By Mel Schiller
Wow what a year so far and it isn't over yet!
In my lifetime I think this year would have to be the windiest by far and as a tall bearded iris grower it spells disaster, especially living on a hilltop. Oh the challenges....I must say, as I type this blog, that we had a forecast of 8mm of rain yesterday and overnight we received much more....27mm.....the weather patterns are all over the place.
Anyway as we are in full swing with our iris season, time spent hybridizing has been down as it has been too wet--I never thought I would say that! Surprisingly the iris are coping well with the extra heavenly water we are receiving. The bloom stems are above and beyond normal this year. We are noticing also that the registered varieties are blooming not according to their registrations. Things that bloom early are blooming mid to late. Late bloomers are blooming mid season; all of this has never happened, until this year!
As the orders are coming in, we are noticing a pattern among purchases. Arils are among the top selling varieties this year and, of course, the broken coloured varieties too.
As it stands here are our top 10 bearded iris for this season.
10. 'Diamonds and Rubies' (Blyth 14) TB What a statement this iris creates!
9. 'Eyes On You' (Black 12) OGB (1/2 Bred) An easing growing Aril variety.
