Rennovating a Summer/Fall Iris Garden!

by Bob Pries

Yes, I did say Summer/Fall! While working on the Iris Encyclopedia I see a great deficit and relatively undeveloped area in the Gardens Web. I have been trying to find great images showing beautiful garden scenes and vignettes featuring irises. Perhaps the most difficult images to find are those of Summer or Fall iris gardens. But even Spring lacks numbers of images. If anyone still doesn’t know two groups of irises bloom in Summer or Fall: Iris dichotoma hybrids (Iris x norrissii) and reblooming bearded irises. I would love to be able to capture these irises in garden settings with other Summer flowers. So, when disaster struck my garden over the last couple of years, I saw an opportunity to create a new garden that could create these little pictures.

One would think there would be lots of pictures of Spring garden settings. Not! I found only one from my garden, which I offer as an example. Iris pallida ‘Argentea’ growing with pink dianthus in my former rock garden shows what I mean. The wiki would welcome many of these garden scenes. If you have images of “Iris Garden Scenes” you can share them by attaching them to this page: https://wiki.irises.org/Gdn/PhotoGalleryVariousIrisGardenScenes. Even though we judge irises for their merit as “Garden” plants, we seldom see images of garden scenes. I do not wish to disparage the Iris collector’s gardens with specimens growing in rows like corn. After all I am a collector myself! Growing irises in rows is easiest way to maintain a large collection. However, I suggest there are more gardeners who want irises as part of a perennial border than those who crave a monoculture dedicated to one flowering genus.

Iris pallida 'Zebra' with dianthus (left) and Iris norrissii in container (right)

Unfortunately, I do not have a blank palette to work with. My former summer garden which used to contain about a hundred sun coleus and a few choice perennials was decimated over the last couple of years by large trees falling on it. The first tree to fall, was quite charming. It pulled partly out of the ground and “lay” suspended at a forty-degree angle over the back of the flowerbed. It was a pine tree that did not die, but continued to grow sideways such that it appeared as a giant bonsai. It was very picturesque. The root ball half out of the ground made this large mound that became covered with moss and it looked like a three-foot hobbit’s house. Overall, the effect was quite magical. This fairytale-like setting lasted perhaps a year but then other trees began to fall from different directions. Soon this crisscrossed pile was a mess stacking a good 10 feet tall. Unfortunately, my health declined such that I could not start a chainsaw. The tree pile would have to wait until I felt better. Immediately Scuppernong Grapevine took hold and tied the branches all together. Through this incredible structure, blackberries and Japanese honeysuckle rose up. The blackberries made it nasty with their thorns and the crowning touch was a Smilax rotundifolia (common name: Greenbrier).

"Hobbit House" of moss from roots of fallen three. Since tree is now cut the house is sinking.

If you do not live in the South, you may not know the potential of Smilax rotundifolia. It is an edible asparagus relative. If you have read the “Uncle Remus Tales” with Briar Rabbit and Briar Fox you may have a clue as to how nasty this plant can be. The mature stems are a bright green but quite woody, sometimes with inch-long thorns. It is said to develop large tubers deep underground from which it can send up stalks that may rise several feet in a week. When we first moved here, we tackled a large briar patch with a large piece of equipment that could grind up trees to create roads through the forest. But unfortunately, I did not want to create a road to and through my flowerbed. Because of the risk of copperheads, I did not want to attack this tangle until winter. Late this winter I began removing big tubs of plant material each day. Now only a small corner of “The pile” still exists. But it is time to plant so work on the bed has shifted.

Greenbrier coming through hosta

The corner of the tree pile remains about one third of its original height

I plant everything in my garden in large pots (usually 5 gallon). This allows me …in theory… to move things around. Filled with moist soil, each potted plant can weigh up to 45 pounds wet. Thus, moving plants around rarely happens. I also plant in pots because many locations in my yard have less than an inch of soil before hitting rock. They do not call the town Roxboro for nothing! As the plants grow, they hide the pots and the bed looks like a normal flowerbed. Well almost! Plants are less hardy above ground in a pot, but placing many together improves hardiness. Irises and many perennials have little trouble overwintering. I think a few perennials may actually do better because they are well-drained during the winter.

I also use annuals for an early summer punch of color. The collector in me comes through because I strive for over a hundred varieties of sun coleus. I love the tapestry many varieties create much like a Persian carpet. But in years past, I grew them in one-gallon pots. If not reliably pinched back, by the end of summer, they can become too tall for the best effect and it will be a challenge to get them to look just right when the Iris norrissii is in bloom.

Sun coleus last year making colorful tapestry

More Sun coleus

Another ongoing challenge I face is rabbits. I try to surround the garden with rabbit fences, but it only deters them. It does not keep them out. Sadly, the fencing also makes it difficult for me to walk through the garden. My wife complains that she cannot pick up the flowers without good paths. But the paths make it easy for the rabbits and our Wolfhounds love to inspect the garden during their walks. They can easily jump over the fences. But I dare not create a dead-end path because the dogs will plow right through the plants to continue out.

Dogs are a potential garden hazard

I thought I would be clever and plant some poisonous plants so the rabbits would find the area unattractive. Milkweed Asclepias tuberosa is a beautiful plant that attracts and feeds Monarch butterflies; so of course it was first on my list. The milky sap should be distasteful and yet as it came up I found plants that the rabbit had trimmed back. This species of butterfly weed comes in bright yellow (‘Hello Yellow’) and the normal intense orange.

Asclepias tuberosa

Years ago, I met the Iris hybridizer Carl Wyatt. He hybridized an early tall bearded rebloomer ‘Corn Harvest’. I went to his garden in June because I wanted to see his butterfly weeds. He used to supply seed to Park’s Seed and had acres and acres of Asclepias in full bloom. Imagine a ten-acre plot of deep red Asclepias tuberosa. He even had flowers that were red and yellow combo resembling the Mexican tropical Asclepias curassavica. He showed me one plant which was a cross between the common milkweed A. syriaca and A. tuberosa that had large pink flowers. The mixture of red/yellow A. tuberosa seed was offered as ‘Gay Butterflies’. Unfortunately, the Dutch have corrupted the original name by adding Swamp milkweed A. incarnata to the mix. I still order ‘Gay Butterflies’ hoping to reclaim the deep red scarlet that Carl had searched long and hard for. But back to the rabbits!

'Corn Harvest'
photo by Elladan McLeester

Marigolds are supposed to smell bad. Personally, I love the odor. They provide bright color and if they don’t stop the rabbits at least they may discourage a few bugs. So, of course marigolds would be an annual I would want in the garden.

The summer garden is also my wife’s cutting garden and she loves to pick daisies. Marigolds are in the daisy family along with zinnias, tithonias, rudbeckias, echinacea, shasta daisies, coreopsis, cosmos, etc. I try to incorporate all of these into the garden. I try to include as many perennial daisies as possible. Ordering a hybrid cultivar Rudbeckia (Gloriosa Daisy) may cost $16 each. I am fortunate to live within driving distance of Big Bloomers nursery where I can find seedlings in 4 packs for $4. If I was industrious I could also sow the seeds myself but without a greenhouse it is difficult to get them started early enough.

Many new Echinacea, Rudbeckias and Coreopsis are making their ways into the “Big Box” stores. Coreopsis especially has undergone wonderful transformations at the hand of Darrell Probst. Darrell is also an Iris hybridizer all that part of his work certainly does not support him like his world-famous tickseeds. But his Iris Norrissiis I hope will be an important part of this summer garden. I have a few on order from Joe Pye Weed gardens that should arrive in July.

Coreopsis

Iris norrissii 'Butterfly Magic' (left) and 'Spooky World' (right)

Iris norrissii 'Mandarin Lady' (left) and 'Pastel Parfait' (right)

So presently I am trying to get this collection of plants into large pots for the garden. Fortunately, I was able to pick up some reblooming irises in pots at our local Iris Show. By carefully moving them into larger pots and babying them with water and fertilizer I hope to get them to bloom for this Summer/Fall.

Work has also ground to a halt in the back of the middle of the garden. A Carolina Wren has built a nest in one of the pots in from of the brush pile I want to remove. Carolina Wrens are a strange bird that likes to be in the middle of things. For several years we had them build nests in the wreath hanging on our front door. When you opened the door, they would explode out from the wreath. If you opened it too fast, they were likely to fly into the house rather than away from it. One year they kept slipping through our screen door and built a nest in a light fixture on the screened-in porch. Unfortunately, we had no clue until we turned on the light and the fixture burst into flames. Fortunately, the babies had already fledged. My present wren bursts off the nest when I get within a couple of feet so temporarily, she owns that part of the garden until her babies are grown.

Carolina Wren

I think the best part of gardening is dreaming about what could be. I hope I will be successful at creating some pretty garden pictures. Yet I can already hear another nearby tree creaking that could become another calamity for the garden. Or perhaps the rabbit will suddenly acquire a taste for another garden plant. But maybe I will win for a change, and bring forth some great images of Irises in the garden. If you would like to help me out, add some of your own images to the garden page listed above.

 Last year's Iris norrissi 'Hello Yellow'

Salt-tolerant Pacific Iris, or Choosing Voles & Birds Over Cats

by Kathleen Sayce

Mowing the upper edge of the marsh along the Washington State U.S. coast on Memorial Weekend, I found a flowering iris growing among taller grasses. 

A saltwater-tolerant PCI in the upper salt marsh

Lest you think I was mowing native and/or sensitive salt marsh species, let me reassure you:  I was mowing ivy, gorse, and reed canary grass. The last is one of a group of big grasses with thuggish tendencies, and the first two are obnoxious weeds in many areas. These species grow along the upper edge of the salt marsh, and collectively tolerate salt water on the highest storm tides each winter. I dodged two native plants:  seawatch clumps (Angelica lucida, a tall carrot family wildflower) and edible thistle stems (Cirsium edule). 

Almost hidden in taller grasses, this PCI was a delightful surprise

This iris is a small, species-like Pacifica iris of unknown parentage which looks most like a PCI of unknown origin that I planted in the mid-1990s, though that plant has larger, wider petals and darker flowers.

Salt water covers this spot several times each winter on the highest storm tides—it grows in a saltwater inundation area. Iris tenax and I. douglasiana both live in salt spray zones along the coast. I will keep the taller grasses down around it, and see how long it lives here. The salt tolerance is a surprise. 

How did it get across the driveway and into the marsh? Voles are the probable suspects; they live abundant and prolific lives in the marsh and garden—and in our garage, cars, and occasionally, house. It is likely that a vole filled its cheeks with ripe iris seeds and dashed off across the driveway to stash them in the marsh.

Get a cat, you say. 

My reply:  I would rather have a garden with ground-nesting birds. 

There are two areas in the garden where Spotted Towhee and White-crown Sparrow nest. The adults pop out to complain when I mow nearby, and grow quite insistent if I weed too near nests, which tend to be under large clumps of Pacifica iris. Which of course means weeds grow unchecked in those areas for much of the summer, and that favors voles! 

68-110 : (Ponderosa X New Moon) or the summit of the art

By Sylvain Ruaud

A perfume creator first imagines a new fragrance and then gathers the ingredients he will use. Next, he formulates the subtle mixtures that will constitute his latest creation. When creating new irises, hybridizer Joe Ghio must proceed similarly. 

No doubt he has in his head - but also in his documentation - all the elements of a formidable "gene pool" gathered over his long career in iris hybridizing. Joe knows what each piece can bring, and he visualizes what he hopes to obtain from each cross. No doubt he sometimes fails, for nature preserves its mysteries and knows how to mete out its surprises. But these failures are obviously not known to us. We only see, with admiration, the successes that a hybridizer achieves. Each year there are a handful of them, which makes the gardener in each of us ecstatic. Practiced with such mastery, hybridization is no longer the exercise of curiosity or leisure but the expression of applied science.

Among all the vials that this alchemist manipulates, there is one that appears many times in the complex pedigrees that often accompany the descriptions of his novelties: it is (Ponderosa X New Moon). In Joe Ghio's crypto-catalog, it appears with numbers 68-110. It is divided into many "bottles" identified by a distinctive letter, and there must be at least twenty of them, each corresponding to a plant whose colors and characteristics are known only to its breeder (and perhaps to a few friendly insiders).

Let's get to know each of the elements of this mystical cross.

'Ponderosa'
Photo by Joe Ghio

'Ponderosa' (Ghio, 1970) = (Denver Mint X Moon River) is a flower that does not necessarily attract attention. It is described as "petals pinkish brown; sepals a mixture of brown, purple and red; beards yellowish brown." Ghio would tell us the qualities he finds in it because he is confident it must not lack any! He crossed it with many varieties, very varied in appearance but mainly in shades of yellow or apricot: 'Travel On,' 'Gracie Pfost' (the only one that is red), 'Debby Rairdon,' 'Honey Rae,' 'Orange Chariot,' 'Ghost Story,' 'Saffron Robe,' 'Peace Offering,' and 'Opening Round'.

'New Moon'
Photo by Heather Haley

'New Moon' (Sexton, 1968) = (Moon River X New Frontier) is universally known. It is a bright yellow from yellow and pink. "Unicolor lemon yellow, lemon-yellow beards," describes the AIS checklist. It has been used extensively in hybridization in all parts of the world for many years. Joe Ghio was one of those who used it the most over several generations.

The cross (Ponderosa X New Moon) is one of the essential elements of Joe Ghio's palette. It is found in several combinations, of which the following one, which has been used very frequently and which is listed, if I am not mistaken, under the number 71-147P : ((((Commentary x Claudia Rene) x Claudia Rene) x Ponderosa) x (Ponderosa x New Moon)). Here is a variety whose genealogy extends over four generations. We notice a first crossing at the beginning: (Commentary x Claudia Rene). Then the product of this crossing is crossed again with 'Claudia Rene.' In the next generation, a new element is added; this time, it is 'Ponderosa'. Finally, the product of this last crossing is paired with an unnamed variety but noted under the number 68-110 and written (Ponderosa x New Moon). 

This kind of combination, which becomes more complicated with time, is classic for Joe Ghio because, to use our example, 71-147P was later married several times. This is how one thing leads to another; we arrive at 88-129R2, where we reach the eleventh generation since our 68-110, twenty years earlier. And since 1988, a lot has happened, and there have been many crosses!

Over the years, the pedigrees become longer and more complex because Ghio does not bother to register - and therefore to name - all the seedlings he finds exciting and keeps. Where some registrants are satisfied providing two names joined by an X, Ghio lists the different components of each member of the cross, sometimes in the form of a simple seedling number, sometimes with the designation of the varieties used. Is this a strategy? 

Indeed, not describing (nor photographing) a seedling preserves to this one a part of the mystery, which is voluntary. It is a way to keep a secret of manufacture! This also has the advantage of detailing the path of the breeder toward the registered variety. On the other hand, it has the disadvantage of giving a long list, not easy to decipher. And it is at this point that we realize the finesse of Joe Ghio's work: we follow the evolution of his thought, we note the touches of this or that color or this or that horticultural quality added (or subtracted) to reach the goal he has set.

It is the work of a great man. Only a few can master many parameters, maybe three or four. If we can compare them to great perfumers, we could draw a parallel with composers like Mozart, Wagner, or Mahler. At this degree of perfection, hybridization is no longer a game but an exceptional science and art.

Growing Irises Out East: Celebrating Mother's Day

 By Heather Haley

My mother Alleah Haley enjoying iris 'Saturday Night Live' in bloom
at Winterberry Gardens during Mother's Day Weekend 2023

My mother, Alleah, and I find ourselves celebrating Mother’s Day on a road trip. We are returning from Winchester, Virginia, to North Carolina after spending this weekend with about 50 other members of the American Iris Society: our “iris family.” Last month, all three of Alleah’s daughters, one son-in-law, and additional iris family members enjoyed “iris Christmas” together during the 2023 AIS national convention in Dallas, Texas. 

Alleah and her children at the
2023 AIS National Convention in Dallas, Texas

Today Alleah and I are subject to preferences of the navigation system inside her car. It did not select the highly scenic, meandering route known as the Blue Ridge Parkway. Instead, we are traveling the path of greatest efficiency. Listening to Alleah, you wouldn’t know the difference. She is soaking in the scenery all the same.

Many of the gently curved roads Alleah and I traveled looked like this. Maintenance crews
frequently use special boom-mounted tractor implements to ensure good visibility around curves.

National Park Service Photo, Public Domain 

During our drive, Alleah often exclaimed how beautiful her surroundings were. You see, Alleah loves all things living and green: including but not limited to trees, grass, ferns, and irises. Irises with rhizomes are, of course, her favorite… and she is easy to please. A sizeable clump of tall red bearded iris caught her eye, but it passed too quickly for me to get a good look. She recognized the form as historic, and we quickly chatted about possibilities etched in our memory. I ask, “Do you think it was ‘Indian Chief’?” My mother responded, “No. It was a self (pattern).” We know the proper procedure for identifying an unknown iris but enjoy conversing to pass the time.

Historic bearded iris 'Indian Chief' displays a bitone pattern.
The veined maroon standards are much lighter than the falls. 

My mother fancies any interesting combination of roots, trunk, stems, leaves, or petals. Immediately after iris activities of our weekend ended, Alleah insisted on finding a garden center for us to patronize. While visiting the Spring Valley Farm Market, she fancied a 4 in. pot containing pink petunia, purple veining, and a lime green edge. I found a hanging basket with the same and decided she needed that instead. 

Alleah and I used a seatbelt to secure her new hanging basket for the drive home.

With Alleah's Mother's Day basket now riding in the back seat, we decided to stop for some antiquing. In 2011, I found a glass vase labeled "Iris and Herringbone" in an antique store and kept it in our guest bathroom until sending it to Alleah for Christmas. My husband Chris grew fond of it, and suggested we hunt for a vase of our own. The flowers look more like lilies, but we don't mind this too much. Artist rendition aside, I still like the name. Many antique stores, auctions, and festivals later, I am pleased to report the iris and herringbone collection is ALMOST complete. Mom and I found a coaster for my collection just up the road from where we bought the hanging basket. HORRAY!

Heather's Iris and Herringbone depression glass collection in 2014

.

Iris and Herringbone coaster purchased with Alleah on Mother's Day 2023

The August 2023 issue of the Region 4 Newscast will describe the iris gardens Alleah and I saw during the spring regional meeting. For now, enjoy some pictures, and I hope you found unique ways to enjoy and celebrate Mother's Day too.

Award-winning iris show entries on the Queen's Table at the 2023 Region 4 Meeting

Siberian iris 'Cesar's Brother' in bloom at the
Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, Virginia

Cat greeting visitors at Iris Hills Farm in Middletown, Virginia

Irises in raised beds at Winterberry Gardens in Cross Junction, Virginia

Tall bearded irises 'That's All Folks', 'Queen's Circle', and 'Absolute Treasure'
at Meagher Gardens in Middleburg, Virginia

Beginner’s Corner: Container Gardening – Part 1, Containers

 by Doug Chyz

Did you come back from your local iris sale with more irises than you have room for in your garden or are you a container gardener already? Are you looking for a temporary home for your irises until you get beds prepared, or would you like to have a few larger containers filled with irises as specimen plantings anchoring walkways or patios? No matter the reason, growing irises in containers is easy. The following are some tips, tricks, and traps for growing irises in containers.

First, you need to consider what the size of your containers will be. You may have locations that allow for very large containers, or you may be restricted by space or even funding. Large decorative containers can be expensive and then you need to add soil to them which is another expense. Speaking from experience, I know that irises can be grown in containers from one gallon in size to very large ones so do not be afraid of using smaller ones especially if you are using them for temporary homes.

A large container makes a great statement

Although I have successfully used one-gallon nursery pots, my preferred size for temporary homes are three-gallon nursery pots. They provide space for the irises to increase and will allow irises to bloom over a two-to-three-year period if you want to keep them in the containers that long. Realize that nursery pots have drain holes and they will need routine watering – read daily during the summer. If you provide a basin under the pots that will hold some water the irises will thank you, but they will still need daily watering during the summer.

You can enjoy irises in containers

I currently live in South Carolina near the coast and do not have to worry much about winter weather. Before moving here, I lived in Virginia with snow, ice, and freezing weather during the winter. My potted irises remained outside all year round. They did fine, but if you live in an even colder climate area you may consider locating the pots in an area where you can mulch around them. You do not have to worry about them being covered with snow; but if you are having a long dry spell during the winter, you should water them. Also, if you had basins under the pots, you should probably remove them for the winter.

Don’t overlook the opportunity to use a large container if you have a place for one or more. I have used them with one variety of iris with several rhizomes to get a nice potted clump effect, and I have used them for several different varieties to include smaller dwarf irises along the outer edges and taller iris or irises in the center. And consider various types: Siberian, Louisiana, or Japanese would make great choices and for those of you who can grow Pacific Coast Natives, larger pots would make great showcases for them.

In Part 2, I will talk about soil for containers, so come back again.

The Aril Society Checklist

 by Tom Waters

When I'm not writing blog posts, one of my many other iris-related activities is serving as checklist editor for the Aril Society International. I've just completed the 2023 update of the checklist, which is available on the ASI website. It occurred to me that there are probably many people who are not aware that the ASI maintains a checklist of aril and arilbred irises, nor aware of what it offers beyond other references. So I thought I would use this blog post to have a look at the checklist and why it is important.

When the Aril Society International was formed in the 1950s, there were no standardized definitions for the various types of aril and arilbred irises. Irises with oncocyclus or Regelia ancestry were registered with the American Iris Society under a bewildering range of classification codes. One of the first tasks of the new society was to sort through all the various registrations and establish specific categories for them. A persistent problem in the early years was that irises of 1/8, 1/16, or even less aril ancestry were being given awards as arilbreds despite being indistinguishable from TBs. The society addressed this by requiring irises to be 1/4 aril or more to be considered as arilbreds. Subsequently, there were two separate award systems created: one for arilbreds of 1/4 to 1/2 aril content, and another for irises of 1/2 aril content or more.

'Loudmouth' (Rich, 1970) won the
C. G. White Award as an OB (1/2 aril)
but is now an OB- (less than 1/2) 
because of a change in definition.

The checklist was critical for establishing which irises met the various award criteria. The editor would take the registration data, do pedigree research, consider an iris's appearance, breeding behavior, and any chromosome counts that had been done, and then assign it to the appropriate category. In days before the internet, the ASI checklist was the only source of this classification information, because it was impractical to reprint the American Iris Society checklists to give updated classifications for arilbreds. The classifications and definitions used by the Aril Society have changed several times over the years, and the checklist is the only authoritative reference on how definition changes have affected the classification of each arilbred iris. Applying the current definitions, which involve estimating the chromosome makeup of each cultivar, is not a trivial matter in some cases.

Here are some of the things you will find in the ASI checklist that may not be presented accurately (or at all) in other sources:

Classification Information. Each iris listed, even historic irises registered long ago under other definitions, are assigned to the current ASI classification, to the extent possible given the existing information. This is of particular value to show classification committees in regions where arils and arilbreds are likely to be exhibited. It is especially important for irises that were once considered arilbreds, but no longer meet the definitions of that class.

Height Categories. In 2018, the ASI established definitions for two height categories for smaller arilbreds: arilbred dwarf (ABD) and arilbred median (ABM). These are included in the current edition of the AIS Judges' Handbook. The checklist gives the correct height category for each arilbred listed.

Chromosome Configuration. Aril and arilbred irises may include chromosome sets from oncocyclus, Regelia, tall bearded, and dwarf bearded species. Which chromosome sets are present in a given iris is of considerable interest to hybridizers, as it affects fertility and helps the hybridizer properly classify any resulting seedlings. The checklist provides the most likely chromosome configuration for most irises listed, along with an actual chromosome count where one has been reported.

Fertility Observations. When an iris is known to have produced offspring as a seed parent or pollen parent, this is noted in the checklist.

Is this 'Bronze Beauty',
'Hoogiana Bronze Beauty',
Iris hoogiana 'Bronze Beauty',
'Bronze Beauty Van Tubergen',
or 'Antiope'? Answer: yes.

Irises Not Eligible for Awards as Arilbreds. An appendix to the checklist provides a thorough listing
of irises that do not qualify as arilbreds for various reasons: never having been registered, having been registered in a non-arilbred class, or having been disqualified as definitions became more strict.

Nonregistered Aril Hybrids. A substantial number of aril hybrids have been introduced, particularly through the firm of Van Tubergen in the Netherlands, that were never registered with the American Iris Society. Some were registered with the Dutch registration authority for bulb irises, while others were simply not registered at all. The checklist includes these in an appendix, along with photographs and other information.

Even today, where so much information seems just clicks away on the internet, the ASI checklist fills an important role in providing authoritative information that is not reliably available elsewhere. It is an important resource for judges, show officials, and hybridizers. Anyone with an interest in aril and arilbred irises should become familiar with what the checklist has to offer.

Smokin Heights Season That Was........

by Mel Schiller

Whoever would have thought that our spring would be so incredibly wet!

We had an unbelievable amount of rain. Getting good photos was a challenge in between rain, wind, and soggy-looking bloom. Living on one of the driest continents on earth, which has a fluctuation in temperature and rainfall, we are certainly not complaining! 

Every year we are faced with challenges – challenges in growing conditions, challenges in weather, challenges in pests. Challenges are a part of life. How we overcome them is how we grow on a personal and business level.

The season that was .... Braiden's death anniversary is forever in our hearts as the beginning of our iris season. My mind in particular is consumed with the loss of my child; it is a heavy burden. Each year it is something I need to allow and grow from in my heart and mind. 

The iris were late coming into bloom as the season was so cold and damp. Sunshine was hard to come by. Then WHAM!, the bloom started all at once. 

We had a hard time keeping up with photographs, hybridizing, and evaluating. Our iris field is spread out over five acres. We also had some of our last hybridizing efforts from the USA blooming in a different section of the garden.

We were able to evaluate seedlings on wet days and sunny days. This led to a lot of decisions about what to keep going for future evaluation and what to dispose of as not up to standard: poor bloom and stems, and diseased foliage, just to name a couple problems. 

The last year of evaluation for the USA seedlings

This past spring was also the year that South Australia hosted the National Iris Convention. We had a one-day show in which we benched over 150 stems, florets, and seedlings among all the different classes.

We wrapped our buds in toilet paper to protect them from the long travel to Adelaide where the iris show was held. Then we placed our entries in a big tub with dampened floral foam in the bottom and inserted the stems in the foam to hold them safe (hopefully). On the day of the show, we awoke to a foggy morning!

We were incredibly proud of ourselves for being able to supply bloom for all classes in the show. For the first time ever, we were able to provide standard dwarf, intermediate, and aril entries! We received 2nd and 3rd in the show with two of our very own hybrids: 'Dreaming Easy' and 'Zofonic Dancer.' 'Victoria Falls' grown by Jennifer, took home Champion of the Show. 

The very next day Smokin Heights hosted the National Iris Convention attendees. We awoke from our sleep throughout the night to on- and off- again torrential rain. At 7 a.m. the phones were ringing hot. Major flooding was occurring in all the areas that the tour group was supposed to visit. The group eventually made it to Smokin Heights just after a late lunch. With rain patches still occurring, the group managed a tour of Smokin Heights and the soggy field. Bailey was able to lead a tour of our seedling patch in between rain showers. 

National Iris Convention for Australia attendees!

The very next day was lovely and bright, full of hope and promise with an amazing sunrise!

The Intermediate and Dwarf Bearded irises bloomed exceptionally well this past season

Performing hybridizing was a task in itself this past season. Wet pollen and soggy stigmatic lips were a popular problem! We have managed to collect around 400 pods of hybridized iris from our field stock  – not bad considering the wet season!

Iris seeds from our hybridizing efforts

More hybridizing seeds

New,  imported irises from off the delivery truck and onto our lawn area

We looked forward to receiving our imported iris from the USA. In February, they were finally released from quarantine. Australia has incredibly strict rules for importing bearded irises into our country. Importing is not for the faint-hearted; it is a costly, time-consuming, and stressful job! But this effort is worth it for irises we would like to use genetically in our hybridizing program. 

 A small portion of the field photographed this past week

The field will not be dug and replanted this year. There is enough room for increase and growth to postpone a replant. Instead, plants will remain in place while we apply fertilizer (for nutrients) and pre-emergent herbicide (for weed control) over the next couple of months.

The following is a small selection of new varieties hybridized by Bailey and me:

Tall bearded iris 'Brave The Storm' 

(Inner Darkness X Black Lipstick)

Tall bearded iris 'Flash Warning'

(Secret Status X Raise Your Glass sibling)

Tall bearded iris 'Disruptor' 

(complex ancestry)

Tall bearded iris 'Lady Of Luxury' 

(complex ancestry)

Tall bearded iris 'See You In Heaven' 

(Seasons In The Sun X Carnival Capers) 

Standard dwarf bearded iris 'Rather Snazzy'

(Troublemaker X Stop And Stare)

The small selection of iris we registered this season withstood our unusually wet conditions superbly. Now that we have finalized business orders we can plan for our next season. We also celebrate ten years of Smokin Heights. Bailey and I are so very grateful and appreciative of our accomplishments. Every day is a blessing and we have our garden to enjoy and nurture. 

It is now time to weed the garden beds as they have been unattended for the last few months. Weeds are plentiful! Time for us to enjoy solace in our garden.

Happy Gardening