Here are more photos from my visit Leonine Iris in Skyway, WA, where I saw an amazing array of Pacific Coast Irises (PCI). Bob Seaman has created a beautiful garden on this small city lot and has specialized in PCIs since 2009. He has over 240 varieties, as well as a smattering of bearded irises and misc. other species, tucked into every corner, making excellent use of the small space. We were lucky to be there on a beautiful day when the sun was shining and the flowers - and visitors - were soaking it up. The following are some of my favorite blooms that I saw that day. Today I highlight some luscious pinks, reds, violets and blended color tones. Check back tomorrow to see more. Hope you enjoy them.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Garden Visit: Pacific Coast Iris at Leonine Iris Gardens, Pt.3
By Mike Unser
Here are more photos from my visit Leonine Iris in Skyway, WA, where I saw an amazing array of Pacific Coast Irises (PCI). Bob Seaman has created a beautiful garden on this small city lot and has specialized in PCIs since 2009. He has over 240 varieties, as well as a smattering of bearded irises and misc. other species, tucked into every corner, making excellent use of the small space. We were lucky to be there on a beautiful day when the sun was shining and the flowers - and visitors - were soaking it up. The following are some of my favorite blooms that I saw that day. Today I highlight some luscious pinks, reds, violets and blended color tones. Check back tomorrow to see more. Hope you enjoy them.
Here are more photos from my visit Leonine Iris in Skyway, WA, where I saw an amazing array of Pacific Coast Irises (PCI). Bob Seaman has created a beautiful garden on this small city lot and has specialized in PCIs since 2009. He has over 240 varieties, as well as a smattering of bearded irises and misc. other species, tucked into every corner, making excellent use of the small space. We were lucky to be there on a beautiful day when the sun was shining and the flowers - and visitors - were soaking it up. The following are some of my favorite blooms that I saw that day. Today I highlight some luscious pinks, reds, violets and blended color tones. Check back tomorrow to see more. Hope you enjoy them.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Garden Visit: Pacific Coast Iris at Leonine Iris Gardens, Pt.2
By Mike Starrhill
Here are more photos from my visit Leonine Iris in Skyway, WA, where I saw an amazing array of Pacific Coast Irises (PCI). Bob Seaman has created a beautiful garden on this small city lot and has specialized in PCIs since 2009. He has over 240 varieties, as well as a smattering of bearded irises and misc. other species, tucked into every corner, making excellent use of the small space. We were lucky to be there on a beautiful day when the sun was shining and the flowers - and visitors - were soaking it up. The following are some of my favorite blooms that I saw that day. Today I highlight some bright, hot color tones. Check back tomorrow to see more. Hope you enjoy them.
Here are more photos from my visit Leonine Iris in Skyway, WA, where I saw an amazing array of Pacific Coast Irises (PCI). Bob Seaman has created a beautiful garden on this small city lot and has specialized in PCIs since 2009. He has over 240 varieties, as well as a smattering of bearded irises and misc. other species, tucked into every corner, making excellent use of the small space. We were lucky to be there on a beautiful day when the sun was shining and the flowers - and visitors - were soaking it up. The following are some of my favorite blooms that I saw that day. Today I highlight some bright, hot color tones. Check back tomorrow to see more. Hope you enjoy them.
Monday, March 2, 2015
Garden Visit: Pacific Coast Iris at Leonine Iris Gardens, Pt.1
By Mike Starrhill
Last spring I was lucky enough to have the time and opportunity to visit Leonine Iris in Skyway, WA, where I saw an amazing array of Pacific Coast Irises (PCI). Bob Seaman has created a beautiful garden on this small city lot and has specialized in PCIs since 2009. He has over 240 varieties, as well as a smattering of bearded irises and misc. other species, tucked into every corner, making excellent use of the small space. We were lucky to be there on a beautiful day when the sun was shining and the flowers - and visitors - were soaking it up. The following are some of my favorite blooms that I saw that day. We'll start today with some cool tones. Check back over the next few days to see more. Hope you enjoy them.
Last spring I was lucky enough to have the time and opportunity to visit Leonine Iris in Skyway, WA, where I saw an amazing array of Pacific Coast Irises (PCI). Bob Seaman has created a beautiful garden on this small city lot and has specialized in PCIs since 2009. He has over 240 varieties, as well as a smattering of bearded irises and misc. other species, tucked into every corner, making excellent use of the small space. We were lucky to be there on a beautiful day when the sun was shining and the flowers - and visitors - were soaking it up. The following are some of my favorite blooms that I saw that day. We'll start today with some cool tones. Check back over the next few days to see more. Hope you enjoy them.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
SIGNA Newsletter -- Winter 2014 Issue
By Andi Rivarola
The new Winter 2014 edition of SIGNA (the Species Iris Group of North America) is out, and here's an introduction and short recap.
As we say in SIGNA, invite a friend to check what SIGNA is all about and/or to join the society. They won't regret it and neither would you. To join please visit our webpage, here.
In this issue, a fantastic article and introduction of two irises you may not have heard about: iris boissieri and iris serotina. Both are part of the iris Subgenus Xiphium that occur in the wild from the northwest of Morocco in North Africa, to as far east as the heel of Italy and also West into Spain and Portugal.
From Russia, Nina Alexeeva introduces us to a new iris from the Kuril Islands, Iris lokiae. Find this exciting article in the section Irises from Russia.
You will also find wonderful list (including pictures) of recent introductions of SPEC and SPEC-X irises. A couple of white irises that caught my attention, and yes you may call me a white iris fool. 'Sushi' ( by Jill Copeland, R. 2013) an I. pseudacorus X Ensata cross; and 'Precious Pearl' a crestata iris (by Barbara & David Schmieder, R. 2012); added them to my must-get list for next year.
I read with great delight the information on the article, History of the Iridarium, In Celebration of the 300th Anniversary of the Botanical Garden of Peter the Great in St. Petersburg, by
N. B. Аlexeeva, Curator. What an fantastic, detailed, historical account of this important organization. Loved this article and it made me aware of the amazing dedication and work that people do for the love of iris around the world.
There are so many more wonderful topics covered on this issue of the SIGNA Newsletter, we hope that you will consider becoming a member so you can read it in its entirety.
And, now for some more exciting news: The SIGNA Seed Exchange is now available. What is the Seed Exchange? For me, it's a wonderful way to grow species and other iris types in seed form to grow in my garden that otherwise I may not be able to obtain. The SIGNA Seed Exchange is a major benefit to SIGNA members. It is also the main fund raiser for SIGNA. The proceeds go toward the publication of the SIGNA Bulletin and help to sponsor collecting trips, special publications, and research grants. Although it is only available to SIGNA members, you may become a member when you order seeds. More information, here.
Don't forget to check our species iris database available to everyone on our website: http://signa.org/
Do you grow species irises, and what types do well in your area?
Monday, February 23, 2015
Some of My Best Rebloom Parents in Zone 6
by Betty Wilkerson
'Earl of Essex' has been used by many people and it has produced many rebloomers, but I'm not sure it has received all the praise it deserves. It is one of my favorite parents due to the fall form, which is round, and its willingness to pass on its rebloom genes. On the negative side it is a cycle rebloomer, it is short, and it is a plicata. Those are drawbacks because I work with summer rebloomers, prefer tall seedlings, and dislike the messy hafts that come along when crossing plicatas and selfs. I've been told that the messy hafts come along with the plicata breeding since they have not been removed from the plicata gene set, and although these genes are not specifically a part of the plicata gene, they ride along with it.
'Earl of Essex' (Zurbrigg 1979) |
'Radiant Bliss' (Wilkerson 2004) |
'Summer Radiance' (Wilkerson 1996) |
'Summer Honey' (Wilkerson 2013) |
'Summer Honey' stalks (fall) |
'All Revved Up' (Wilkerson 2006) |
'Echo Location' (Wilkerson 2007) |
'Echo Location' (netting is proof of plicata genes) |
'Again and Again' (Innerst 1999) |
2130-01Re (Wilkerson seedling) |
Labels:
All Revved Up,
Betty Wilkerson,
breeding rebloom for colder zones,
Earl of Essex,
Echo Location,
Radiant Bliss,
summer honey,
summer radiance
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Part Two: Remineralizing soils and the PCI response in my Garden
Kathleen
Sayce
Yes, as a result of my soil experiments there were more flowers than ever in my garden in 2013. But it's the
number of Pacific Coast Iris (PCI) pods that was astounding. In prior
years I'd seen around 50-70 seed pods in total. I know this because I
use organza mesh bags on ripening pods to keep them from tossing
seeds all over the garden, and I could count the bags as they went out.
I'd purchased 400 bags and used 70 in 2012, on every
pod I could find. And this had seemed typical at the time, based on
prior years' seed sets.
Tools of the seed collecting trade: mesh bags, paper bags, and somewhere in the bottom of the basket, a writing implement and clippers. |
By 2013 I used every
mesh bag, some of
them several times, shifting from early ripening pods to later
ripening pods. A friend found a few more bags at a yard sale and gave
them to me; I used them as well. I cut pods off many plants, needing
at most 15 pods of each variety for the SPCNI seed exchange, and
threw away at least 100 pods. So in one twelve-month period, my
irises went from producing around 70 pods, to producing around 500
pods. The only
thing that changed was the soil's mineral nutrition.
Some of the extra pods. Look closely at the top of the image to see seeds spilling out in the lawn. Just a few of the many pods I tossed in 2014, from the plants that set seeds. |
There
was also a major weather difference that reduced the seed set for
many PCI. Many of my well established plants are hybrids that flower
in May and early June. A typical year has PCI in flower from April
until late June or early July. We had a late wet spring in 2013. I
did not get any seeds from the early flowering PCI. The later
flowering species and species crosses that bloomed in mid June were
more successful, as they flowered in drier weather, and bumblebees
could actually get to their flowers. So this astounding pod
production was despite very poor early-season weather for seed
setting.
One hybrid I very much wanted seed from, 'Finger Pointing', did not set any seed at all!
In
2014, I resampled the soil, had another mix of minerals formulated
based on the new soil test, put these out in winter––this time we
did it all in one application, and then I again waited for spring. I
also added compost to most beds, and continued to plant new plants
with a mix of compost and biochar. My hope is that these high-test
carbon compounds will help with mineral retention in coming years.
Ongoing soil tests will tell me how successful this is.
Again the weather did not cooperate. In spring 2014, my area had an early, very warm hot spell that lasted several weeks, with temperatures in the low 90s to low 100s––for the South Coast of Washington, it was hot. In response, irises that normally flower over three to four months all flowered in less than six weeks. The bumblebees were badly overworked! Early flowering (April to early May) PCI responded with heavy seed sets and a short intense flowering period. This unseasonal heat was followed by cool rainy weather in late May into June, so late flowering PCI did not set as much seed, the reverse of the prior year, though the tenax x innominata plants again set many extra pods. I once again used all my mesh bags, and again cut off more than 100 extra flower spikes with more than 200 pods to reduce final seed volumes on those plants that did set seed.
PCI 'Mission Santa Cruz' is an old, tried and still true iris for gardens. Even this one failed to set any seed in 2014. |
Observant
readers will note that I have not written about Nitrogen or N-P-K
formulas. I did not add N or N-P-K in 2013 or 2014. A properly
mineralized soil does not need much N. When healthy, the soil
contains microorganisms that fix N and make it available to plants.
There's another very important reason to not add N: Nitrogen
fertilizers stimulate microbes to metabolize carbon compounds in the
soil. My soil is acidic sand; I do not want to lose any carbon if I
can find a way avoid it. Also, post World War II, the use of N
fertilizers has wreaked havoc with historic soil carbon levels around
the world. So I save money by not using standard N-P-K mixes, and
instead spend it on custom blends.
If you read about historic versus
current levels of minerals in vegetables, it's staggering to learn
that mineral levels in food plants have dropped by 3-10X from those
of a century ago. This bears directly on food health for all of us,
as well as flowering and seed setting capacity for those plants we
eat, not to mention those we grow for pleasure. It seems clear that improving
minerals in soils leads to improved seed sets (see Jeff Lowenfel's Teaming with Minerals).
Other
gardeners have commented on my use of inoculated wood chips. Most
native plants in the West, especially in forest and woodland
conditions, grow with soil fungi. In my garden,it is a
measure of success to have mushrooms growing among ornamental plants.
When I dig up iris plants, I see abundant feeder roots interacting
with aged wood chips and soil fungi. In Fall 2013, chanterelle fungi
were fruiting on a garden path next to several iris plants; this path
is layered with several years worth of wood chips. Success!
In
Winter 2015 I'm about to sample my soil again, and take the results
to my local soil consultant. I can't wait to see how my PCI respond
this spring. No guesses on the weather, though. In the past two
years, I've seen both early and late flowering plants shut out by
weather from successful seed sets. What I do know is that those PCI that manage to set seed are likely to set a lot of it!
Labels:
hot weather,
Kathleen Sayce,
mesh bags,
PCI,
seed pods,
soil health,
soil minerals,
weather,
wet rainy weather
Monday, February 16, 2015
Part One: Remineralizing Soils––A Winter reading assignment for Pacific Coast Iris Growers
Kathleen
Sayce, January 31, 2015
Originally
published in Pacific Iris, Spring 2013, and updated Winter 2015
In
2010 I began to learn about providing better nutrition to soils so
that plants will grow in optimal conditions. Healthy plants not only
overcome herbivory, disease, drought and other adverse conditions to
flourish, they grow larger, flower more and set more seeds. These
plants have higher levels of secondary plant compounds, sugars, and
other metabolites. Optimal nutrition for healthy soils to produce
healthy plants is not a matter of applying N-P-K fertilizers; instead
the focus is on balancing minerals and adding carbon compounds.
Systematically
testing soils is the first step; the second step is adding those
minerals that are low or absent from your soil. Adding additional
organic matter, or carbon, in the form of compost, fungi-inoculated
wood chips and biochar is another good step for some soils,
particularly temperate forest soils. Plus patience, and resampling
soils every year as you change the mineral composition. I was excited
to see how my plants would respond, even though I grow few food
plants (some herbs, a few parsley plants––all plants that deer
usually avoid).
In
my garden, historically I used compost and biochar every time I
planted a new iris. Every two or three years, a new layer of compost
was added over each garden area. I've also used wood chips,
preferably red alder chips, aged for a year so that fungi have
inoculated them before they go into the garden beds. I've done this
for more than 20 years, and until 2010, I thought I was doing pretty
well. That year I began reading about minerals, soil carbon, and soil
health.
First,
I read the latest book from Steve Solomon on vegetable gardening, The
Intelligent Gardener.
Steve lives and gardens in Tasmania; in a former life he lived in
Oregon, where he started Territorial Seeds, a vegetable seed company
for the Pacific Northwest. He and his family lived on what he could
grow in the garden for several years. He composted, irrigated, added
manures, and generally followed traditional organic farming
guidelines. It took him decades to learn about how to make high
quality composts, and even longer to learn about soil minerals and
soil health. Now in his 70s, Steve's latest book is a tour de force
for gardeners, distilling a lifetime of gardening knowledge for all
of us. Whether you garden for pleasure, or food, or both, read this
book.
Second, I read Michael Astera's book on soil nutrition and cation-base exchanges, The Ideal Soil: A handbook for the new agriculture. IMO, a gardener with high school chemistry will understand both Solomon's and Astera's books.
For a third read on this subject, there is Jeff Lowenfel's Teaming with Minerals, a companion to Teaming with Microbes. Read both of them too.
Jeff Lowenfel's books on soil health are great reading for gardeners. |
Living in a high rainfall area, it makes sense to me that water soluble nutrients are low in my soil; the opportunities for them to mobilize are too good. Yet compost and well-inoculated wood chips are not be putting back everything that my soil needs in the way of minerals. In fact, water soluble nutrients probably wave at plant roots as they wash past during the wet season. Hi! Good-bye! And they are gone.
In
2012 I took a bold step forward, and sampled my soil. The samples
were sent to a soil testing lab. A bold step for me, that is;
thousands of farmers and gardeners do this every year. The report
came back, full of numbers, a few were high, most were low. The
conclusion was that my soil had three minerals in sufficient or
excessive amounts (Iron, Zinc and Magnesium). All
other elements were
nonexistent or at very low levels.
I
measured the area of all my garden beds, and took the soil sample
results plus the area measurement to a local soil consultant to have a
custom blend of minerals formulated for my garden. The soil
consultant avoided Calcium compounds that might change the pH of my
naturally acidic soil or add more Magnesium.
We settled on a
formulation that would build up minerals over several years, not
trying to bring this garden to an optimal mineral level in one year,
but rather to bring it up more gently over three to five years. It
was a cautious first step, in hindsight. I went home with three bags,
to apply in midwinter, late winter and early spring.
To learn what happened, see Part Two later this week.
Labels:
Jeff Lowenfels,
Michael Astera,
PCI,
plant health,
soil minerals,
soil tests,
Steve Solomon,
Teaming with Minerals,
The Ideal Soil,
The Intelligent Gardener
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