Rebloom - Winter in Zone 6

In an ideal situation, rebloomers are grown separate from the spring-only blooming irises.  The two types of irises have different requirements.  About six weeks following spring bloom, the non-rebloomers go dormant for the summer.  In drought conditions they will even lose their fans until the cooling days of fall.  Forcing once-blooming irises to continue growing can, and will, lead many to soft rot in the hot days of summer.   

The care of rebloomers needs to be considered when deciding how many you need to grow.  Rebloomers require faster increase, and more strength to supply the double bloom season.  This often creates a faster increase of clump size.  Existing advice is to grow two clumps of each iris, digging them on alternate years, so that you always have one mature clump.  In tighter circumstances, you could plant just one clump and dig alternate sides each year. 

Irises need a minimum of approximately 6 hours of sunshine per day. Although winters can get below zero in my zone 6 garden, summers can be brutal.  Any blooms in the summer or early fall will be greatly enhanced if some shade is provided.  When you don’t have space available on the east side of a building, planting tall flowers down one side of the bed can provide shade.  Get creative!  If this isn’t possible, know that non-shaded temperatures above 90-degrees tend to reduce any open blooms to the consistency of wet tissue; later blooms will be fine. 

Spring blooming irises go dormant about six weeks after bloom season -- this is normal. If rebloomers go dormant they do not produce rebloom, so it is necessary to continue growth.  Fertilize after the spring bloom season has ended.  Water approximately every ten days.  Supplement when Mother Nature is not on the job, but never water when the temperature reaches 90 degrees and above.  It’s best to water early in the morning.  Wet foliage may cause rot, so soaker hoses are a good option. 

Once you determine the size and location of your new planting, it’s time to choose the reblooming irises. If you choose zone 8 or 9 rebloomers for a zone 5 or 6 garden you are sure to suffer disappointment!  This is why iris research becomes very important. 

If you want the opportunity of summer and early fall rebloom your best bet is to go with irises that have been reported to bloom in the summer and fall in your area.  Some of the irises that have summer bloomed in my garden are 'Over and Over,' 'Immortality,' ‘Just Call Me,’ ‘Over and Over’ and ‘Echo Location.’  

'Over & Over' (Innerst 2001)  

'Immortality' (Zurbrigg 1982)

'Just Call Me' (Wilkerson 2008)  

'Echo Location' (Wilkerson 2007)  

If your goal is a fall season bloom then you might want to buy some of the fall cycle bloomers.  This list includes ‘Star Gate,’ ‘Earl of Essex,’  ‘Halloween Treasure’ and ‘Harvest of Memories.’

'Star Gate' (Wilkerson 2005)

'Earl of Essex'  (Zurbrigg 1980)

'Halloween Treasure' (Wilkerson 2008)

'Harvest of Memories' (Zurbrigg 1985)

In the spring you can visit gardens in your region.  Many clubs maintain a display garden.  This is a mission, so carry a notebook.  All rebloomers do not bloom in all gardens.  Even those that are reported to rebloom in your area may not be happy in your garden.  It’s advisable to quiz established iris growers in your general area to determine the irises most likely to rebloom in your area. 

You can conduct research on the Internet.  Many of the online gardens have information about rebloomers.  Remember to pay attention to the zones they are reporting.  The Reblooming Iris Society has a website.  A membership in the RIS includes two issues of ‘The Recorder’ each year, which contain rebloom reports from most regions.  Reports of rebloom are compiled in a cumulative checklist, available though the RIS website.  You can find many discussions on rebloom in the archives of both iris-talk and iris-photos.  Many things iris can be located at the website of The American Iris Society.  

Iris Classics: 'Jean Cayeux'

Of all the many color tones the 'rainbow flower' displays none is so odd, to my mind at least, as the multitude of shades of brown. Brown is not a color normally associated with blooms, unless they are decaying, bringing to mind dull, drab and muddy colors, but when we head out to the iris garden we find just the opposite - a glittering array of metallic tones from light buff thru rust and oxblood to deepest molasses brown, verging on black. One of the first popular brown irises and one of the best is this week's iris classic: 'Jean Cayeux'.

[Right: Photo from Quality Gardens catalog for 1935.]
'Jean Cayeux' (pronounced Zjahn Ky-yuh) was first introduced by the French firm of Cayeux et LeClerc in 1931 it was immediately lauded as a fine new addition to the iris palette, thrilled the gardening world in Paris, and was awarded both a Certificate of Merit from the Société Nationale d'Horticulture de France as well as the the French Dykes Medal for 1931.

A tall bearded variety, it is around three feet in height and is a second generation seedling from A.J. Bliss' famous 'Dominion' race, having 'Bruno' in its ancestry - (Phrynré x (Bruno x Evolution)). 'Evolution' was another nice old brown, tho not of the quality and size of 'Jean Cayeaux'. Quality Gardens catalog for 1935 describes it thus:

"Without doubt one of the most outstanding introductions of recent years. It is an entirely new color. The flowers are well formed and slightly frilled, of pale Havana browns, hot with golden glint and a light touch of blue at the end of the beard brings out its delicate beauty. An enchanting new color."

'Jean Cayeux' went on to acclaim across the iris world, and was to become an important parent in the history of iris development. It was one of the main varieties that comprised the basis for the lines of brown irises developed by Dr. R.E. Kleinsorge, which themselves made history. Most especially with his first breakthru 'Far West' which went on to sire the famous 'Tobacco Road'. As you can well imagine 'Jean Cayeux' is a variety treasured by collectors of historic irises today.


Above: 'Jean Cayeux' paired with bright red Geum and the golden yellow of Calendula.
This variety is an easy doer in the garden. Hardy, reliable of bloom and with nice tall stalks and loads of flowers. It blends surprisingly well with strong colors. I love it with bright reds, gold and deep purples, and it looks equally as good with soft blues and creams. It has a diamond dusted finish giving it a metallic look, and the color tones adjust thru the day with the available light, sometimes a soft smoky buff, others a gleaming old gold infused with pinkish tones. It is especially beautiful with the golden light before sunset streaming thru it.


Those who admire the old fashioned form of classic 1930's irises will love 'Jean Cayeux'. It has proven itself over and again on the anvil of the decades to have a timeless beauty, an enduring appeal, and to be a true iris classic.

2012 National Convention

Announcing the 2012 National Convention of

The American Iris Society

We hope that you will join us this year in Ontario, California for the National Convention of The American Iris Society, sponsored by AIS Region 15 (Southern California and Arizona).


APRIL 16 TH – 21ST, 2012

1000 GUEST IRIS: Tall bearded, median, Louisiana, and Spuria irises in 4 wonderful gardens including the Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens

CONVENTION HEADQUARTERS:
DOUBLETREE HOTEL, Ontario Airport
222 N. Vineyard Ave., Ontario, CA 91764          Phone: (909) 937-0900

For more hotel information and to make your reservations please go to:

Double Tree Hotel

Convention Early Bird Registration ends March 1

Before March 1st it's $299 per person
After March 1st it's $349 per person
After April 1st it's $399 per person

For more details about the Convention and to register please go to:

AIS Region 15

Full Registration Fee Includes:

• Bus Transportation to all gardens
• Admission, Tour, Breakfast and lunch at The Huntington
• Judges Training and lunch at the gardens
• Dinner Banquet and Awards Banquet
• Register by March 1, 2012 for discounted full registration rate of $299

Excursions offered to Disneyland and Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens for an additional fee.

The registration form includes a separate trek organized by the Society for Pacific Coast Native Irises, on the day after the Convention ends. Some of these gardens include the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens (with expert guided tour to irises), and to Matilija Nursery in Moorpark (Pacific Coast Native Irises and California Native plants).

The Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens

Herb & Sara Holk Memorial Gardens

Mystic Lake Gardens

Stanton Iris Gardens

Besides the above four beautiful gardens, there will be a pre-Convention excursion to local San Fernando Valley iris gardens to give you a view of how local residents use their imagination to combine irises with other plants and garden decore. You will not believe your eyes. Click here fore more information on the excursion to these gardens.

This could be a once in a lifetime experience!

Clara and Ruth Rees: San Jose's Iris Pioneers

     Much as been written about Clara Rees' fortuitous cross of a diploid and a tetraploid that produced the important parent Snow Flurry. For that reason, there is little reason for me to rehash that part of the story in this blog. Instead, I thought I would share some other memories of Clara and Ruth Rees, two sisters that were iris pioneers in San Jose.  If you do not know the story of 'Snow Flurry,' Mike Unser 's blog will give you the details here.

'Snow Flurry'--Mike Unser imagr

Clara B. with Snow Flurry in the small garden behind the house before 1964--image from The Clara B. Rees Iris Society.

      I first met Clara Rees when I interviewed her for a sophomore English class research paper. As a retired English teacher, I shutter to think of trying to force today's sophomores to actually write a research paper, but tangents do not tell the Rees story.

Left to right: Keith Keppel, Clara B. Rees, Ruth Rees, and Glenn Corlew--Photo from Region 14 Fall Bulletin 1964

     By the time I became interested in irises, Ruth was the person with the deeper interest in them. Clara loved plants, all plants, and she was a putter. She puttered with this plant and that plant—she grew lovely amaryllis and by the garage she had created a strain of true lilies that grew and bloomed year after year; that was and would be today a real accomplishment since true lilies in this Mediterranean climate are lovely the first year, iffy the second, and by the third, they have disappeared.

     Clara herself was self-effacing and shy. Always diffident to others, she was rarely seen in the garden during bloom season and Ruth would twist her arm to get her to make a few crosses each year. When I was in the garden, occasionally Clara would come fetch me and take me to see her latest interesting bloom—often it was a lovely amaryllis on the front porch. On very rare occasions, I was invited into the kitchen for milk or hot chocolate and cake or another dessert that Clara had baked. Those were very rare occasions.

     Ruth's role in the 'Snow Flurry' story is well documented since she took the blossom to Berkeley by light rail (a sad commentary, today, about the decline of public transportation in our area). Ruth ran the garden which was spread out over several deep lots on Bird Avenue in San Jose. Each year Ruth placed a Mother's Day ad—6 pink irises for $5.00 and several times I had a hand in digging the plants, preparing them, and having them ready for that two day sale.

     My understanding is that Ruth had worked for the government during World War II in public relations and into the 1970's she ran her own successful PR firm out of the historic Security Building on 1^st Street in San Jose. The one time I visited her office, the building had become shabby, but it managed to survive the demolitions that destroyed too much of SJ and the building has now been restored to its century-old splendor.

     Sometime before I became involved, Ruth had pontificated that NO one in Santa Clara County should introduce iris until Clara was no longer around. It was, of course, a silly pronouncement that had been ignored, though it had cause hard feelings.

AIS Bulletin Image

     About the time my garden was first opened for a spring regional, my mother decreed that the 40 foot long bed in the front yard needed to be planted all is Snow Flurry. While Ruth always had a huge drift of Snow Flurry in the back of the garden, she was, nevertheless, hard pressed to come up with sufficient plants. In the spring, Snow Flurry was is in good bloom. From thereafter, when I visited Ruth in the early spring, Ruth would always cut a bouquet of camellia flowers from the massive bush in the front yard and have me take the flowers to my mother.

     After Clara's death, Ruth continued the nursery for a number of years and introduced the last of Clara's hybrids including the horribly named Clara's Black. While she had insisted that no one introduce until Clara's death, she ultimately became very proud of the new generation of hybridizers in the area. She even had a protegee—Ed Sellman. Ed had some lovely irises, but they never caught on with the AIS crowd. During the years, I sold 1000s of plants of his lovely Modern Venus; Bill Maryott, when he sold to the carriage trade from his nursery adjacent to the Rees property, sold lots of King's Pick to the public; and I was delighted last year to see Napa Country Iris Gardens still selling a Sellman iris, African Nights, a sure sign that it is popular with the public.

Ed Sellman's 'African Nights'--Napa Country Iris image used by permission

     As age and death tightened the circle of Ruth's friends, Ruth seemed indestructibility. She always had a new car—not a new car in the normal sense, but a new car from one of her circle of friends who could no longer drive and the car itself would be 10 or more years old with low mileage on it—it had been driven twice a week, once to church and once to the store.

      Even after Ruth had a major stroke and could not talk, she continued to be a scrapper. At first her rehab had her living with a family near Alma Street and she would be found pushing her walker, block after block on the street; later when she returned home, she would be seen out walking back and forth in what was left of the garden.

      After her death, the house was empty for several years and then one spring, Bill Maryott and Marilyn Harlow were helping garden visitors when the realized one of the women had a stack of iris materials: the niece and nephew had started a garage sale that morning and put out iris books, Bulletins, and other materials. When Bill and Marilyn went over, little was left. To this day it is a mystery what happened to Clara's Hybridizier's Medal; Ruth had a first edition Dykes The Genus Iris and she had always said that it would be left to the Clara B. Rees Iris Society when she died, but the book never arrived. Years later Jack Alvarez was able to trade irises for the plaque Region 14 had given Clara for 'Snow Flurry.'  The image of Clara in this blog with 'Snow Flurry,' sadly, is the only picture of Clara left in the Clara B. Rees Iris Society materials.

Irises at Aitken's: Part Five - Seedlings

For the final installment in our virtual trip thru the iris rows at Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden I'll leave you with a set of photos of various seedlings growing for trial or increase before introduction. They were all so beautiful it would be hard to pick a favorite. I love the charm of these MTBs with their small dainty flowers on slender stems. It is amazing to see what the hybridizers are doing with the color and pattern range in this once limited class. Sorry, I have no information about them other than their seedling number as listed on the tags.












Thanks for reading along this week as I shared my visit to the garden of Terry and Barbara Aitken. Many thanks to them for their hospitality and kind encouragement. I'll be heading back there again to enjoy even more blooms. I think I'd like to visit in the summer when the Japanese and psudacorus bloom as they have acquired a large collection of Hiroshi Shimizu's 'eye-shadow' psuedatas (a species cross).

There is always something beautiful to see at the Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden. Be sure to plan to stop and visit when you are in the area at iris time. You won't be disappointed.

Irises at Aitken's: Part Four - Misc. Species

Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden grows a large variety of species irises. here are a few that were blooming last spring during my visit. First up is I. lactea, a lovely little species native to the Asian steppes across to Korea. I had never seen this species before and found it really charming, with a profusion of light lavender-blue flowers featuring narrow spidery petals and tall feathery standards.


I. tectorum is a species native to China and is one of the few species closely related to bearded irises. It has even been successfully crossed with them. It is a low growing species with a rhizome very like bearded irises, however its petals are adorned with a filamented crest where a beard would be. It has a very open habit giving the flowers more of a flat appearance. Terry and Barbara grow both the blue and the white varieties of this charming iris.




Last I have an example of a siberian iris to show you, not a wild species variety tho -this one is a modern hybrid and is really different. 'White Amber' (Schafer/Sacks 2001) is a large colorful flower showing a major advance in the range that this family has acquired thru the efforts of breeders over the past 30 years. They are really creating a revolution in siberian irises equivalent to what bearded irises went thru when the explosion of tetraploids first came on the scene in the late 1920's.


Unfortunately it was a bit early for the siberians and this was the only one blooming, but that is just an excuse to return again later in the season to admire a new crop of flowers in full bloom.

Tomorrow we'll conclude with a peek into the future - seedlings growing at Aitken's under trial for eventual introduction.

Irises at Aitken's: Part Three - PCIs

In the third installment of photos from my trip to Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden I'd like to show you the beauty of some of their Pacific Coast Irises (PCI). These are modern hybrids created from crossing the various species of PCI and then breeding for years to attain a phenomenal range of colors and patterns. They really do have one of the widest color ranges of any members of the iris family, it is too bad they are not able grow well outside the Mediterranean type climate we enjoy along the Pacific coast.

First up is 'Baby Blanket', a lovely creation of Joe Ghio from 1998. It is a deep blended pink with a large blue signal spot. It won an Award of Merit (AM) in 2004.


'Blue Moment' (D. Meek, 1992) is a lovely light blue-violet with deeper veining. It sports large, ruffled flowers.


Another Ghio creation is 'Earthquake' from 1991. Now this is really something special, even for a PCI, and it won an AM in 1997. Just look at this amazing coloration - gold changing to red, deepening to almost black in the center of the falls. It almost appears to be aflame!


Next we have another variety with the 'Wow!' factor - 'Pacific Glaze'. Every part of this iris is wide and ruffled including the style arms. This is one of the Aitken's own creations introduced in 2010. It is a bewitching blend of colors on an underlay of gold. Rich and stunning.


Last is a softer variety, 'Pacific Snowflake' (Shoop, 1995). It is a clear crystalline white with the edges blushing the faintest of blue tints. It is pure loveliness, and was awarded an AM in 2000.


So who is ready to move to the west coast just so they can grow some of these beauties? I'm lucky enough to already live here, and let me tell you how much I love having an iris species that is practically care free in my climate. If only they could grow everywhere. Tomorrow we'll take a look at various other species of irises Terry and Barbara are growing at their beautiful garden.

Irises at Aitken's: Part Two - Medians

Today in part two I'll show you some of the amazing and beautiful median irises that I saw when I visited the Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden last spring. We were there at just the right time for these smaller beauties to be showing off at their best.

First up is an Intermediate Bearded (IB) iris, 'Backlit Beauty' (Tasco, 2010) and what a bright splash of color it is!


Next we have Paul Black's award winning SDB 'Bluebeard's Ghost' (2006). A nice pure icy white with a strikingly deep blue beard.


Another SDB with quite a different color pattern is the Aitken's own 'Pink Latte'.


Intermediate Bearded (IB) variety 'Red Hot Chili' (M. Sutton, 2005) was a knock-your-socks-off combination of bright red and gold.


Terry and Barbara have a beautiful collection of Miniature Tall Bearded (MTB) irises and many were showing off during our visit. I love their small tailored flowers. They seem very simple and graceful in their beauty. First is 'Dollie And Me', a 2011 introduction created by L. Miller. A truly wonderful color combination and a real standout in the iris rows.

Another MTB with a harmonious combination of colors is 'Please' (Craig, 2005), with soft yellow standards over white falls blushed violet on the edges.


An unusual color combo is found in 'She's A Doll' (L. Miller, 2010). It features soft coral pink petals with the falls lightly washed with orchid pink. A very pretty effect.


Last, but by far the least, is 'Think Spring' (S. Markham, 2003). What a delightful flower this is, with it's soft lavender-violet coloring paling at the heart.


Tomorrow we'll take a look at some of the stunning Pacific Coast Irises that the Aitken's grow. Stay tuned!

Irises at Aitken's: Part One - Historics

Last spring I took a trip south to Vancouver, WA, to visit Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden. I had been to the garden of Terry and Barbara Aitken once before, when it had been one of the gardens on the tour for the 2006 AIS Convention in Portland. That trip was at the height of the TB season and the fields were full of color. This trip was during an incredibly late bloom season so I was fortunate to get to see lots of medians and species varieties that are usually gone by the time the TBs get going. This week I'll have a five part series of posts for you highlighting the beautiful blooms I saw there. I hope it will whet your appetite for spring as it draws closer. Enjoy!

Today I'll start with a few historic bearded irises that I photographed. These are varieties that are still here from Bruce Filardi's collection that I so enjoyed at the 2006 Convention, and are not stock sold by this garden. First up is 'Junaluska' (Kirkland, 1934). A beautiful, tall, glowing iris, it won an HM in 1936 and an AM the following year. Well deserved. I love the wash of rose in the standards and that dark red wire rim around them.


'Messaline' is an old French variety by Millet et Fils, introduced in 1927. It's small flowers are quite charming and display a complex pattern with delicate gold pencil lines decorating the edges of the orchid standards and falls washed and stippled heavily in red-violet, with gilded hafts and a golden beard.


Last is a pretty tall bearded variety from 1967 by Wright - 'Many Moons'. It is a creamy white self with just a touch of lavender to the fall. A really lovely iris.


I hope you enjoyed these. Please come back tomorrow for part two: Medians!

Iris Classics: 'Perfection'

Every once in awhile we find an iris that is so perfectly suited to its name that we couldn't picture it being named anything else. 'Perfection' is just such a variety. True to its name it is practically perfect in every way, with exceptional color, flawless form, vigorous growth, beautiful foliage and reliable blooms. It is as lovely as a single stalk as it is in mass plantings.


A creation of Peter Barr, it was introduced in 1880 making it 132 years old! Few irises have managed to remain fantastic garden plants over that period of time. The blooms of 'Perfection' are of the neglecta class, meaning it has light lavender-blue standards over falls of a deeper velvety purple, accented with a golden beard. The falls have a really nice flare to them that you rarely see on the oldest varieties, and it gives them a jaunty, cheerful aspect. It is a tall variety as well, growing about 30 inches.


'Perfection' is that rare iris that is so versatile it can be used by any gardener no matter what their focus. It will excel equally at giving you a show quality bloom stalk to bring indoors, a lovely clump in your perennial border, or a mass planting all along your driveway. This classic iris is one you will really enjoy in your garden.

Protect Your Plants From Freeze-Thaw

Established irises usually resist freeze-thaw cycles handily, but newly planted seedlings and late-transplanted adult cultivars are vulnerable, especially if the winter is very wet. It can take months for the dirt in newly planted beds to settle and compact. During this time, the sun, Jack Frost and the rain can combine to coax the plants up to where their roots are exposed, to be cooked by the sun. A good precaution is to cover those vulnerable beds with 1-2 inches of finely shredded wood mulch just after the first hard freeze of the winter. What the mulch does is provide a sort of insulating blanket over the roots, absorbing/deflecting the winter sun, tending to keep the temperature below the mulch more even during the 24-hour cycle, and shielding the roots from direct rainfall. You'll have to remove this mulch in spring, of course, but you'll have saved your plants.