The Untapped Potential of Iris reichenbachii

by Tom Waters

Today's post is all about an underappreciated bearded iris species, Iris reichenbachii. The name, it seems, is bigger than the iris itself. I. reichenbachii is a dwarf, ranging in height from 10 to 30 cm (4 to 12 inches), with one or sometimes two buds at the top of the stalk. (Very rarely, a third bud may appear further down the stalk.) The flowers are yellow (often with brownish markings or blending), smoky violet, or occasionally clear deep violet.

Iris reichenbachii

The species is native to the Balkan peninsula, from Rumania and Bulgaria through Serbia and into Greece. A related species, I. suaveolens, is similar but smaller. Two other species names, I. balkana and I. bosniaca, are now regarded as synonyms of I. reichenbachii.

As a garden subject, I. reichenbachii is pleasant enough, if somewhat unremarkable. It has found a home with rock gardeners and plant collectors. For those who fancy modern hybrid dwarf and median irises, this little species can seem drab by comparison. The petals are rather narrow, substance is lacking, and the colors can seem a bit murky.

To the hybridizer, however, I. reichenbachii has something unique to offer. Its chromosomes are very similar to those of tall bearded irises, and it is quite compatible with them. Furthermore, I. reichenbachii exists in both diploid (two sets of chromosomes) and tetraploid (four sets) forms. Since modern TBs and BBs are tetraploid, they can cross with tetraploid I. reichenbachii and produce fertile offspring. (For an explanation of diploids and tetraploids, see my earlier blog post Tetraploid Arils, Anyone?)

'Progenitor' (Cook, 1951)
 from I. reichenbachii X TB 'Shining Waters'

In the 1940s, the talented hybridizer Paul Cook did precisely that. A seedling from the cross, aptly named 'Progenitor', was registered in 1951. It was an unimpressive iris of intermediate size, but Cook could see its potential. 'Progenitor' was a bicolor, with violet falls and pure white standards. At the time, this was a new color pattern. (Earlier bicolors were actually variations on a "spot pattern" from I. variegata, and seldom showed the completely solid falls and pristine standards of 'Progenitor'. It is interesting to note that I. reichenbachii itself is not a bicolor. The bicolor pattern resulted from combining its genes with those of the TB parent. By crossing 'Progenitor' back to high-quality TBs, Cook was eventually able to transfer the bicolor pattern onto irises that otherwise showed no resemblance to the modest little dwarf that had given rise to the new pattern. 'Whole Cloth' (Cook, 1958), four generations on from 'Progenitor', won the Dykes Medal in 1962.

Virtually all TB and BB bicolors today (standards white, yellow, or pink; falls blue, violet, purple, reddish, or brown) are descendants of 'Progenitor', and hence of I. reichenbachii.

But there is still more to be done with this interesting little species. When Cook was making his crosses, there was very little interest in dwarf or median irises. In fact, medians as we know them today hardly existed at that time. So Cook simply worked to transfer the new color pattern into TBs. Today, however, there is considerable interest in breeding medians, especially BBs and MTBs that are consistently small and dainty. Surely the little dwarf I. reichenbachii has something to offer in these endeavors. The tetraploid forms are compatible with BBs and tetraploid MTBs, while the diploid I. reichenbachii could be crossed with diploid MTBs. Since these sorts of crosses should produce fertile seedlings, a hybridizer could continue the breeding line to achieve any desired goal.

Iris reichenbachii

I. reichenbachii is a little difficult to find in commerce, but not impossible. Some specialty nurseries list it, and if one is willing to grow from seed, it shows up rather often in seed exchanges that include iris species.

If you see this odd little species available somewhere, why not give it a try? Perhaps even make a cross or two to see what happens...

Favorite Macro Photos from 2016, Part 1

By Mike Unser

I love photographing irises and capturing their beauty to enjoy all year long. I also love to do close up shots of them to highlight the incredible beauty of their architecture. Here is a selection of my favorites from the 2016 season. Click on the photos to see the full size version.

'Anne Leslie'

'El Paso'

'Finest Hour'

'Millionaire'

'Mme. Louesse'

'Pink Plume'

'That's All Folks'

'Golden Flare

My second bloom season

                                                                                 by Joe Musacchia

    In late June to early July, it starts all over again. Bloom, that is. Ever since Louisiana Iris Gardens in Central New York started handling my introductions some six years ago, I have enjoyed a second bloom season. What a joy to see my new seedlings blooming again. The colors in the North are even more vivid than they are in Louisiana. This is when we make the final decisions about what to introduce next year. 

   This is 'Fouchon' a cross of Patrick O'Connor's 'Zydeco‘ X my 'Pointe Aux Chenes'. If you are wondering where the name comes from, it’s a port at the mouth of Bayou Lafourche, where it empties into the Gulf of Mexico

 ' Fouchon ' 
' Zydeco '  X  ' Pointe Aux Chenes '.

     Then we have 'Gentle Memories'. This is Patrick O'Connor's  'Just Add Water’ X Harry Wolford's 'Edna Claunch'. This name came from the first time Mrs. M. J. Urist gazed upon a garden of Louisiana iris during her first trip to Louisiana. I made this cross to demonstrate how hybridizing was done. The cross took, and it turned out to be a good one.

' Gentle Memories '
' Just Add Water ' X ' Edna Claunch ''

  Here we have ‘Labrador Hollow'. This is my  'Ardoyne‘ X my 'Little General'. This is named for a natural area down the road from Louisiana Iris Gardens. It was found in seedlings brought up from Louisiana, and had its maiden bloom in the NY garden.

' Labrador Hollow '
' Ardoyne ' X ' Little General '

   Next is a fun one, 'Iko Iko'. This is a cross of Heather Pryor's 'Garnet Storm Dancer' X  Dormon Haymon's 'Grace Duhon'  This flower makes me want to party, so the name of the Mardi Gras song Iko Iko seemed appropriate

' Iko Iko ''
 Garnet Storm Dancer ' X  ' Grace Duhon ' 

   My last seedling, 'Cochon de Lait', is is one of many nice seedlings that came from a 'Pure Water' bee pod. This name translated literally from French is a suckling pig, but to a Cajun this means a party. More like a Cajun barbecue.

' Cochon de Lait '
' Pure Water Bee Pod '

Here are some more of the many Louisiana irises that bloomed in Central New York this year.

' Faubourg Marigny '
Patrick O'Connor

' Low and Inside '
Patrick O'Connor'

' Brown Recluse '
Walter Moores

' Mardi Gras Mambo '
Joe Musacchia 

' Mamacita ' 
Joe Musacchia

   And finally we have 'Rougaroux', which is Cajun French for werewolf, the Cajun swamp monster.

 ' Rougaroux '
Joe Musacchia

   As you can see Louisianas do well in Central New York. If you would like to extend your iris bloom season, by all means try Louisiana iris. All pictures here are courtesy of M.J. Urist of Louisiana Iris Gardens.  

Late Stalks: Rebloom Breeding in zone 6A

By Betty Wilkerson

Welcome to my garden.  I'm in Kentucky, zone 6.  Once again, it's been a crazy, crazy spring.  We had some really nice days during the last half of winter.  Good days to clean the iris beds and get ready for spring.  This is when it started getting crazy!  I suspect it was Mother Nature in stress mode, but maybe it was just the irises acting weird.  

Just a few days into the bloom season, it looked like a lot of the early things would not bloom!  Then, stalks started to spring up, or so it seemed, on the ones that should have bloomed earlier.  Everything was out of sequence.  However, it did make rebloom crossing easier because more flowers were blooming at the same time.  

At the end of bloom season, the inevitable depression set in.  It's generally over for another year (except for rebloom). Then I noticed extra stalks showing up. There were a couple on some of the new reblooming seedlings, and one on a slightly older seedling from rebloom breeding lines!

There's one on 'Cameo Blush,' and one on 'Over and Over.' 'Silver Dividends' also put up a stalk but with only two blooms.  (No other introduced irises bloomed at this time.)

'Cameo Blush' (Weiler by Friendship 1998)

'Over & Over' (Innerst 2003)  

Two of the seedlings from 'Tara's Choice' X 'Again & Again' put up stalks. The yellow one, 2152-02re, has cycle  rebloomed in the past and is in my older reselect bed with 2 stalks up.  2152-03 is from my previous "baby" bed and was not seen before.  It wasn't great.  No, I don't always plant all of a given cross at the same time. It depends on space and time, and what I want to see, but these were pretty and several rebloomed, so I planted all of them.


One of my disappointments has been 2527, a cross with 'All Revved Up' & X 'Lunar Whitewash.' 'All Revved Up' can bloom all summer and 'Lunar Whitewash' is a good cycle rebloomer, so I'd hoped for some type of rebloom, with good form.  I got form but none have rebloomed, yet. It was a bit surprising when some of these seedlings started putting up late stalks.

2527-05 ('All Revved Up' X 'Lunar Whitewash') 

2527-01 ('All Revved Up' X 'Lunar Whitewash)

2527-05 ('All Revved Up' x 'Lunar Whitewash')

 The latest developing stalks were 2145-01 ('Pure as Gold' X 'Summer Radiance') and 2603-04, a dark one from ('Lunar Whitewash' X Romantic Evening') X 'Over and Over.' A large group of 2145-01 crosses bloomed and were photographed in the spring, while 2603-04 did not bloom in the spring and this is my first time to see it.

2145-01 ('Pure as Gold' X 'Summer Radiance')

2603-04 (('Lunar Whitewash' x 'Romantic Evening') X 'Over and Over')

With three exceptions, all of the surprise reblooming has been on my seedlings which have at least one rebloom parent. My theory, and it's just a theory, is that I should take this as a signal that, if not rebloom, they have some type of "loosy-goosy" genes that allows later bloom.  One thing for sure, they don't put up these late stalks every year. Come to me, my favored children!

You've had another peek into the strange habits of mother nature as she works in and around Bridge In Time Iris Gardens.  For further reading about reblooming irises, visit the Reblooming Iris Society site  or subscribe to "The Recorder" through the website.