees were invited to visit four host gardens, including Draycott Gardens - home to Siberian and Japanese iris enthusiast Carol Warner and her husband David Bollinger.

Alleah enjoying irises plantings behind Carol and David's home

Draycott Gardens has been in operation since 1991 and is located in Upperco, an unincorporated community in far northern Maryland (about 10 miles from the Pennsylvania line). Draycott means “peaceful retreat” or “secluded spot” and is the name of a village in central-southwest England, the ancestral home of the Warner family. Carol and David's 10-acre property was part of the farm Carol grew up on.

Although Carol’s mother grew irises, they were uninspiring. Thus, it was not a family connection that piqued Carol's enthusiasm for irises.  After building her house, Carol was gifted a box of irises from a lady she knew and she proceeded to start planting them along the driveway. Breaking up this soil required a pick axe, and Carol thought the irises wouldn't amount to anything. However, this isn't what happened.

The irises along the driveway grew well and came into bloom the following spring in a beautiful array of modern patterns and colors, including pink. PINK! Carol was hooked. Carol belonged to a garden club and her club went to visit the nearby Harp iris garden during bloom season. Owners Maynard and Retta Harp had founded the Francis Scott Key (FSK) Iris Society. They told Carol about the FSK rhizome sale and Carol went to buy irises. She had seen Siberian irises in the Harps’ garden and returned to buy some in the fall. They invited her to become a member of FSK; she did and the rest is history.

One of many flower beds integrating irises with beautiful companion plants 

 

Carol Warner (center) conducting a training session on Siberian irises for regional meeting attendees

Today, Draycott Gardens is home to both bearded and beardless irises--all planted among an impressive array of companion plants, carefully-selected shrubs, and mature trees. Striking were the peonies, rhododendrons, and a huge collection of flowering plants that these former California girls Heather and Alleah couldn’t identify. Carol prefers the beardless irises because they’re more carefree. In her climate, bearded irises have to be sprayed to control leaf spot, and mulching for weed control needs to be limited because of their tendency to rot. Carol’s garden faces the southeast, has sun all day, and has good drainage. With an average of 42 inches of rain and 19 inches of snow each year, she doesn’t have to irrigate.

 
Although Carol's husband David isn't as passionate as she is about gardening, he enthusiastically supports her efforts. David happily keeps grass down with his zero-turn mower, moves soil from one place to another with a small tractor, and uses his considerable computer skills to aid Carol in the various activities that come with owning a commercial iris garden.

More blooms to enjoy among irises growing for resale

During the regional meeting, we arrived at Draycott late, just in time for lunch. We parked in a large grassy area just off the driveway and were quickly waylaid on our gentle climb towards the house. Our trio was immediately enamored by the gorgeous landscaping that welcomed us and delighted by  multiple well-tended beds of bearded and beardless irises growing together in perfect harmony.

Heather was is quick to spot historic iris 'Loreley' (one of her personal favorites)

Alleah is quite fond of historic iris 'Skating Party'

 

A spectacular clump of 'Dividing Line' growing among peonies in bloom

'Little John' is a creation from Region 4 hybridizer Don Spoon

 

Once we made it to the backyard, we were greeting by even more expertly cultivated beds of bearded and beardless irises... as well as a fantastic cast iron gazebo tucked elegantly into the treeline between the home and business garden beds. 

Carol's delightful metal gazebo

 

Although our family has been growing bearded irises for many years, we are relative newbies to the world of beardless irises. The regional meeting was scheduled too early in the year to see Japanese irises in bloom, but the Siberian irises were out in droves. Carol's iris collection is extensive and varied, and we were thrilled by the assortment of older and newer introductions. Among the Siberians we oohed and aahed over were ‘Roaring Jelly’, 1999 winner of the highest award for Siberian irises, the Morgan-Wood Medal. Standards are lavender grey with red-purple veining; falls are greyish, heavily shaded red-purple with a white signal veined near-black. Marty Schafer and Jan Sacks of Massachusetts are also the hybridizers of ‘Ships are Sailing’ (1998, SIB), which won the Morgan-Wood Medal in 2007. With very large blue bitone flowers and veined yellow-gold signals, ‘Ships are Sailing’ is stunning and especially vigorous.

 

'Roaring Jelly'

'Ships Are Sailing'

We also got to admire Siberian irises like ‘Great Falls Love’ (Dean Cole 2007). This cultivar is a medium blue near self with white signal on the falls; very ruffled and curled. Although 'Great Falls Love' was indeed lovely, Dean Cole’s 2021 Siberian introduction ‘Beespeckled’ absolutely took the cake! This ruffled iris tosses up mottled rose-wine standards with lavender edges, stretches out turquoise-colored style arms; and shows off mottled blue-violet falls with golden yellow signals veined in dark purple. A real standout!

'Great Falls Of Love'

'Bespeckled'

 

Draycott Gardens does not list bearded irises on its website, but they do offer about 250 varieties of beardless irises for sale. Offerings include things Carol has hybridized and chosen to introduce, as well as the creations of Hiroshi Shimizu of Japan and Dean Cole of Gorham, Maine. Shimizu attended a Society for Japanese Irises convention in Carol’s garden several years ago, and they worked out an arrangement for him to ship seedlings (primarily pseudatas – a species cross between Japanese iris hybrids and Iris pseudacorus) to her for evaluation, registration, and introduction. 

 
We were so taken with our visit to Carol’s garden during the regional meeting that we accepted her invitation to return and capture more pictures of it before heading back to North Carolina. During our second arrival, Carol greeted us from her golf cart as she speeded along sprucing up the garden. Later that day she would be playing handbells at her church’s Sunday service, and return to host an “Open Garden” event for friends, church members, horticultural society guests, and folks enticed by garden announcements courtesy of the local radio station. 

Our Sunday visit allowed Susan to capture a delightful moment of Heather (left) and Alleah (right) 

 
A million thanks to Carol and David, for your hospitality, and for sharing the beauty of your farm and gardens with our family and so many others.  For anyone curious about "growing irises out East," a visit to Draycott Gardens is a MUST!