Louisiana irises grown in New Zealand

Bernard and I are both members of the New Zealand Iris Society and we try to attend the annual NZIS conventions every year. These are very interesting events, as they are typically held on the North Island one year and then on the South Island the next year. This is all very democratic - and means that, for example, North Island irisarians have one year with fairly easy travel costs and effort to attend the convention and the next year (when the convention is held on the other island) they have higher travel costs. Of course, there are die-hard irisarians who attend every year, irrespective of where the convention is held. As we live in Australia it costs us about the same each year to attend. We really look forward to attending these great events for several reasons. Firstly, the conventions are rarely held in major cities, but are more than usually located in a reasonable-sized provincial city or small town. Accommodation options are plentiful in New Zealand, so you can live it up in 5 star luxury or not during your stay. The experience at the conventions are still the same though - friendly and relaxed. Secondly, we get to see a different part of New Zealand every time we attend. You can enjoy an in-depth immersion into a small part of this scenically beautifully country - complete with a bus load of friends! Thirdly, many of the private gardens visited are not normally open to the general public (or even to private gardening groups). Most are completely stunning. Most gardens visited feature some type of iris. What you get to see can depend on the general geographical area (coastal, alpine, high desert etc.) and the personal iris preferences of the garden host. Fourthly, New Zealand is a country that everybody should visit at least once in their life. Similar in many ways to Australia, the New Zealanders share a strong spirit of colonial history intertwined with cultural diversity, a real 'can-do' spirit and a love of rugby, cricket and hot, sunny Christmas times. A few years ago the NZIS convention was held in the North Island in the Bay of Plenty area. The BOP Group are one of the largest groups in the Society and they put on a great convention. A highlight for us was visiting Rivendell Iris Gardens of Kati Kati in the Bay of Plenty area. Stephanie and Alistair Book specialise in Louisiana irises. The temperate winters and warm, balmy and slightly humid summers are a perfect fit for our favourite iris species! I am attaching some photos taken at Rivendell Iris Gardens to show how happy Louisiana irises are in our part of the world (south western Pacific Ocean). Many New Zealand irisarians traditionally grow various forms of bearded irises, Siberian cultivars and iris species. Louisiana irises have been actively hybridised for many decades in New Zealand, but the cultivars rarely receive much attention - which is a great pity! This blog will (hopefully) go some way to evening up the playing field, eh? So, those irisarians who live in the northern hemisphere need to consider just how far 'south' do Louisiana irises grow? Answer: at least 40 degrees south of the equator! Heather Pryor Sydney, Australia

OLDIES BUT GOODIES

                                                           by Dawn Mumford

On May 31st of this year we enjoyed some visitors to our iris garden.  There were about 20 members of the American and Utah Iris Societies.  They took pictures, smelled the aromas, looked at the flowers and "talked iris."  I invited our guests to come in the house when they were done in the garden to have some chilled bottled water.  I asked one of the gentlemen if he particularly liked any of the irises and he replied that he had made a list.  He was interested in those irises that were 30 years old and older.  According to him, that is how old they had to be to be considered "historic."  It was at that moment that I realized how many I had that fit into that category.  I hadn't looked at our irises that way.  We have been growing irises since the 1980's and many were several years old when we bought them.  That visitor made me look at my irises in a new light.  I would like to share some of my favorite "oldies but goodies." here today.

'Aztec Treasure' ( R. and L. Miller 1984) 

This bitone shows nice ruffling on both the falls and the standards.  

'Praise The Lord' (Boushay 1972) 

This self has rich blue color and contrasting white beards. 

'Gold Trimmings'  (Schreiner 1975)

Despite its age this iris has graceful ruffling and good branching.

  'Chartreuse Ruffles'  (Rudolph 1976)

I like the subtle coloring of this lilac, white, and chartreuse (green and yellow) bloom.

I don't advocate ridding the garden of new irises to plant only older varieties.  But there are lots and lots of beautiful older irises that we should protect and not get rid of just for the sake of having something newer and marginally better.  I grow the newer irises too and they are wonderful, but I have the luxury of plenty of room to put in the new ones without getting rid of the old ones.  If you don't have the space for both old and new then you have a hard choice to make. 

'Invitation'  (Schreiner 1982)

This amoena has little ruffling or lace but has an elegant color combination.



 'Heather Cloud'  (B. Hammer)  has much the same color combination as 'Celebration Song'. 

   

'Extravagant' (Hamblen 1983)

This is one of my last to bloom and still surprises me with its beauty.

'Chocolate Shake'  (Gibson 1982)

This one doesn't increase well for me but I like how unusual the colors are.



'Lemon Mist'  (Rudolph 1971) 

Blooms and blooms here and increases yearly.

'Gay Parasol' (Schreiner 1974)

This one is not a big bloom but has beautiful form and color.



   'Geniality' (O. Brown 1981)

There is nothing old fashioned about this bloom.   

"Beyond'  (Gibson 1979)

A 35 year old plicata (stitched or stippled margin color on white or dots or peppering).

 'Showcase'  (Schreiner 1972)
Lots of color contrast in this plicata.

' Bayberry Candle'  (C. DeForest 1969)

 'Desert Mist'  (Williamson 1980)

'Sky Hooks'  (Osborne 1980)

What are some of your favorite older irises?  If you have limited space, how do you make the decision on which ones to grow?   How do you choose your irises?  Is it based on color, form, time of year it blooms or by the hybridizers and the year?  Is it by hardiness or cost?  In the past I have just chosen irises based on color and form but I am learning to pay more attention to the name of the hybridizer and the year it was introduced.  It is a surprise to me that I have chosen so many historics.  And remember, each year more historics are added to the list!



Mass Plantings in Public Spaces

By Mike Unser


On a recent Sunday I headed down to our local farmer's market and was absolutely thrilled to see that the City of Olympia had incorporated irises into its landscaping design at the public plaza that was constructed in conjunction with the new home for our city's Hands On Children's Museum. This great museum started in a small storefront downtown before moving to a larger space near the Capitol campus. The visitors just kept growing and they kept expanding until finally being given the funds to build a permanent home near the Olympia waterfront, just a few blocks from its first home.  It is a huge hit with kids of all ages and has won numerous awards.

Along with the museum, the city constructed a public plaza across the entire front of the property. What a work of art it is! It is filled with sculptures and nestled into the landscaping, mosaics underneath and even a flowing 'creek' that kids can play in. 

The planting focus was on water-wise plants, and along with many native species they have planted large masses of a single variety of bearded iris. This really shows the power our favorite flower can have in urban design.

 There are dozens of very large clumps spread across the entire area. The large masses and repetition make for a very striking show and the color carries well over a wide area.

 This area has been ripe for development for decades, and I hope the city will continue to incorporate irises as more projects come into their own over the years. If you get to Olympia in the springtime be sure to stop by and see the blooms. 

Dominance and Patterns in a Reblooming Iris Cross

By Betty Wilkerson

Most of you know that I’m not an expert on iris genes. I’m going to take you down my garden path so you can see some of my seedlings. The plicata pattern has never been my favorite. I didn’t have a lot of options in the beginning, or when the irises, and I, moved to Allen County during the fall of 2003. 

In the spring of 2004, a couple of the brightest blooms were ‘Radiant Bliss’ and ‘Summer Radiance.’  This was not a cross I’d planned, but it did make sense.  ‘Radiant Bliss’ is a tall, well branched rebloomer and tall, well branched iris make the best pod parents.  It's a fall cycle rebloomer.   ‘Summer Radiance’ had refused to set pods and was being used as a pollen parent.  'Summer Radiance' is without plicata in its geneology and it reblooms in July and then in the fall.  

Genetically speaking, solid color selfs are dominant over plicata.  What does this mean to people that have never made a cross?  When using a self, in this case 'Summer Radiance,' that has no plicata in the parentage, none of the children will be plicata.  The children will be a mixture of variegatas, bitones, bi-colors, and blends, with possible overlay or apron patterns.  Many will have lots of haft lines & murky colors.  

'Radiant Bliss' (Wilkerson 2005)
Pod Parent

'Summer Radiance' (Wilkerson 1996)
Pollen Parent

In a cross like this, many seedlings will be some version of a solid color.  Some will have haft lines, like the ones in these pictures.  Some colors will be clear, while others are murky.

(1814-01re)

(1814-03)

(1814-05)

More exciting, for me, would be the variegatas.  I had hopes one of these would rebloom, but no such luck.

(1814-06)

There were several red seedlings.  One (not this one) did try to rebloom, but really late.  I saw it as winter bloom. Haft lines were bad on the red ones.

(1814-08)

'Summer Honey' (Wilkerson 2013)

In the end, 'Summer Honey' (#1814-02re) was the star of the crop.  She fall bloomed for several years.  During the summer of 2011, after a lineout planting the year before, 'Summer Honey' bloomed each day from spring bloom until the first fall freeze!  It was a good sized planting, but still nice to have bloom all summer.  Could a good sized planting be the solution to continuous bloom?  

What Rains May Come to Pacific Iris Flowers

Kathleen Sayce

Irises are at an inherent disadvantage in a spring-wet climate, because they have upturned flowers like tulips instead of down-turned flowers like many lilies. Hybridizers in dry spring areas have selected for wide, frilly flowers over the past few decades; usually these plants flower in late winter to mid spring. In spring-wet areas, these flowers are hammered by rain, damaged so badly that pollination cannot occur. 

A modern wide-petaled, frilly Pacific Iris flower on a dry day. This is an unnamed seedling, flowering for the first time this year.  

So what's an irisarian to do with wet weather during flowering?  The answer is to evaluate flowers to see which ones do well, or at least better, in intense rain. Most of us can live with moderate damage, and are happier with a colorful spring flower display that doesn't look like soaked tissue paper was tossed around the garden. 

When it rains during flowering, I take a waterproof camera into the garden and record how well each flower and its plant hold up. Flower shape is important. Stem sturdiness is important; lovely flowers that lay flat on the ground (due to weak stems) are not going to make the cut. Very important is how well the flower survives being battered by rain and wind. Enough rain, and any iris flower can be battered into oblivion, so the following is a first attempt at a weather-tolerance scale.

For this year, the following is the result of rain-on-flower observations in my garden:

Wide frilly flowers often fare badly in heavy rain; they can tolerate light rain. The petals are thin, and a few days of intense rain shreds them to fragments. 

The same unnamed Pacifica Iris seedling following an intense rainstorm. Its wide petals tend to melt in heavy rain. The damage to the falls is not a deer or slug, it's rainfall that tore off portions of the petals. 

Yellow flowers typically melt in heavy rain. Open one day, gone the next. It's quite shocking to see how poorly this color fails to hold up to a good storm. Do any yellows hold up well in rain? I grow four or five, and am going to research this in coming years. One of the yellows has weak stems, and these are battered to the ground in storms. It's toast. 

Another unnamed seedling, a lovely yellow, after a rainstorm. Note the damaged style crests and standards, and melted falls. 

White flowers vary in durability. Some do well. Others melt. Doug' flowers (Iris douglasiana selections and crosses) are at the core of many reliably sturdy hybrids. 'Canyon Snow' is very sturdy for a white flowered Pacifica Iris, and is a Doug' selection. 'Cape Sebastian' is an unregistered Doug' selection with a white flower and purple signal, and it also does well. Both have been available for several decades, and are highly recommended. 

'Canyon Snow' when dry, above, and wet, below. This Doug' selection holds up well in rain with sturdy upright stems and durable flowers. 

Older hybrids have narrower petals and less frilling, and often do surprisingly well in heavy rain. Go back about 20 years, to find these sturdy forms. 'Mission Santa Cruz' and 'Cape Ferrelo', to name two, also do well in intense rain. 

'Harry's Rootbeer' holds up in rain. This hybrid is a 'Mission Santa Cruz' progeny, bred for southern California, which also does well in the Pacific Northwest. 

Species and species crosses often also do well. This includes Iris tenax, I. tenax x I. innominata, I. chrysophylla  x I. douglasiana, and others. Flower petals are sturdy and narrow compared to modern hybrids. Flowers are held upright on strong stems, which rarely flop on the ground in heavy rain. Only I. innominata tends to melt and flop. 

Iris tenax from Lewis County, Washington, does well in rain, as do many Pacifica species. 

I. tenax is usually upright and sturdy, with flowers holding well in all but the most intense rains. No surprise, this species is native to the Pacific Northwest, and flowers latest in my garden. 

From observations made this spring, I know that some yellow flowers melt in heavy rain. I plan to look for and breed for sturdier yellows, and use rain screens to protect plants now. 

For those large frilly flowers, use rain screens. If my climate is consistently wet in mid spring when these ruffled beauties flower, then I have to be ready to lose them. They may be toast as well. 

Older hybrids, in a wide range of colors, do well. Rejoice! Use rain screens over the plants I want seeds from, and enjoy the flowers, rain or shine. The ideal form has strong petals and sturdy upright flower stems. 

As for species, they flower very well, so long as I keep away from yellows. Too bad for me that the yellows are my favorite color. I'm just going to have to get over it. I would like to know if readers have similar observations in wet spring areas. Are there particular colors that rain damages more in your garden? Or flower forms that do not hold up well to your weather?

I'm So Glad

by Jim Murrain

    The familiar Gladiolus is a well known member of the Iris Family. Most species and hybrids are from southern Africa and not hardy in much of North America. However, there are the less well known European Glads that are remarkably cold tolerant. With the exception of G. italicus which is easily obtained at any garden center in the Fall, the other species are unfortunately somewhat rare.

Gladiolus byzantinus

    The largest and showiest in my garden is Gladiolus byzantinus. It is over three feet in hight and has large colorful flowers. There is more than a bit of name confusion surrounding this species and the next one I will show. They will often be listed as Gladiolus communis ssp. byzantinus or Gladiolus byzantinus ssp. communis.

Gladiolus communis

    A close second for height and show is Gladiolus communis. It is very similar to the previous Glad but flowers a week or two later in Kansas City.

Gladiolus italicus

    The easiest to obtain of all hardy Glads is Gladiolus italicus, in fact it is often the species you receive when you purchase  corms or seeds regardless of the name given. Seed exchanges run by SIGNA (Species Iris Group of North America) and NARGS (North American Rock Garden Society) are your best bet to get the correct named plants although not guaranteed.

Gladiolus italicus  'Texas Snowflurry'

    There are few color forms available although the shade can vary between different seedlings. I obtained 'Texas Snowflurry' through Plant Delights a few years ago. I have yet to capture a good photo of it as it needs dividing badly and flowering has suffered. 

Gladiolus illyricus

    A shorter, front of the bed Glad, is Gladiolus illyricus. Possibly one of the hardiest members of this group it suffers from fewer flowers although it makes up for that as it is a very good grower.

    These and maybe a few other species are hardy to at least USDA z5. I have tried to ID what I grow but am not 100% sure if all are correct. I have yet to grow Gladiolus palustris, the most northerly of the European Gladiolus. All flower in mid to late Spring  and peak just as the Tall Bearded irises are beginning to wane.

         I hope I have piqued your interest and an increased demand for the hardy Glads may spur an enterprising nursery to offer a wider variety.

    One final note, these all prefer to be planted in the Fall as do most hardy bulbs.