Dry Creek Garden, Union City, California

By Jeff Bennett

In my first article, I introduced myself and my history with irises. In this next article, I will introduce you to the land that encompasses Dry Creek Garden and its acquisition by the May family and then passed down to become a part of the Meyer’s estate.

Prior to the California Gold Rush, for approximately 2,000 years ago, Costanoan Tribes occupied the area now known as Alameda County. In 1770, there were an estimated 2,000 Natives living there. The Dry Creek Garden site was an important seasonal gathering site used by the Ohlone Village due west of Dry Creek. Here they gathered acorns from the numerous oak trees that were in the canyons.

An expedition by DeAnza, in 1776, is probably the first description of the Dry Creek area--a description of a small village without people.

Mission San Jose was established just South of Dry Creek in 1797. The Native population was in quick decline after settlement of the area. In 1840, The Dry Creek Ranch was part of a grant from Governor Alvarado of 17,754 acres to Jose de Jesus Vallejo. He was the brother of Mariano G. Vallejo of Sonoma. He grew many crops on the land surrounding the Mission including wheat, potatoes and tobacco, along with cattle, horses, oxen and pigs. Two miles south of Dry Creek, he built a brick adobe, one of six he built in the area. This one still stands today in the California Nursery Historic Park. In the 1850’s, Jose de Jesus Vallejo was forced to sell 10,000 plus acres to Jonas G. Clark for $35 per acre to meet his rising lawsuit bills. 

In approximately 1855, Dry Creek became a destination for social gatherings. A pleasure resort and picnic grounds was established.  With a growing population, Mr. Clark donated some land near Dry Creek for a school. The school was built on the road leading to Dry Creek. This is now May Road. Once a train station was established in the town of Decoto nearby, the picnic grounds were used for May Day events. With the May Day event, often lasting more than one day, planning for entertainment and food was made beforehand to handle the crowds of people that would attend.

A dance floor was constructed and the best entertainment was hired. Between the years 1870 and 1884, the Decoto Land Company sponsored these events to attract people to buy parcels of their land in the Decoto township. There were also Fourth of July events held at Dry Creek during this time.

In 1884, August May Sr., from Germany who owned a butcher shop in San Francisco, purchased approximately 1,200 acres from Mr. Clark.  His land became known as Dry Creek Ranch. He traveled each day from his home in Alvarado to tend to the ranch. At Dry Creek he planted a 10 acre fruit orchard. With this land now privately owned, the public festivities at Dry Creek came to an end, for now.

August May Sr. And his wife Sofia raised four children. George, August Jr., Henry and Bertha. In 1900, after August’s passing, Henry Meyers, Bertha’s husband, an architect, designed and built the Cottage at Dry Creek for Sofia.

This cottage became the summer retreat for the May’s family and then the Meyers’ family. Sofia deeded the entire ranch property to her daughter Bertha in 1900.

Bertha and Henry were the parent of three daughters. Mildred, Edith and Jeanette. They lived in the city of Alameda just southwest of Oakland. Dry Creek was where they spent their summers, playing on the grounds and ranch property.

Their father, Henry Meyers, worked in San Francisco during the week. During the summer residence at Dry Creek, he would travel everyday by ferry and train to be with his family.

My next article will bring forth the Meyers sisters and the establishment of the gardens at Dry Creek.....this is where some irises show up!

Information gathered here from the: Historic Landscape Report by Russell A. Beatty ASLA Landscape Architect 1996 for EBRPD.

Dishing the Iris Dirt

By Bryce Williamson

No, The World of Iris blog has not joined The National Enquire in dishing iris dirt on people, but rather this post is about real dirt and the problems iris growers face when growing irises in the same garden for many years.

I first planted irises in this yard in 1977 and the bloom the next year was amazing and just what I would have expected from soil that had never had irises grown there; however, as the years went by, the quality of growth and bloom declined and this seems to be a common story among iris growers.

Looking back, many of us have tried different things to get good growth and bloom. Some were more successful than others; other methods no longer are allowed by environmental regulations. I know of no one that really understands why modern bearded irises deplete the soil.

The most obvious thing is to fertilize more—Region 14 hybridizer Vern Wood wrote in an article for The Bulletin of Region 14 that he applied fertilizer heavily so that it looked like a light snowfall.

In the good old days, it was possible to fumigate soils and this seemed to reset the soil for a period of time.

Large growers like Schreiner’s rotate their fields, but that is not really possible in home gardens. I have tried letting areas of the yard go fallow, but that does not seem to really work.

I have even shifted the main planting of named irises to the front yard and that helps for a time.

Bringing in new soil helps too, but again it only helps for a time. 

Over the last 8 years, I have been on a different program. 

Once the area to be used is cleared, we apply 15-15-15. Some will question the numbers of the fertilizer, but that was what irises growers in this valley were using when I first joined the iris society and I have not had a reason to change. Once the fertilizer is down, I water heavily and I want moisture down 4 or more inches into the soil.

Then I buy chicken compost. It is more expensive than steer compost, but steer compost can contain unwanted seeds. The chicken compost may be a bit hot upon arrival, but that quickly is resolved over a few days or a week. That chicken compost is moved into the area to be renovated and covered to a depth of 3-4 inches. The amount of compost is determined by the area to be covered. In the good old days, if I bought enough compost, the delivery charge was waived, but that perk has done the way of the dodo... Ah, the good old days.

Then we bring in the largest rototiller we can get into the yard; when I moved here, I could have a tractor and tiller brought in and that was wonderful because it would cut deeper into the soil, but these days the infilling of what was once a semi-rural area has sadly removed that option. The area is then ready to be tilled.

I insist that the area tilled must be cut in at least two directions. All of these preparations I like to have done between the end of bloom season and the start of shipping season when my purchases start to arrive.

The plants grow well, bloom freely, and there is the added bonus of the soil being very friable. Although it is early November as I write this and I am having problems figuring out how to come up with images, I will dig a rhizome or two in the morning so that you can see the quality of plant this process produces.

A sample of an iris grown in revitalized soil.

 

Dry Creek Garden, Union City, California

By Jeff Bennett

My name is Jeff Bennett. I am the gardener at Dry Creek Garden in Union City, California. Dry Creek Garden was one of the tour gardens in the 2019 American Iris Society’s National Convention “The Sun Sets on Rainbows”. 

Iris garden at Dry Creek during the 2019 National.

I will be writing a series of articles on Dry Creek as a garden, its history, how the iris area was established, and my own little history growing irises.

My Background:

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, very close to the bay itself, in what is called a banana belt. This means you have almost zero chance of frost. This is due to the influence of the bay waters preventing the below freezing temperatures from reaching this area. However, if you go a mile or two inland, you will get frost. A micro climate indeed.

Dry Creek in the fall.

Growing up with a decent sized yard, we had just a few iris colors growing. A few yellow and of course the deep velvety purple. I was always fascinated seeing them for the short period I did, then to return the following year. Such a long time to wait. But ahh, the velvety purple ones would sometimes bloom again in the Fall. I knew there were white ones as I had seen some in other people’s yards. I knew what they were called because I asked my mom but never much more interest than that as I did not know of the OTHERS(!).

Fast forward to 1991. A friend, knowing how much I liked plants and flowers, found an advertisement in a magazine for an iris catalog. She ordered it for me. When I opened that catalog, I was astonished to see the colors. Wow! They have names? There’s brand new ones? There’s really old ones that aren’t just yellow, purple or white? It was a Schreiner’s catalog. The Cadillac of iris catalogs! So I’m sure I spent evenings trying to decide which ones to order and how much I really wanted to spend in total. I probably got about 20 or so. Those arrived that fall and got planted. Then I discovered another company. Cooley’s. There’s two Cadillacs now!

The third catalog I discovered was Stockton Iris gardens. Another catalog with great photos. This is all of course, pre-internet. Heck, I didn’t even have a credit card. Orders and checks were mailed off. Within a few years I had 200 varieties of iris growing on an acre. This is where life kicks in. Had a retail business since 1987, got married, two children, and no time. Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts took over for many years. Still growing the iris that survived a move and being in bags a few months before getting planted. Had to ID them as they bloomed. 'Ecstatic Echo', 'Dusky Challenger', 'Kentucky Derby', and, of course, 'Crimson King'.

Dry Creek Garden in the fall

Through the early 2000’s I discovered an iris booth at a street fair. The Mt. Diablo Iris Society had their tables set up with tubs of iris rhizomes for sale. Jackpot! I could try to replace some of those lost. I picked out the names of the irises I knew. Didn’t know the newer ones, so I stuck to the newer ones.

Jeff Bennet at Dry Creek with a few tools of the trade.

By 2013 I began working as a gardener at Dry Creek Garden. Noticing Irises hidden among the other plantings, I was looking forward to see what the following Spring would show me. The following year, I was introduced to Shirley Trio by Dave Shaw. He said she was looking for a garden that could grow and display irises at an upcoming convention and wanted to know if the garden I worked at would be interested.

Till the next chapter.....

 

Growing Irises Out East: Draining Well in the Piedmont

by Heather Haley and Alleah Barnes Haley

Irises growing beside Heather's driveway

Greetings from the Piedmont, a plateau in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Ocean and the Appalachian Mountains. This is our first post for the World of Irises blog. As a mother-daughter team, we joyfully spent many hours at Heather’s kitchen table working on the booklet for the 2019 national convention and are pleased to serve the American Iris Society in a new way. 

Keren, Heather, and Susan with their mother Alleah Haley at a national convention

Aitken’s Salmon Creek Garden, Portland, Oregon 

Members of our family have grown irises from one coast of the United States to the other since the 1940s. Although climate and soil characteristics differ from one location to the next, one piece of advice is timeless and universal: bearded irises prefer full sun and well-drained soil.

As a child in New Mexico, Alleah learned this the hard way. At the age of nine, she was given the area along a shaded driveway where she planted bearded iris rhizomes from her mother Gertie. The irises grew poorly. Alleah’s early experiment taught her a basic principle of iris culture: plant bearded irises in full sun with well-drained soil. Three years later she used a sunny spot and planted gifts from her mother’s iris friends: a new introduction from hybridizer Georgia Hinkle and two advanced seedlings from hybridizer Steve Varner. They grew well!

As an adult in California, Alleah provided optimal growing conditions for irises using raised beds with full sun. Alleah constructed wooden beds over wire to keep gophers from eating her irises, and filled the beds with purchased sandy loam soil. Although the surface of  raised beds is flat, a combination of soil type and elevated planting ensures that irises are well-drained.

Raised beds at Alleah's home in California 

From a young age, Alleah’s youngest daughter Heather enjoyed helping her mother in the garden. For about a decade, mother and daughter bonded while weeding, digging, and replanting mom’s irises. Heather learned a lot about growing irises while she lived on the West Coast. However, moving to the East Coast gave Heather an opportunity to learn an important lesson for herself. Bearded irises grow best when planted in well-drained soil.

Source: National Resources Conservation Service, USDA

As an adult, Heather settled in North Carolina’s Piedmont region and planted irises of her own for the first time. With help from her husband Chris, Heather established iris beds along the driveway of their first home. Although the area was in full sun, the ground was unlike anything the two California natives had seen before. A dominant soil order in many parts of the southeastern United States is Ultisol, and it is especially prevalent in North Carolina’s Piedmont. North Carolina also has heavy rainfall (over 50 inches per year). The combination of climate and soil characteristics required Heather and Chris to acquire some new skills and learn techniques for gardening in “red clay.”  Due to limited finances, Heather chose not to construct raised beds like Alleah’s. She planted her irises directly into the dense, characteristically rust-colored Ultisol. 

Heather's first iris bed - October 2012  

In 2012, Heather began establishing iris beds.  Her first tasks were removing grass and “double-digging” to the best of her ability. As a frugal beginner, Heather spent her vacation using a shovel and brute force to break up the red clay along the driveway. Heather became VERY tired. Next, Chris helped Heather apply and incorporate a 3-inch thick layer of “flower and vegetable garden soil” purchased at a big-box store. This amendment was intended to increase organic matter, improve drainage, and supply irises with a modest amount of nutrients. Heather planted irises as she had in her mother’s garden in California, and Chris applied a thick layer of hardwood mulch to keep the weeds down. Unfortunately, neither strategy was ideal for growing irises in North Carolina. When a heavy clay soil is flat, or covered with mulch, irises struggle because the surrounding soil doesn’t drain well. The next spring, Heather started losing irises to rot. She pulled the mulch about 5 inches back from each of the remaining plants. Thankfully, no other irises were lost but several varieties known to increase well in other gardens didn’t. 

Tall bearded iris 'Broadband' (Tasco, 2002) before pulling back mulch -  April 2013

Replanting iris using sloped beds - October 2014

Clearing the backyard - February 2013

Planting iris on mounds in the backyard - October 2014

After spending much of 2013 preparing Chris’ vegetable beds in the backyard, Heather wanted to try changing the shape of the iris beds along the driveway to improve drainage. Heather dug all of her irises, amended the clay with more “flower and vegetable garden soil,” and adjusted the slope of the bed so that heavy rainfall would drain away from the irises (and the foundation of the house). Also in 2014, Heather tried forming mounds of soil 2 feet in diameter and 4 inches tall in the backyard, planting each with 3 rhizomes of the same variety. This time around, all irises grew and increased well. These early experiments taught Heather her own lessons about growing irises in the Piedmont. In clay with poor drainage, Heather amends her soil generously with organic material. If clay needs better drainage, she recommends planting irises in sloped beds or on mounds about 4 inches high. In locations with heavy rainfall, gardeners should avoid applying mulch in bearded iris beds.

Reblooming iris ‘Peggy Sue’ (Lauer, 2006) planted in a sloped iris bed near a warm brick wall - December 2015

Irises in the sloped bed near driveway in peak bloom - April 2016

In the years that followed, Heather’s iris collection continued to expand and space for Chris to grow his vegetables got harder to come by. In desperation, Chris told Heather “You can grow as many irises as you want if you can make them pay for themselves.” He didn’t expect Heather would actually try doing this, let alone be successful. However, his idea to grow all iris she wanted got stuck in her head. Heather tested distribution methods, and tried potting up increases to see how much care they would require. Heather and Chris also experimented with planting irises like a row crop. They planted irises on ridges of long, narrow mounds. Instead of buying “garden soil” amendments by the bag, truckloads of leaf compost arrived from an independent garden center that made it themselves. Chris experimented with using a flame weeder* between rows instead of mulch. More iris rhizomes were grown successfully, more iris varieties were increasing well, and there were fewer weeds to pull. However, Chris and Heather faced a new problem. Growing additional iris varieties would require more space in full sun.  Although it was tempting, they decided against digging up their front lawn and converting the space to irises, as many have been known to do. They started imagining a yard big enough for fruit trees, greenhouses, irises, AND vegetables.*Note that the propane-fueled flame weeder can be used only on windless days and in wet regions.

Chris incorporating a 3-inch layer of leaf compost - August 2017  

Iris planted on ridges in the driveway - August 2017

 Iris planted on ridges in the backyard - August 2017

An early experiment with potted irises - April 2018

Irises in pots and rows surrounding Chris’ vegetable beds - April 2019

In 2019, Heather enrolled and completed North Carolina Farm School; a business course for small and beginning farmers offered by NC State Extension. A pair of small-scale market tests provided evidence that Heather’s business plan had potential and that preserving her family’s iris collection could pay for itself. Heather and Chris had also come to appreciate their families’ agricultural roots, and they wanted to try preserving an old farmhouse. Halfway through 2019, Heather and Chris purchased a 100-year-old restored farmhouse on 7 acres in rural North Carolina. The former tobacco farm has suitable, well-drained soil and is now home to “Broley Homestead and Iris Farm.” [Broley is a mashup of the couple’s last names, Broberg and Haley.]

Heather with potted irises during a small-scale test - April 2019

The family iris collection spent a year growing and increasing in 3-gallon pots. Meanwhile, Chris and Heather cleared land and established iris production beds. Soil at the farm contains less clay; and now they add leaf compost by the dump truck-load to improve soil texture, increase drainage, and add organic matter. In the summer of 2020, iris beds in the production field were formed using a tractor with a garden bedder attachment. They are about 6 inches tall, 30 inches across, and 150 feet long.  Heather is currently experimenting with pre-emergent herbicides and Chris continues using a flame weeder* between iris rows. 

            Potted Iris at the Broley Homestead - April 2020

Tractor Max with garden bedder attachment - August 2020

Tractor Max helping apply leaf compost to production beds. - August 2020

Chris watering recently planted irises in raised production beds - September 2020 

Also in 2020, Alleah sold her home in California and relocated to North Carolina. She now lives about 20 minutes from Heather and Chris’ farm. Most of the varieties from Alleah’s collection are now growing on the farm, and she goes there frequently to lend a hand. With strategic purchases and donations from iris friends, the family collection now numbers about 700 varieties. Although forming iris beds on a production scale has required new techniques and equipment, the principles we learned early on remain equally useful today: Bearded irises grow best in full sun with well-drained soil.

For Comments:

What advice do you have for others growing iris and how did you learn it?

What iris topics would you like to read about in a future post?

Hawkes Bay Iris Group Safari 26 October 2020

By Maggie Asplet

Around the 25th of October each year we celebrate Labour Day here in New Zealand.  This year the invite to join the celebration on this day and to view irises was so well received.  Why? Because COVID19 had caused so many cancellations that I was beginning to think "Iris things" were something of the past.

Wendy and I prepared a day before for our 3 hour drive to stay in Havelock North with Bev & Jim Haliburton. We had a reasonably early start the next morning crisscrossing the Hawkes Bay region (east coast, North Island of New Zealand) for the Hawkes Bay Iris Group Safari.

Our first garden visit was to the home of John and Lynn Lees, Taradale, where not only we enjoyed looking at the garden, but as everyone arrives, the catching up with each other begins.

In the shed was John's pride and joy

Lucy's Blue Silk and White Elephant

This is a town garden full of treasures

We then set of for a visit to a nursery and garden owned by Bruce and Karen Carswell, Twyford Irises, named after the road they live on.  This is a beautifully nursery with a picking garden in a lovely rural setting.

Nursery photos - as you enter the nursery a lovely picking garden is available

This was our first chance to stop and really have a catch up; it was morning tea, time for refreshments.  For any of you that have travelled to New Zealand, you will know that we love our cuppa time.

One wee dog helped himself to something to eat

With my cup in hand, I then wondered around the rest of the garden.  Just lovely and a real credit to Bruce and Karen.

We then had a 20 minute drive through countryside to the home of John and Heather Trim where they hold the Hawkes Bay Project Irises.  These are all irises that have been hybridized by people who have lived in the area.  It is a continuing project for this iris group.

In the middle we have Heather discussing with Huib Selderbeek some of the growing conditions of these irises

John and Heather both do a bit of hybridising themselves 

Back in our vehicles again, we head to Huib and Helen Selderbeek's home for more garden sharing and also lunch. The images will not show just how challenging this garden is with some areas steep, others dry, and with a delightful boggy patch at the bottom of the road.  It was a wonderful spot for our shared lunch.

Pond pictures

I have circled the pond area - just right of top centre.  This image also shows the many rocks and stones on the ground, and perhaps how steep in places.

Lunch time, and while we were sitting talking, one of our native birds, the Tui decided to join us.

A small selection of beautiful beardless irises - perhaps a story for another day

Lunch was over and it was time to head back towards civilization.  Our next stop was to the home of Brenton and Fiona Le Prou.  Located on a town section and with a little thinking outside the square, in this case inside the pot, was an amazing selection of miniature and small bearded irises.  Unfortunately, bloom season for these irises had passed, but there were still other irises to be seen.

Here is how Brendon manages to grow so many of the small irises and also two of his beautiful birds that live on the other side of the netting

Not a TB person, Brendon still managed to find a couple of them in flower during our visit.  As you can see, it was such a beautiful day to be out and about.

Our next stop was to the home of Brian Townsend.  It is another small garden, but still with some wonderful treasurers.  

Brian won the Begg Shield at our Convention last year.

Brian, with his best shoes on is pointing at an iris that we spend considerable time trying to remember the name of.  Not sure that we agreed in the end.

A beautifully keep lawn and garden bed at Brian's

It was then time to get back in our cars and head to our next garden.  This is at the home of Joy Kennerley and again a small town garden. From the moment you stop outside the drive, you just get the feeling there will be loads to see.

The image in the middle is Nobody's Child

As you can see, so many gorgeous plants and a very peaceful place to wander around

It was finally time to get into our cars just one more time; we had already seen 7 beautiful gardens, heard a lot of laughter and just enjoyed some wonderful time together.

One final garden to see was at the home of Jim and Bev Haliburton. It is were we did our final wander around and questioned just when we would all catch up again.

Unnamed - Iris pallida and I swertti 

Beautiful blossom trees with tall bearded irises growing underneath

You can't have an iris safari day without afternoon tea.  This was a rather special occasion - this year was to be the Society's 70th birthday celebration, but not knowing what was happening around lockdown, a decision was made to cancel 2020 convention.

So, not to be forgotten the Hawkes Bay Group decided afternoon tea would honour this milestone.

A cake and a beautifully handcrafted card were presented to everyone.

John Trim had the honour of blowing out the candle

It was a fabulous day out, very busy with 8 gardens in total, and a fair few miles travelled.  It was so good to have been able to catch up with other iris people and to share the passion in such difficult times.

Thank you so much Hawkes Bay Iris Group and all your members for such a wonderful day out.