Louisiana Irises Create many Buena Vistas

by Ron L. Killingsworth in NW Louisiana

Every year during "bloom season", when the Louisiana irises are blooming, I always take hundreds of pictures of the iris blooms.  Last year I decided to take more "view" pictures with some of the beautiful parts of Caddo Lake and Plantation Point Nursery in the background.  I was quite pleased with the outcome and hope that you enjoy these "good views". You can learn more about Louisiana irises at the Society for Louisiana Irises web site.

'Ardoyne' by Joe Musacchia (2003

This picture of 'Ardoyne' was taken by the Koi pond which is full of beautiful Japanese Koi.  There is an island in the middle of the pond (tank for your Texicans) and the two large "crane" birds stand on the island and give the fish something to think about.  'Ardoyne' was named by Joe for the Ardoyne Plantation Home in Houma, LA, where Joe lives.  Houma is south of New Orleans!

Louisiana irises grow in a small pond

Louisiana irises are quite happy growing in water.  In this picture they grow in a small pond that we modeled after Marie Caillet's famous pond in Little Elm, TX.  The bridge is made of bamboo as we have a large stand of bamboo on the property.  It will support people!  Bamboo is used in many parts of the world as scaffolding.

'Black Widow' by W. B. MacMillan 1953

'Black Widow' is one of my favorite Louisiana irises.  It is the older open form and is one of the darkest Louisiana irises.  It is an early bloomer and this photograph shows a nice clump of it with Caddo Lake and bald cypress trees in the background.

Louisiana irises grow by Caddo Lake

Caddo Lake in NW Louisiana is in the "Ark-LA-Tex", where AR, LA and TX all meet.  It is a natural lake and there is much discussion concerning the way it was formed.  Caddo Indians left a rich heritage in this part of the country and the parish (county) is named for them.  Again, bald cypress trees grow in the water.  The trees produce tannins that make the lake water very dark.

'Her Highness' by Levingston 1957

'Her Highness' is a collected I. giganticaerulea alba and is a beautiful white iris that grows very tall.  Another favorite, it stands out in a crowd!  A small pond is in the background and my sister grows fresh water shrimp in this pond.

Louisiana irises in a "clump"

A large group of multicolored Louisiana irises can really be breathtaking.  We are commercial growers and most of our irises are in four feet by four feet beds by variety.  We purposely made some beds with many different colored irises which are unnamed and for viewing pleasure only.

'Fringed Gold' by D. L. Shepard 1992

'Fringed Gold' is a beautiful Louisiana iris and in this picture a large clump in full bloom shows the Koi pond and birds in the background.  My sister's home is in the distance.

"May pops" grow in the ditches of Northern Louisiana and as children we used to eat them when they ripened.  They have a beautiful bloom.  I posted this on the web and received pictures of many different varieties from around the US.

Louisiana irises in full bloom near Caddo Lake

This is a group of 100 four by four beds down near the lake.  We have irises growing in just about every conceivable method.  These are in dug beds lined with plastic and irrigated from the lake.

Louisiana irises - a group of "Professors"

Professor Joe Merzweiller, a college professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, LA in the 50's and 60's, was the first to produce a tetraploid Louisiana iris through chemical conversion.  He then hybridized these irises and produced 10 registered Louisiana irises named for his professor friends -- Professor Jim, Professor Ike, Professor Marta Marie, etc.  Tetraploid Louisiana irises tend to grow taller and have larger blooms.

Greenhouse at Plantation Point Nursery, Mooringsport, LA

This picture shows a group of Louisiana irises growing next to the Koi pond and the greenhouse in the background.  The huge "sandstone" rocks on the left were dug up on the property and will one day be part of a "water feature" on this pond.

Louisiana irises in full bloom

"Professor somebody" in the front with 'Her Highness' in the background.  The white object in the far background is the gate onto the pier that goes out 150 feet into Caddo Lake.

Louisiana iris view

This picture shows a group of Louisiana irises in full bloom with the "fresh water shrimp" pond in the background and Caddo Lake in the far background.

Louisiana irises on Caddo Lake

Another bunch of "Professor Somebody" (maybe 'Professor Jim') growing near the lake.  The group of yellow irises in the middle background are iris.pseudacorus, a native of Europe, that grows great in water. Unfortunately this iris is often sold by nurseries as Louisiana irises and are often used by landscape companies when planting irises in the landscape.  They are very invasive!  The background shows the pier and boathouse behind the bald cypress trees.

Louisiana irises in a clump

This picture shows a large clump of white Louisiana irises with Caddo Lake and the bald cypress trees in the background.  I failed to note the name of the iris but here they are just a part of a "Buena Vista".

Louisiana irises growing near Caddo Lake, Mooringsport, LA

Another group of Louisiana irises in full bloom with a great picture of the edge of Caddo Lake and bald cypress trees in the background.  Caddo Lake is a 25,400 acre lake and wetlands that is located in NW Louisiana and NE Texas. The lake is named after the Southeastern culture of Native Americans called Caddoans or Caddo, who lived in the area until the 19th century.

Louisiana irises with mixed colors in full bloom on Caddo Lake

Louisiana irises grow in the edge of a pond in NW Louisiana

These Louisiana irises are some of my "babies" (irises I hybridized) that I did not want to keep for registration and/or introduction.  They were great irises but not worthy of registration.  I planted them in the edge of the "fresh water shrimp" pond and each year I see at least one that I think I should have kept and registered!

'Our Friend Harry' by Ron Killingsworth 2011

Well, I had to put at least one of my "babies" in this blog.  This is 'Our Friend Harry' and is named for a good friend and former president of the Society for Louisiana Irises, Harry Wolford of Palm Bay, FL. This is by the Koi pond and again you can see the large birds on the island and the arched bridge.

A very "tall" Tall Bearded iris

This is one of Sue's (my wife) old species of Tall Bearded that grows well in Louisiana.  Usually it is too hot and wet for Tall Bearded irises to do well in Louisiana (or in much of the subtropical south).  This one is in a shaded area and grew quite tall, some 52 inches!

If you are interested in learning more about Caddo Lake, please visit their web site at Caddo Lake.
To learn more about all types of irises just browse over to The American Iris Society web site and check it out!

Louisiana Iris Bloom Season on Caddo Lake

Enjoying the Louisiana Iris bloom season on Caddo Lake, LA
By Ron Killingsworth

Louisiana irises, mostly iris.giganticaerulea alba, growing in a pond

Spring bloom turned out to be very nice, even though we had an unusual April this year.  After a really early spring last year, the year began normally enough, only for old man winter to return with a few exceptionally cold days and nights. Cloudy weather followed.  We even had a couple of very late freezes that made it all the way to New Orleans.  The poor irises did not know what to do.  Just about the time things seemed to settle down, my wife Sue and I headed out to Dallas, Texas, to attend the American Iris Society convention, immediately followed by the Society for Louisiana Irises convention.  The crazy weather followed us to Dallas and we experienced some cold and raining weather while trying to tour gardens.

After a week and a half in Dallas, we returned to Northwest Louisiana and irises in bloom.  The next few weeks were busy with tours, photographing and marking off irises that had strayed from their beds.  And here it is, already fall, and I finally found time to share some spring photographs with you.

Usually I just take pictures of the irises to insure that the correct iris is in the assigned bed.  Sometimes the irises in the adjoining bed will stray into a neighboring bed and bloom season is the only time to tell one iris from another.  This year, however, I decided to also take quite a few "scene shots" of irises growing in the many locations here on Caddo Lake.

'Fringed Gold'  D. L. Sheppard (1992)

'Fringed Gold' closeup

'Our Friend Harry'  Ron Killingsworth (2011)

'Cocka The Walk'  Joe Musacchia (2005)

'Heavenly Glow'  Richard Morgan (1988)

Louisiana irises abound by Caddo Lake in Northwest Louisiana

Louisiana irises with Caddo Lake and bald cypress trees in background

Louisiana irises grow by pond in front of the greenhouse

'Professor Neil'  Mertzweiller, J 1990 and 'Her Highness' Livingston 1967

Louisiana irises with pond and Caddo Lake in background

'Professor Neil' in foreground with iris.pseudacorus (yellow) in background and Caddo Lake with bald cypress trees

'Longue Vue'  Dormon Haymon 1999 with Caddo Lake in background.

I hope you have enjoyed the views.  Learn more about growing Louisiana irises at the Society for Louisiana Irises website. For more information on Caddo Lake in NW Louisiana visit Caddo Lake website.  For more information about the bald cypress trees in Louisiana just visit Bald Cypress Trees.  Simply click on any of the links to view the information.

Louisiana Irises Grow Well in Upstate New York

By Ron Killingsworth

Louisiana irises are found in their natural habitat in southern states of the US like Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Florida, Arkansas, and Georgia, among other states.  Louisiana irises are water loving irises and grow naturally in swampy and marshy areas of these southern states.  However, in the past 60 or more years, LA irises have been transported from their native states and now grow throughout many of the states in the US and in many foreign countries such as New Zealand, Australia, England, Russia, and South Africa. A recent article in the Fleur de Lis, the official publication of the Society for Louisiana Irises, highlighted a young couple in Buenos Aires, Argentina, who are growing Louisiana irises commercially.

Because they are so often associated with hot and humid places, the question that often arises is "can I grow Louisiana irises in the northern US states?"  The answer is a bold YES.

Over nine years ago a member of the Society for Louisiana Irises (SLI), Edna Claunch, became involved in the building of a huge international "Friendship Garden" with a sister city in Japan.  Located in Highland Park in Rochester, NY, it was planted with thousands of Louisiana irises donated by members of SLI.  The park was opened with much fanfare in the summer of 2004. The park is now a sea of blooming Louisiana irises in June and July, since the irises have multiplied.

These water loving Louisiana irises spend the winter under several feet of snow.  The spring comes to NY later than they would experience in their native lands.  The summer is much shorter than they are accustomed to experiencing.  None of this stops the wonderful Louisiana irises from putting on a show for upstate New York!  This success in Highland Park has led to another project nearby at the University of Rochester.  The "New Ayame" Garden that is being constructed on the campus of the University of Rochester was reported in detail in the Fall 2012 edition of the Fleur de Lis.

All of this Louisiana iris activity in New York led M. J. Urist of Tully, NY to begin the hard task of establishing a commercial garden for the purpose of raising Louisiana irises and selling them to the public.  M.J.'s garden has also grown into a huge success, and last year she donated thousands of Louisiana irises to the "New Ayame" Garden in Rochester. There were so many rhizomes that the University of Rochester sent a truck to Tully to pick them up!

Louisiana irises growing in Highland Park, Rochester, NY, in 2008

Massive planting of named varieties in Highland Park, Rochester

Close up of Louisiana irises growing in Highland Park in Rochester, NY

Large "clump" of a variety of Louisiana irises growing in Rochester, NY

'Marie Caillet' (Sidney Conger, 1963) growing in Highland Park, Rochester, NY

'Edna Claunch' (Harry Wolford 2004) named for the SLI member who spent endless hours working to make the Highland Park in Rochester, NY, a reality!

Hybrid Louisiana Irises growing in Highland Park, Rochester, NY

Louisiana irises growing with other plants in Highland Park

Close up of Louisiana irises in large "clump" growing in Highland Park

Louisiana irises and other plants in Highland Park

'Shizuoka Sunrise' (Pat O'Connor 2001) - a Louisiana iris named for the specific purpose of celebrating the establishment of this International Friendship Park in Rochester, NY

Louisiana iris garden beds in Highland Park

iris.fulva - a species of Louisiana iris growing in Highland Park

Large clumps of Louisiana irises in full bloom in Highland Park, Rochester, NY
Photos by Edna Claunch and by Gene Lupinetti.

Louisiana irises growing at the farm of M.J. Urist in Tully, NY, in the fall after bloom season is over.  Notice color on trees in background.

Louisiana irises that have been covered in snow all winter in Tully, NY, start to thaw out in the spring as the snow melts.

There is a large bed of Louisiana irises under this winter snow drift in Tully, NY.  See picture below of same location with irises in bloom.

Beds of hybrid Louisiana irises growing in Tully, NY
Photos by M. J. Urist.

So, as you can see, Louisiana irises are not just southern plants!  They do snow as well as ponds, so why not try growing some in your garden?

To learn more about growing irises visit the American Iris Society web site.

To learn more about Highland Park in Rochester, NY, visit their web site at Highland Park.