by Mel and Bailey Schiller
Season 2022/2023 is upon us!
Our family has been frantically getting the field cleaned and the gardens ready in preparation for hosting open garden weekends here at Smokin Heights throughout October. Over the past couple of days, we were finally seeing some sunshine; but the weather forecast is for more rain in the coming week.
Our new imported irises are settling in nicely, and we are not concerned about them blooming this year. We would rather see rhizome increase as plants adjust to their new surroundings.
We finished replanting irises just after Easter this year, which is very early for us. Taking this into account, we believe our season is running two to three weeks behind. Winter has been cold, wet, and windy . . . much like our Oregon iris family experienced last season. As winter drags on, we haven’t experienced as many warm days as we normally have in years past. However, daylight savings time begins today and with it has come beautiful sunshine.
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| Iris fields at Smokin Heights |
Bloom started with our standard dwarf bearded irises. Intermediates and arilbreds with some very early tall bearded irises are blooming also.
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| Seedling H98-2 |
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| Seedling F5-3 |
Just looking at the downloads from our camera we have already taken well over 500 photographs. We are well and truly into hybridizing with around 50 crosses completed already!
A new iris season brings new hope of better times ahead. Last week was the one-year anniversary of the loss of our son and brother Braiden. Every iris season is going to be marked by Braiden's loss.
Grief really is a huge burden to carry. The irises give us a focus and something to work towards. When bloom is happening we are running around with our pencils, tweezers, and labels plus the camera. Spreading iris love where ever we go!!
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Seedling G-3 |
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| Seedling I4-A |
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| Closeup of Seedling H98-2 |
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| Seedling H2-1 |
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| Seedling H5-A |
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| Seedling H7-1 |
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| Seedling C91-2 |
Our fields have a lot of fun iris and we are enjoying hybridizing with them. One thing we have noticed is that our hybridizing goals change each season. As the different seedlings emerge, our minds wander to more far-off goals. Each bloom keeps us driven for success and focused on achieving the very best in irises we produce.
If you would like to keep up to date with what is blooming at Smokin Heights please follow us on our
Facebook page!
We hope that our overseas followers enjoy our bloom pictures from Down Under. We hope the winter months are kind to you all and before you know it spring will be knocking on your door!
Stay warm.
