An Iris Journal Entry from Down Under!

By Mel Schiller

The sting of summer is about to hit Southern Australia. At this time of year it is important for us to water our garden beds as things dry out very quick. We have not had decent rain for weeks, but we also have not had excessively hot weather either, which is a blessing! 

The iris are doing really well. We are so ever grateful that our business has thrived in these unprecedented times and people have been using their time to get out in the garden and move on and forward with life. Iris are a fantastic plant to have in Australia for their hardiness and the fact that they do not require massive amounts of water. 

As we go into January 2021 we look ahead at the work that is yet to be done to complete the 2020 iris season. With 40 plus degree Celsius days (104 F) for the next 3 months, usually next to no rain and the ground becoming rock hard, we reserve our early evenings to dig orders, and get them washed ready to ship out. 

Tasmania and Western Australia require a special permit to allow rhizome into these states, and through Covid shut downs we had a delay in receiving our certification. Onward and upwards we are currently digging these orders and preparing them for shipment. 

We are also walking the fields daily to check for seed pod ripeness. Once we see cracks appearing on the pods, we collect and split open the pods to let the seed dry out. These will be planted in April. 

A week before Christmas the roses were dead headed and the garden beds have a general prune and tidy up with a spot of weeding as well. We do not go over the entire field and remove the dead iris bloom stems, as this is too time consuming. This will be done at replant time at the end of February. 

Before

After

Bailey is studying chemical engineering at the university and Mel works a 30-hour week in hospitality.  Time management is a must to achieve everything we set out to do. Our love of iris drive us forward to reaching our goals. 

                                                    'Magic Madness' (B Schiller 19) TB

We are starting to look at the iris which will be introduced next season, and those that will be included in the next seasons catalogue. Bailey works on the catalogue that we produce between Uni studies. 

We successfully imported iris from America in September and look forward to them coming out of the Australian Quarantine Facility sometime in the next 6 weeks.  They are looking fantastic!

The field replant will begin in March with some iris being taken out of the field and planted elsewhere to recover and other varieties being added for sale next season.

We sincerely hope 2021 is super kind to everyone and that we all grow and evolve to achieve our own goals. We thank you for taking the time to follow us on Facebook and thank Bryce for allowing us to be part of his blogging team. He does such a wonderful job of keeping us updated and organized. 

Here is a sneak peak of what we are thinking of introducing next season. Mel and Bailey x

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IRIS SEPAL TECTONICS

By Sylvain Ruaud

'Aliquippa' illustrates the old style, narrow-petaled,

airy and open aspect of early diploid hybrids.

The progress made with irises has not been limited to enriching the colors of the flowers. They have also focused on improving the holding power of the iris flowers in order to present more elegant and longer-lasting flowers. The most fundamental progress has been the transformation of the sepals (falls), but the petals (standards) themselves have evolved. Originally, they were light, gracefully arched over the sexual parts. But their lightness left only a brief period of perfect presentation. In nature this was not inconvenient because fertilization must occur soon after the flower blooms; that wind or rain crushes the petals was of no consequence. In our gardens on the other hand, it is preferable that the flowers last as long as possible. The hybridizers, therefore, worked on strengthening the petals.

"Ruban Bleu"--image by Christine Cosi

By selecting flowers with increasingly thicker petals, and by retaining those that could be held quite strong, either because of the robustness of the ribs, or because of a very solid shape. But on the other hand, the arch shape gradually gave way to a cup shape, therefore open on top, or to a tulip bud presentation, therefore closed. The elegance in these cases comes from the undulated or serrated edges.

'Chevalier De Malte'--image by Christina Cosi

As far as sepals are concerned, the evolution has been even more remarkable. The big drawback of iris sepals is that they have very thin original attachments. This is not an anomaly: the sepals were originally intended to open wide and fold down to allow insects easy access to the sexual parts. In fact, they resembled leaves of forget-me-not flowers, starting from the area of attachment of the floral parts above the ovaries, a thin and narrow "tail", spreading out in an ovate shape, attenuated at the base, obtuse at the tip. By the effect of selections, the breeders have managed to obtain heart-shaped sepals, thus widening very quickly. This is true for large irises (TB, BB, IB), not yet for dwarf irises.

'Cumulus'--image by Rene Leau

At the same time, as for the petals, the flesh of the sepals thickened, taking a texture close to that of the magnolia petals. Gradually the sepals have had a better hold: instead of hanging sadly, they have straightened, taking in turn an arched shape. But the transformation did not stop there. The goal was sepals standing as close to the horizontal as possible.

'Prince Of Monaco' shows the mid-century advance in substance

that resulted in more flaring petals.

Another means of maintaining the sepals in this position  was thus to select the plants whose parts developed quickly in width, taking this cordate form mentioned above. We speak of "overlapping" sepals, i.e. those that leave no space between them and even overlap, a bit like the tectonic  plates of the earth's crust. The flower gains in size what it loses in reproductive accessibility: in many modern varieties the overlapping of the sepals partially  or totally conceals the stamens and styles. In a hybrid, this does not matter since pollination is exclusively  ensured by man.

'Impresario'--image by Ldislaw Muske

 In addition, the appearance of the ripplings on the iris flowers allowed a better holding of the sepals. This is the principle of the corrugated sheet, where rigidity is achieved by the movement given to the metal: it is obvious that the corrugated varieties have more rigid and upright sepals than the flat varieties (we could say "tailored").

'Parisien'--image by Christine Cosi

Thus, from soft sepals quickly taking a folded position, in about 70 years, we have reached almost horizontal, wavy or even creped sepals, which keep the flower elegant and fresh for several days, allowing to see open on the same stem several staggered flowers, a little like we are used to see in gladioli or cannas. It is obviously more spectacular.

'Butterlicious' shows the modern version

with bubble ruffling, flare, and wide, overlapping hafts.

Does this mean that the iris flowers have reached perfection without any possibility of improvement? The answer is no. Iris flowers will continue to evolve, not necessarily to fundamentally transform the flowers we enjoy today, but to bring other forms. This is what Richard Cayeux imagines for the iris of the future when, in his book "L'iris , une fleur royale", he evokes the bearded irises of the third millennium: "We can already imagine new models of iris flowers today: "spiders" irises (with very long and very narrow divisions...), irises with lash-lined divisions..." as well as flowers with the appearance of I. paradoxa, i.e. with sepals "very small, horizontal, with a strong black beard and purple and shimmering petals clearly larger". He forgot to mention the opposite situation: petalless irises, i.e. with a flat shape, a bit like that of Japanese irises, where the six flower pieces are sepals or pseudo-sepals, overlapping widely. This is a little bit the case of the so-called "flatties" varieties that we already find nowadays. The movements of these spread sepals will not have the same consequences as those of the earth's tectonic plates, but if these forms were to develop widely, it would still be, in the little world of irises, a kind of earthquake.

Editor's Note: Butterlicious, Prince of Monaco, and Aliquippa courtesy of Mike Unser.

Wild Pacifica Irises in Northern California

By Kathleen Sayce, with Photos by Tom Lofken

Tom lives in northern California, and took the photos for this essay over several years. 

Iris douglasiana

First up is a tough, widely distributed iris, Iris douglasiana, which grows naturally from southern Oregon to southern California near Santa Barbara. Tom took this image at Point Reyes, where an extensive purple-flowered population can be found. 

Yellow, white, rose pink and lavender flowers are also common for this species, which produces some of the toughest plants the Pacifica Iris group for gardens. 

Iris hartwegii ssp. pinetorum

Next, from the Sierra Nevada foothills, Iris hartwegii ssp. pinetorum.  This subspecies may eventually be re-elevated to species status as its genetics are distinctly different from other subspecies. I. h. pinetorum grows in the California Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada, where it prefers flats in open pine forests. 

[Readers may recall I grow Iris hartwegii ssp. australis in my garden; this subspecies grows only in the Transverse Ranges of southern California.]

Iris macrosiphon

Iris macrosiphon is widespread in northern California and also varies in flower color. It is found around the Bay Area in the mountains, and north in the Coast Range to the Klamath Range, northern California. I. macrosiphon has a very long ovary tube—the ‘stem’ between the ovary and the flower petals. The leafy bracts in the photo cover the long tube. The ovary sits just above the base of the bracts and well below the flower. 

Iris tenuissima ssp. tenuissima 

Iris tenuissima ssp. tenuissima is found in northern California, in the Sierra Nevada foothills and Coast Range. Flowers are pale yellow to white, with dark maroon to red veins. 

Iris bracteata

Iris bracteata grows in northern California and southern Oregon, has pale yellow flowers with dark veins, often with a reddish color to the perianth tubed, and is typically found in yellow pine forests above 1,000 ft elevation. This photo is from Josephine County, Oregon. 

Iris chrysophylla

Iris chrysophylla has strikingly long stigmatic crests, those petal bits that stick up on the style arms.  These look like two long teeth (a vampire’s long canines), in an otherwise typical wild Pacifica Iris flower. Flowers are usually pale yellow, can be white, and are veined burgundy on the falls. This species grows in open coniferous forests in northern California and southern Oregon. 

Iris thompsonii

Tom looked for the golden iris, Iris innominata in northern California, which grows wild only in southern Oregon. It has lovely yellow (dark gold to pale yellow) flowers. 

Instead, he found a hybrid of Iris thompsonii, possibly crossed with I. bracteata or I. tenuissima, showing pale petals, strong veining, and growing in densely floriferous clumps. 

Like I. innominata, I. thompsonii is deciduous, with leaves dying back to the ground each winter. 

Other species that share this trait are Iris tenax and I. hartwegii. 

Taxonomy:

For current taxonomy, refer to The Jepson Manual, 2nd edition, for a key to Irises species in this subsection. All taxa except Iris tenax ssp. tenax and ssp. gormanii are covered in this key.  

Older taxonomy references include Victor Cohen, A field guide to species, and Lee Lentz’s books. The latter three publications are available to download by members of the Society for Pacific Coast Native Iris on the SPCNI website in the members only area. 

Winter Watch for Irises

 By Hooker Nichols

The Winter Watch season is about to begin for us particularly in the Southern states. You might ask yourselves what is he talking about? Many times people in our areas tend to continue replanting irises until near time for the first frosts.

Image by Jeanette Graham

Here in northern and eastern Texas we have an average first frost or freeze date of November 22. They usually even bloom the following spring. Keep a constant watch for any late plants heaving out of the ground due to constant freezing and thawing of the soil. If this happens, just gently step on the rhizomes and push them back into the ground.

Now is the time to plant your iris seeds. This will ensure that the young plants will not germinate prematurely and be killed by the freezing temperatures. Be sure to keep your seedbeds slightly moist through the winter.

For you who are hybridizers, this is the time we plan our future spring crosses. Be sure to use only irises which have the best growth and blooming characteristics in future endeavors. You should pay closest attention to bud count and branching.

Reblooming characteristics may be incorporated too. For those of you who are exhibition fans, remember that a Best of Show specimen begins the moment you plant that iris in your garden the previous year. Winter garden care is the key to wonderful spring bloom. Wishing all a safe holiday season and a better outlook for Spring 2021.