Growing the Guest Irises

By Renee Fraser

In the spring of 2016, the American Iris Society Region 15 Garden Tour will come to my area, and for the first time I volunteered to grow guest irises in hopes that they will survive my gardening skills long enough to put on at least one show of blooms for the attendees. 

In case you are unfamiliar with these tours, each year hybridizers of new irises send dozens of rhizomes of their newest creations out across the country to live in "guest gardens" two to three years before national or regional garden tours.  Volunteers grow the irises and record their performance, and iris lovers sign up, load onto buses or into car caravans, and tour all of the gardens during the treks.  Iris judges take notes about the new plants and evaluate their health, vigor, and blooms. 

My original intent in volunteering to grow these irises was to have an excuse for expanding my garden beds at the expense of my husband's lawn.  Mikey and I are like two feudal lords, jealously guarding the borders of our domains and expanding into neighboring lands when our opponent is occupied on other fronts.  My latest strategy is a row of unmortared bricks lining my beds.  Using a half-moon edger, I can slice out three to four inches of unprotected St. Augustine grass in under an hour, move the bricks out, and pretend like I have just "edged" the lawn for my husband.  The request from the San Fernando Valley Iris Society to grow guest irises was the perfect excuse for demanding a huge island bed in the center of the lawn, where the sun is best, since the big coast redwoods shade the rest of the yard.  My bid was foiled, however, when Mikey offered to fell the ailing and dehydrated coast redwoods, letting sun stream into one of my existing beds instead.  This I allowed, since his other offer was to add an arbor so he could hang himself.

It turned out that the 44 guest irises would not fit into the existing bed, so I claimed imminent domain over about two feet of grass in the borderlands.  A treaty was agreed to, and I began my expansion.  I quickly realized that Mikey had taken me in:  this area of the lawn was infested with Bermuda grass!  This required double-digging, and much screening of dirt.  I wanted the irises to be in raised beds, but to look naturally planted, so I carted in wheelbarrows full of dirt from a neighbor.  Three bags of vermiculite, four bags of soil amendments, and a few wheelbarrows of composted chicken manure from the girls were dug into the soil as well.  (I generally just stick irises straight into the ground and ignore them and they give me a great show, so this preparation is due to unreasonable anxiety, not to any special needs of irises.)

The next challenge to growing irises in my garden is me.  I want lush, green, flower-filled English gardens and I live in a drought-stricken, hot inland Southern California valley.  I know, I know, I should accept the natural order of things and go native, and I have eliminated some of my favorites because they are so thirsty. Even with these changes, weekly irrigation is still a necessity, and that can cause irises to rot, especially when beds are irregularly shaped and lawn sprinkler water reaches them.  I left two patches of Japanese Blood Grass, which appreciates a good swim now and then, at a lower elevation in the bed in the vain hope that water will drain through the raised irises and into the gully of blood grass.  An old plowshare blocks the back spray from the worst offending Rainbird, and in this photo it appears that it will have the added benefit of knee-capping Mikey while he mows.  I shall hand-water the new plants when they get dry, and avoid watering in the heat of summer, which should help prevent rot.

The guest iris bed.  Please ignore the yellowed St. Augustine grass and the crispy Bridal Wreath Spireas and pray for rain in Southern California.  

After growing in pots in the shade through the hottest part of the summer,  I planted the irises in the new bed in September. The plants had healthy looking roots and seem to be adapting well to their new home.  I organized them according to color and height, with the area near my red rose in front of the tuteur for the red irises, the corals, oranges, peaches and pinks next, then warm orchid and red-violets, to purples in the back, over across the blood grass to coppers, tans, yellows and whites, and finally in the far back a few blues.  I stretched plastic bird-netting over the soil and cut holes for the irises to foil the excavations of squirrels, raccoons, oppossoms and Pogo the One-Eyed Cat. There is one Arilbred iris I am obsessing over, and one IB, since I have never grown them successfully in the past, but otherwise I have high hopes for the show in the spring.  I may plant color-coordinated violas between the irises for the trek.  What do you think?  Bare dirt, or a few violas, violets, and gazanias for ground cover? 

I'll be sure to post photos of any surviving plants in bloom this Spring.  And be sure to take a look at the American Iris Society website, join your local society, and plan on going on a Spring Garden Trek!

Beautiful Gardens with Irises in Every Climate

By Renee Fraser

Sometimes I see a photo of an iris online and what catches my eye is not the flower, but the setting. I come back to these photos and study them, trying to figure out how to achieve that look in my own garden. Here today I have posted some garden photos from various iris growers around the Internet, so that you can dream a bit and get some inspiration for your own garden Eden.

Santa Cruz, California is a beautiful part of the state with a world-class university and spectacular views of the Pacific and the mountains. It gets decent rainfall for California. Sherry Austin has created a sprawling garden that features huge clumps of Pacific Coast and Tall Bearded Irises, many of the latter historics.  

In addition to being a talented gardener, Sherry is an accomplished musician who specializes in folk music. You can hear her for yourself by visiting the website of her group, Henhouse.  

In this photo, Sherry mixes New Zealand Flax, sedum, and Pacific Coast Irises in her landscape.

Below is Sherry's "vegetable" garden. Some of you may have "vegetable" gardens that look like this. From left to right: 'Indian Chief,' 'Whispering Falls', and in the back, 'Aureo variegata'. The roses are 'Fred Loads' and 'Sherry', and they are planted with Lavendula stoechys 'Otto Quast', dahlias, nepeta, sedum, and calendula. I love the wooden fence with the big clumps of irises.

And here it is from the other side:

Sherry has big plans for next year, with over a hundred new irises waiting to be planted. I can't wait to see the photos next year!

Joel Schaber is an artist and calligrapher who gardens in Boise, Idaho, and who chooses irises based on plant growth habit and beauty of foliage as well as scent and bloom. His gardens are meticulously planned, planted, and maintained. He has little time for poorly performing plants, as his garden attests. Here is Intermediate Bearded Iris 'Harmonium' with chives, ferns, hostas and the shasta daisy 'Becky' (not yet in bloom).

Here Joel uses 'Edith Wolford' (his favorite) with Asiatic lilies and California poppies.

A spectacular coordinated color display is created with 'Rhinelander', 'Paul Black', Centranthus ruber, and campanula.

In this bed, Joel uses (from left to right)  'Rhinelander', 'Sun Fun', 'World Premier', and 'Cheap Frills' in front, with 'Orinoco Flow' in the background. The companion plants include red Centranthus ruber (aka Jupiter's Beard or Valerian) and shasta daisy 'Becky'.  Can you believe the show put on by 'Orinoco Flow'?

The Centranthus ruber, California poppies, and shasta daisies tie Joel's beds together, and here they are joined by Siberian iris 'Caesar's Brother' and a yellow mini rose.

Pauline Lavigne has extensive cottage-style gardens with spectacular structures, all tied together with wide swaths of lawn and charming paths. Pauline gardens in Canada, where she grows peonies, daylilies, hostas, and irises, as well as countless other flowers and plants. The jaw-dropping photo below is what first brought her garden to my attention.

Here is the standard dwarf bearded iris 'Cherry Garden', which is the second iris to bloom in Pauline's garden, after iris cristata.  

Here's a different view of that first peony/iris combination. You can see the hostas in the background.

And this is another shot of the great garden iris 'Caesar's Brother', an exceptional siberian iris that will even grow in hot inland Southern California. What a color combination!

The last garden I'd like to share is in Minnesota. You may have seen Marte Hult's garden on this blog before. Marte's skill at layering plants en masse is only one of her gardening talents, though. She is also masterful at color coordination and contrast. Here she uses (what else?) 'Caesar's Brother' Siberian iris with masses of yellow historic tall bearded irises. (I really did not plan this PR for Caesar's Brother, I promise.)

This iris is the near-green 'County Cork' looking spectacular with chartreuse sedum.  

A cool pink tall bearded iris with chives for a fairy-tale effect.  

I hope you enjoyed these gardens as much as I did. Do you use irises in your garden, or do you plant them in separate beds? Leave a comment below, and good luck finding spots for all of those rhizomes appearing in the mail this summer and fall!

How Deep Should I Plant My Irises?

By Renee Fraser

Mixed beds with irises

Boxes full of irises are arriving in the mail, and iris lovers are unpacking their purchases and trades, planning their planting schemes, or wandering about the yard wondering "where on earth will I find space for all of these new plants? What was I THINKING?" An exciting time of the year.

People who are new to irises are also posting questions in the iris forums and on Facebook, wondering how deep to plant them.  Sometimes irises come with directions from the growers, who may be from a different part of the country, and sometimes they don't. Much discussion has resulted on some of these iris forums, with many of us repeating the advice we heard from our grandmothers:  that irises should be planted with the top of the rhizomes exposed.  I admit to dispensing this very advice myself until last year, when I learned from professional growers that the ideal planting depth does not always leave the top of the rhizome exposed, and that indeed, the rhizome should be covered by as much as two inches of soil, dependent upon the climate.

The American Iris Society website says to plant rhizomes "at or just barely below the surface of the ground.  Irises should be planted so the tops of the rhizomes are visible and the roots are spread out facing downwards in the soil.  However, in exremely hot climates or with very light soils, cover rhizomes with up to one inch of soil."

So the first thing we learn is that iris rhizomes should be protected from the sun and heat in hot climates.  In Cathey's Valley, California, Rick Tasco and Roger Duncan of Superstition Iris Gardens plant their irises with about an inch or so of soil over the rhizome to protect them from the hot California sun. 

Iris rhizome under 1" of soil at Superstition Iris Gardens, California.

Iris rhizomes at the proper depth for hot sunny climates.

The advice to protect the rhizome from the sun is also recommended in areas we would not normally consider too hot and sunny, such as Colorado.  Iris hybridizer and grower Bob Van Liere of Iris4U says "in Colorado it is recommended to plant just below soil level to keep the rhizome from sunburning. We are at 5300 feet here at our garden and most of the Colorado is above 5280 ft. We have customers planting up to about 9200 feet, a short growing season for sure."  So summer sun is something to consider when planting in high altitudes as well as the typically hot climates of places like Arizona and Southern California. 

Bob digging irises at Iris4U in Colorado.  Note the depth of the rhizomes.

Hybridizers who grow irises in very cold conditions also recommend deep planting for iris rhizomes. Chuck Chapman, a hybridizer in Ontario, Canada, experimented with planting depth several years ago, planting rhizomes half exposed, with only the top of the rhizome exposed, and a half inch, one inch, and two inches beneath the soil.  He says they all bloomed and increased, but the best growers, by a small margin, were 1/2" and 1" beneath the soil.  The worst growing rhizomes were half exposed.  Chuck is probably the most northern grower of tall bearded irises, and he notes that there is less frost heave the deeper the rhizomes are planted.  Furthermore, he says that when he contacted other growers about how they planted their irises, all planted them below the surface. 

As a final note, Chuck points out that Bob Van Liere did some research on roots, and the results of his experiments were published in Tall Talk, the periodical of the Tall Bearded Iris Society. He planted rhizomes with and without roots, and those with roots did substantially better than those without, growing "hair roots" off of the trimmed roots. Some people like the longer roots because they hold the iris up and in the ground as it gets established.

I have mixed plantings in my hot Southern California garden, and everything else needs more water than the irises. That translates into problems with rot, especially since my soil is rich and loaded with organic material that stays wet. Hot plus wet equals fungus and bacteria growth.  I lose a significant number of irises some years, particularly in small beds bordered by bricks or stone, which turn into little dutch ovens during the summer.  One trick I use to increase drainage in my mixed beds is to plant them in mounds.  I place the rhizome on a mound of soil at the same level as the surrounding earth. I cover the roots well and the rhizome by just a bit, producing a low mound above the surrounding soil level, to provide better drainage.

Leaves should be cut short enough so that the newly planted rhizome does not tip over, but not too short: about six inches for shipping, and up to ten inches if you are dividing at home. Please excuse the short leaves on this poor little rhizome that was 'accidentally' hacked off my my dear husband's grass edger. (We battle over territory like feudal lords: he tries to maintain his territory for grass, but I slowly annex it inch by inches for flowers.)

Since iris growers won't be able to put food on the table unless they are successful at what they do, I tend to favor their advice, rather than what grandma told me.  So I now plant my iris rhizomes a bit deeper. Whatever you do, though, do not plant them deep like a flower bulb!  They are not bulbs, and if the green leaves are buried they will not thrive and may die.

If you are not sure about how deep you should plant your irises in your particular climate, your local iris society may have some advice. Check here to locate a society near you. And if you have a favorite tip for planting irises, please share it in the comment section below.

And good luck finding spots for those incoming orders!

Aruba's Eye-Popping Clump Shots

'Amber Essence' in Brad's Garden c. Brad Collins

By Renee Fraser

We are a lucky generation of gardeners:  there are quite a number of talented photographers across the internet sharing their shots of our favorite flower.  In the days before internet sites such as Dave's Garden, All Things Plants, Gardenweb, and of course, the American Iris Society's Iris Encyclopedia, we had to anxiously await the year's catalogs from our favorite iris growing companies to drool over lovely images of irises.  So much has changed in the last few years!  So today I would like to share a few of the fine photographs of one of my internet heroes, Brad Collins (Aruba), who has designed and planted an extraordinary iris garden in Iowa and who liberally and generously shares his beautiful photographs of irises with the world on AllThings Plants and the Irises Cubit.  

'Purple Serenade' c. Brad Collins

I really love Brad's pictures because he often photographs the whole plant or a clump of irises, which gives me a better idea of what the variety will look like in the garden.  For instance, 'Petticoat Shuffle' never would have caught my eye (just another purple plicata) but Brad's clump shot sent me straight to the catalog to place the order.

'Petticoat Shuffle' c. Brad Collins

Brad became interested in photography through scuba diving, and when I complimented him on his talent, he dryly noted that taking pictures of irises is easy compared to trying to capture a three-foot-long fish moving like lightning 90 feet below water.  But I don't think it's easy to get a shot like this:

'There's No Place Like Home' c. Brad Collins

Brad comes from a long line of iris lovers.  It has become a cliché' in this blog, but once again, it was grandma who started it all.  Brad's father, Michael, also an iris lover and accomplished gardener, says that when he was a child the whole family would walk over to grandma's iris garden to eat a hearty breakfast cooked by grandpa over an open fire outside.  The scent of the first iris each spring brings those memories flooding back, and Michael is proud and happy that his son Brad caught the iris virus and is continuing the family tradition.  The first iris Brad planted in his garden was 'Stepping Out', a gift from his dad, who was given that very iris by his grandmother in 1975. 

'Drinks at Sunset' c. Brad Collins

Brad has designed several acres of gardens in Iowa.  He was inspired to plant his huge curving beds of irises after a tour of the Pacific northwest iris growers in 2009, including visits to Mid America, where he fell in love with the way the irises were set off by the conifers, roses, and small trees.  With advice and help from Paul Black, he set about creating his own Eden.  Many of his spectacular clump shots are taken in his own back yard.  He grows over 500 varieties of irises, mostly newer introductions from Paul Black, Thomas Johnson, Joe Ghio, Barry Blyth, and Keith Keppel, but many from other hybridizers as well.

Brad's garden featuring rare conifers

Year-round interest

Over 500 varieties of irises

Brad says "one of the things I enjoyed from visiting the commercial gardens on the west coast was the seedling beds, and finding something brand new in those gardens every day that I had never seen before. It was a lot of fun- I think I walked all of Schreiner's 200 acres in those few days and made numerous stops at Mid America and Keppel’s,  and I really enjoyed seeing all the new colors and patterns.  So I decided to try and make some crosses at home just to see if I could get some pods. The result was better than I had hoped and I came up with almost 40 crosses."  Over 800 plants are growing, and this year he planted 3,000 seeds.  Thank goodness his kind neighbors own a commercial garden, and they have given over part of a greenhouse for his use.  He'll need his own greenhouse soon!

Brad's Seedlings lined out

Brad has scheduled a trip to California this spring:  he will be visiting  Napa Country Iris, Joe Ghio's gardens in Monterey, and Superstition Iris Gardens this April.  I look forward to sharing his experience through his generosity with his time and talent and the wonders of the internet.  To hold you over until then, here are a few more of his wonderful clump shots.

'Catwalk Queen' c. Brad Collins

'Sweetly Sung' c. Brad Collins

'Romantic Gentleman' c. Brad Collins

Which photo will send you straight to the order forms?  Let us know below.

Hybridizer Profile: Chad Harris of Mt. Pleasant Iris Farm

By Renee Fraser

The highest award given to a Japanese iris (Iris ensata) is the Payne Medal, and this year it was awarded to the iris "Bewitching Twilight" by this column's featured hybridizer, Chad Harris of Mt. Pleasant Iris Farm in Washington State.  

Chad describes himself as a natural gardener with no formal training.   He is a fanatic for form, structure, and texture of the plant in whole.  For Chad,  "the bloom is just the icing on the cake.  I am a nut for the textural form of a plant, that is the way that I have landscaped the last two homes.  I think first what shape, color of leaf, how tall and wide the plant gets at maturity.  Then I think on bark, berries, flowers, fragrance, and the timing of each as a visual point in the garden.  Also you have to think about sun, water, and soil, and with this information your plant list for a particular spot can be narrowed down.  Mind you that this starts with the skyline, and canopy of the trees. So you can see that I shop for a plant to fill a spot, I don't buy a plant and try to figure out were to plant it."  

Excellent advice for all gardeners.  And look at the results!

Garden of Chad Harris

Garden of Chad Harris

As Chad points out, Iris ensata has two different foliage forms, upright and fountain, and so it is well-suited to many different garden needs.

As is the case with so many of us, Chad's early interest in irises was encouraged by his grandparents.  He visited public gardens with his grandmothers, and there he was exposed to the exotic Japanese irises. Years later he searched everywhere for this plant to use in landscaping a home garden, recalling that they would add much needed upright grass-like texture, as well as bloom between the spring Rhododendrons and the summer Roses and Fuchsias. That long summer search thirty years ago (before the Internet!) finally led him to Aitken’s Salmon Creek Gardens.  Terry Aitken did not sell Japanese Irises, but he kindly gave him one named variety and two seedlings by Walter Marx, and he referred Chad to another irisarian growing this elusive iris- Lorena Reid.  

After these visits to iris farms, and with the instruction of Terry and Lorena, Chad began to dab pollen using the irises he grew in his small city garden.  After a few Iris Conventions, he progressed from dabb(l)ing to developing a hybridizing program with goals.  Chad's first goals were focused on the extension of the bloom time, by using very early blooming plants and plants that bloom for a long time with good sequence, where a bloom shrivels up and gets out of the way before the next bud starts to open.  Chad believes this to be a very desirable trait that hybridizers and growers should watch for. 

Chad says " ‘Pleasant Earlybird,’ (1996) though simple in flower form, was one of my first introductions that conforms to these ideals. When grown well it has a very early bloom and a long continuation with one to two branches, carrying five to seven buds per stem."  He notes that "this plant in the cool NW marine climate can be in color for four to five weeks." 

'Pleasant Earlybird'

‘Coho’ (2005) was also introduced for its early bloom season, with five to seven buds per stem.  Personally, I am smitten with this pure pink, a color hard to come by in the more common tall bearded irises.

"Coho"

Chad moved from the city to a country farm 18 years ago, which gave him the space to be able to expand his hybridizing goals.  He has been working on an ever-blooming Iris ensata for cooler coastal climates.  Although he has had success with seedlings that would bloom all summer and fall until the killing freeze of winter, the blooms were contorted and would not open properly.  He  "out crossed" to a different line, and by 2012, good flower form and summer-long bloom resulted!  Chad cautions that "only time in the garden will tell if these plants will be introduced as garden-worthy reblooming plants."  

007JB/07JBa Seedlings

Iris ensata comes in many flower forms, and one that Chad has worked on with great success is the nine to twelve fall or peony form (my favorite!).

‘Blushing Snowmaiden’ 2000

‘Amethyst Actress’ 2009

'Amethyst’s Sister’ 2012

He has also expanded his breeding program to include a multi-style arm form.  ‘Angelic Choir’ 2006, ‘Artesian Spring’ 2010, and 'Dalle Whitewater’ 2010, have been introduced, and he has several seedlings which are also being "lined out" for possible introduction.   Chad finds this form very pleasing:  "the full round six fall flower form is very much enhanced by a tight cluster of style arms in the center of the bloom creating a pom-pom, instead of the normal three open style arms." 

'Angelic Choir’

‘Artesian Spring’

'Dalle Whitewater’

Chad likes all of the flower forms, and he has also worked with plants that have three falls, sometimes called a single flower. ‘Freckled Peacock’ 2002, ‘Cascade Rain’ 2008, and seedling that is being watched for introduction (from the 08JD cross) that is a rich mid-blue self are below.  Just look at that blue!

‘Freckled Peacock’

‘Cascade Rain’

08JD cross

Chad says "perhaps one of the hardest things is to come up with is a new flower color. I am attempting to bring a soft cream yellow into the bloom, not unlike Dr. McEwen’s Siberian ‘Butter and Sugar’.  ‘Bewitching Twilight’ 2000, was the first to show this, however, it only does this when the sun is weak like here in the Pacific Northwest.  Each generation has been getting brighter creams in the style arms. What is intriguing me is the fact that the yellow signal is starting to bleed down the falls, thus creating a wash of cream. I am also starting to observe this coloring on the undersides of the falls."  

'Bewitching Twilight'

Creamy yellow seedlings

For further novelty in color, Chad is also working with the rayed pattern (when the veins are lighter than the falls) both in the blue-violet and the red-violet color tones that Iris ensata is known for. 

'Sunrise Ridge' 2007; 08JE/09JL Seedling

Chad is also beginning to breed new species of irises, including Iris laevigata and Species-X.

Iris laevigata is related to Iris ensata, and it is also a water-loving iris.  Chad finds that it can have lower water needs in the garden than Iris ensata, however.  He believes this may be due to the rhizome growth of Iris laevigata, which is more horizontal (enabling it to send out roots to new soils).  Chad points out that the rhizome of Iris laevigata is also twice to three times the size of Iris ensata and probably able to hold more moisture during dry periods.  Blooming a month before Iris ensata, Iris laevigata, like Iris ensata, comes in both the red-violet and blue-violet tones along with Alba or white.

In 2012, Mt Pleasant Iris Farm introduced its first laevigata, a breathtaking flower called ‘Lakeside Ghost’.   ‘Blue Rivulets’, introduced in 2013, has striking blue veins on a white ground.  Others are dark reds, 07LAK2, bright blues, 07LAK4, very wide whites, 07LAL2, and a six fall white, 02LA2, that has the upright bloom stem (02LA2 plant) habit that Chad is working for in this Asian species of iris.  Look at the statement made by that clump!

‘Lakeside Ghost’

‘Blue Rivulets’

02LA2 Clump

Another exciting development is Chad's work with a new Species-X plant that has lovely lime green foliage.   Chad says that "in the Pacific Northwest with our weak spring sun, we have found that these Species-X plants have very bright yellow foliage due to the lack of chlorophyll.  Being a foliage gardener myself I find that these plants are beautiful in and out of bloom, and will work wonderfully in the NW landscape with our dark gray spring skies. The down side is that most of the plants burn badly with our first strong summer sun, usually in mid-July. They do, however, eventually grow out of this burn stage with light lime-green foliage, but look bad for a good two weeks.   There are a very few (one in one hundred to two hundred) that do not burn, it is these plants that we will be looking at to possibly introduce in the near future.  Our thanks to Dr. Shimizu of Japan for finding ‘Gubijin’ that will cross with Iris ensata."   

I know that I usually get the hybridizer to choose a favorite flower, but Chad could not decide, so he chose a favorite cross.  Since he likes to share his results with others, this was a great idea.  His favorite cross in thirty years is 'Night Angel' x 'Frosted Intrigue'."   Here are the gorgeous results of that cross, reading from left to right, top to bottom:  'Artesian Spring', 'Columbia Deep Water', Seedling 02JC13, Seedling 08JE1, 'Dalle Whitewater', Seedling 08JE, and Seedling 08JE d.

Do Iris ensata grow in your zone?  Which of these beauties would you most like to try?  Or perhaps you would like to see more.  If so, you can see and read more at www.mtpleasantiris.com and at the Society for Japanese Irises website.