Mt. Pleasant Iris Farms, Part 2

By Bryce Williamson

While my first blog on this amazing garden focused on Siberian irises, this time I want to highlight some of the other beardless irises growing in the garden that Chad Harris grows and, in two cases, hybridizes.

Last year, on my first visit to Mt. Pleasant Iris Farms, I drove up Highway 14 and onto Marble Road to the manicured garden, where I parked in the shade by the barn.  Immediately I was drawn to one of the water features of the garden— a lovely pond with naturalized irises. A spring on the north hillside provides the gravity feed to run sprinklers.



 Little did I know at that moment that almost 25 years of hard work has gone into this paradise.

Chad is careful not to plant any water irises that are fertile and might release seeds that would get into the Columbia River Basin ecosystem.



Chad has spent the last 15 years working with Iris laevigata, a native to North East Asia, Russia, and Japan. As the Mt. Pleasant catalogue notes, “A true water iris, Iris laevigata will look its best growing in shallow water or a large pot with a deep reservoir filled with water. It can also thrive in a moist to wet setting such as a rain garden."

“Iris Laevigata will grow from 24 to 36 inches tall with 4 to 6 inch flowers." To date, Chad has introduced the two hybrids pictured below:

'Lakeland Ghost'

'Blue Rivulets' photo by Chad Harris

Recently, Chad has also been growing "Pseudata" seedlings. These are, to quote from the catalogue, “a cross between plants with iris pseudacorus backgrounds and iris ensata (Japanese, Hanashobu). The iris world is very fortunate that Hiroshi Shimizu shared many years of his work; finding a good pod parent ('Gubijin') so all hybridizers could explore the possibilities that this cross may bring to the garden."

Harris pseudata seedling in a clump

Harris 08SPCX D photo by Chad Harris

Harris HPIM9403 photo by Chad Harris

Harris 08SPCX D photo by Chad Harris

Harris 08SPCX F photo by Chad Harris

During the National Convention of The American Iris Society  in which this garden was part of the tour, one other interspecies hybrid attracted much attention. In a huge, husky clump, Jill Copeland’s 'Do the Math' was impressive.



A surprise in the garden was Phillip Ramare's PC-1.  Usually Pacific Coast Natives bloom early, but this nicely colored seedling was still in good bloom.

Chad Harris's introductions can be found at two sources: http://www.mtpleasantiris.com and http://aitken-garden.goodsie.com. Both Mt. Pleasant Iris Farms and Aitken’s Salmon Creek also carry a wide range of other types of beardless irises.

More on Mt. Pleasant Iris Farms to come!

Please respect the copyright on these images by Bryce Williamson and Chad Harris.

Understanding Louisiana Iris Part 4 I. nelsonii

Understanding Louisiana Iris Part 4 I. nelsonii

                                                                    By Joseph Musacchia

  I. nelsonii is the most recently named Louisiana iris species. It was named by Randolph in 1966 for Dr. Ira Nelson, Professor of Horticulture, Southwestern Louisiana Institute, now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.  

  I. nelsonii was a sensation among Louisiana iris enthusiasts after it was "discovered" around 1938 by W. B. MacMillan. Restricted to a small area Southeast of Abbeville, Louisiana, they were commonly called the "Abbeville Reds," or occasionally "Super Fulvas."  Because of their size and color, they were used extensively in early hybridizing. 

I. nelsonii  'Young's Coulee'
Collected by Benny Trahan

 The comparison to I. fulva was due to color, and the superlative "super" reflected their size.  In their native swamp habitat, they grow considerably taller and have larger flowers than Iris fulva, although they resemble I. fulva with the red and yellow underlay. A few yellow forms were found in the relatively small area of its range.

‘Butead’s Gift’ collected by Benny.

A nice collected red.

  Unlike fulva,however, and much more like I. giganticaerulea, the Abbeville reds were found in shallow water in cypress swamps.  I. Fulva is more typically an inhabitant of wet sloughs and roadside ditches; wet areas to be sure, but not in the swamp per se.

Just southwest of Lafayette
Louisiana

The  I. nelsonii habitat is restricted to a few square miles of cypress/tupelo swamp.  Due to the environmental impacts on the area, it is seriously endangered.  Through the efforts of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, a population of nelsoniis have been moved to the Palmetto State Park a few miles away, where they can be protected. 

  Past research determined that I. nelsonii is a species of hybrid origin, with traces of fulva, giganticaerulea and brevicaulis in its background.   It is presumed that the I. nelsonii environment was relatively isolated and, after unknown years of inbreeding, the population stabilized to create the species. Additional research is ongoing and a fuller understanding of the origins of I. nelsonii may emerge.  Whatever I. nelsonii's origins, it was a fascinating find and was exceedingly important in developing the modern cultivars of Louisiana iris available today.

Closed loop styles

Darker center lines on the
standards and falls

 Some unique traits of I. nelsonii include the closed loop of the styles which almost encloses the anther; the darker center lines on the standards and falls; and the pendent form. It has little or no signal. It grows in standing water in the swamps and so needs lots of water in the garden. It can also handle more shade than most LA’s. 

"I. nelsonii"   Growing in 
“Young's Coulee”

   I. nelsonii  adds a lot to the gene pool for hybridizing. Characteristics it contributes include taller, stronger stalks, more color, ability to grow in shadier areas, better root structure to hold up taller stalks, and  other unique features. 

  In up coming articles I will show how the unique features of these four species of Louisiana iris make up the the modern cultivars. Hopefully, this will help you make better decisions on what will grow in different areas of your garden. Or, why some cultivars won't grow/bloom in your garden.   

Mt. Pleasant Iris Farm, Part 1

Mt. Pleasant Iris Farm:  Part 1
By Bryce Williamson

The last two years on trips to view irises in Oregon and Washington, I have had the opportunity to visit the wonderful garden of Chad Harris and Dale Grams in Washougal, Washington.  Located in the National Scenic Columbia River Gorge, the present garden was started 22 years ago when Dale and Chad retired and moved into the area.

Driving up Highway 14 , the road dwindles from 4 lanes to two, and just past Washougal, the Mt. Pleasant Iris Garden suddenly appears on the north side of the road with rows of irises descending down the south slope from the house towards the road and the Columbia River.  What now appears to be so organic and natural was actually carefully planned by Chad and Dale: strategic plantings of native Douglas Fir trees have been used to break the easterly winter winds and now shelter the house, the iris plantings, and the sweeping expanse of specimen trees and shrubs.  Since there is such a variety of irises—everything from Medians through Japanese, I am dividing these posts on Mt. Pleasant Iris Farm into several parts to better showcase the different types of irises.

For the last two years, Chad has not had much room for seedlings since the garden contained one of the master plantings for the 2015 American Iris Society National Conventions held in May.  Chad’s iris hybridizing has three foci—working with his award winning line of I. ensata (Japanese irises), I. laevigata, and most recently I. pseudata.

For the sake of making things simple, I have combined images from both the 2014 and 2015 visits to Mt. Pleasant and, in this post, will focus on Siberians.   

Since I have not visited many iris gardens in the last 10 years, the breakthroughs in Siberian iris colors has been a revelation. Gone are the days (50 years ago!) when the colors were white, lavender, blue, or violet. Today’s hybrids have a wide range of interesting and delightful color variations.  The hybrids of Hollingsworth and Schafer–Sacks are leading the exploration of new colors and patterns, and others are adding quality varieties as well in the expansion of colors and forms.  Pictured below is a close up of Bob Bauer and John Coble's Concord Crush, a variety with six to nine falls.

'Butterscotch Fizz' by Marty Schafer and Jan Sacks 2013

'How Audacious' by Robert Hollingworth 2009

"How Audacious" 

'Paprikash'

'Tranquility Base'

'Swans in Flight' by Robert Hollingworth

'Neptune's Gold'

'Honey Chic' (Image by Kelly Norris)

'Carnivalito' Image by Kelly Norris

As a retired English teacher, I drenched the page in red ink when a student veered from the main topic.  I am guilty here of doing that very thing, and the following images show the new colors of the Siberians from places other than Mt. Pleasant.  I will return to the lovely Mt. Pleasant Iris Farm with more pictures in the next post.  For now, take a look at these lovely color breaks in Siberians by Brock Heilman that illustrate the new color directions in Siberians.  Brock, a talented photographer, also sells photos, and his work can be found at Brock Heilman Photography.  

'Cape Cod Boys'

'Black Joker'

'Cherry Fling'

'Cinnamon Sugar'

'Cream of Tomato'

'Fancy Me This'

'Head Start'

'Lucky Locket'

'My Little Sunshine'

'Sweeter Still'

Chad Harris's introductions can be found at two sources: Mt. Pleasant's Iris Farm  and Aitken's Salmon Creek . Both carry a wide variety of irises including Siberians.

Images copyrighted.  

Reblooming Cross: 2611: Zone 6: Southcentral KY

by Betty Wilkerson

A few years back, my breeding program switched from rebloomers in general to trying to produce summer rebloomers.  I'd gone to bed one night and sat straight up in the bed, thinking about irises that would bloom during the summer.  I jumped out of bed and started the research, worked for a couple of hours before I got tired enough to go back to sleep.

I guess I should emphasize the word "trying."  This change in goals really slowed things down.  One of my planned crosses, in 2011, was to use 2130-01Re, a summer rebloomer, as a pod parent with another summer rebloomer, 'Over and Over'.  That cross was made but has not provided any rebloomers, yet.

2130-01Re  (Wilkerson seedling) ('Again & Again' X 'Echo Location')

2025-02Re (Wilkerson seedling) is a lovely white from 'Total Recall' X 1625-01Re ('Star Gate' x ('Violet Returns' x 'Breakers')

Since I had another stalk with blooms, I crossed it by 2025-02Re. 2025-01re, a sibling to 2025-02Re, is a summer bloomer, but, as is often the case, it wasn't blooming when I needed it.  Several of the 2011 seedlings bloomed in the spring of 2015.  All were a reddish purple, similar to the darker area in the falls of 2130-01Re, not really attractive. Only two seedlings looked different and one of those two rebloomed. 

This reblooming seedling, below, is 2611-01Re. It has perfect show bench branching, something I've been working toward for thirty years, and good form! Once branching is lost, it is hard to regain. Theoretically, most of the things I cross to this should have a very good chance of producing good branching.  In theory, many of these should rebloom.  So far, I've only seen the one.

2611-01Re (Wilkerson seedling)

2611-01Re top view (Wilkerson seedling)

My goal is to have a line of irises that start their rebloom a bit earlier. This seedling does not open until mid September. Although I'll take whatever I can get, I don't expect to see this one bloom on September 1.  It does look like we either have fall rebloomers or summer rebloomers.  Only a handful will bloom from spring through fall.

Autumn: Transplanting time for Pacifica Iris

Kathleen Sayce 

September 20, 2015

Many irises are easy to transplant at any time of year. Dig them up, divide, cart to new homes and tuck in. Clip off some leaves to reduce moisture loss while the new roots form, and away they go. Not so for PCIs. Treat them this way, and they go root tips up before you can find your watering can.

Healthy PCI transplants:  new fans, and healthy new white roots. Both of these I. douglasiana pieces are ready to plant. 

There are two times of year to successfully transplant PCIs: Autumn and Spring.

At these times, PCI roots are in active growth. Check the roots, removing soil gently around the base of a fan or two. If there are white roots, one to four inches long, then get out the shovel and start digging. It's time.

New fans on a PCI, but no new roots yet; this plant needs to wait a few weeks before being divided.

Why Autumn and Spring for root growth? Pacifica Iris are native to the West Coast of North America, which has a Mediterranean climate––during the drought period each summer, these and other native species go dormant. In mild winter climates, PCI may have live roots all winter, but they dry down and wait out dry summers.

Summer drought duration depends on latitude, the farther south you are, the longer the duration, which varies from less than three months to more than ten months on the West Coast. I garden at 46°N, so droughts usually last less than three months, though this year it was more than five.

If you water regularly, PCI initiate new roots earlier in the fall than do those depending on rain. You can divide and transplant much earlier in the fall and later in the spring.

This flat of PCI seedlings has been watered regularly all summer, and is ready to move into the garden.

PCI seedlings in pots are tough, and can stand being transplanted several times in the first year or two of life. Even larger plants, one to five gallons, can withstand transplanting slightly outside the Autumn or Spring periods. These have all had regular water, as they must to live in pots.

Other tips:

Mulch after planting to keep roots cool

Amend soil with carbon, such as compost and biochar

Move plants on cool cloudy damp days rather than on hot sunny days

Add 'Superthrive' (a registered vitamin formula for plants) to the watering can

Water well for a few weeks after planting

Use a dilute liquid fertilizer when watering

Every Autumn I host a 'Come and Dig PCI' day in my garden, to share out plants to other gardens in my community. I checked my plants this week; new fans are starting to form, and new roots are short. I'll wait a week or two, until new roots are more than an inch long. 

There are exceptions; one variety has long white roots and could be divided now, but it will tolerate moving in a few weeks. The seedling PCI can be planted anytime from now until early November. They are much tougher than fan sections, which is why growing PCI from seed is so successful for many gardeners. Society for Pacific Coast Native Iris will hold its seed exchange from 1 November to the end of the year, so now is the time to be thinking about what species and hybrids you'd like to grow in your garden from seed. 

New white roots, this PCI is ready for a new home.

For western gardeners, Autumn is the best time to plant many native plants, not just Pacifica Iris. Trees, shrubs, perennials, ferns and grasses all do well if planted now (late September to early November), as the weather cools and moisture arrives from the Pacific Ocean over western North America. This gives the plants a jump on growth for the coming year by establishing good root systems first, with much less water use now and in coming years. 

Newly Published: BEARDLESS IRISES, A Plant For Every Garden Situation

By Andi Rivarola

We iris lovers take for granted the huge amount of information that is available online, and because there are so many people sharing their love for iris with photographs, blogs, and plainly just posts on Facebook, we forget that there are those in the iris community that are really experts in the field.

I didn’t know anything about Kevin Vaughn just a few months ago, and didn’t think of him as an expert when I first met him. In fact I thought of him as another iris fan with an amazing taste for garden design, but after reading all the details in his book I realized that the love for irises runs deeply than that for him.

Today I believe that he has not only great advice to give on how to grow irises successfully, but also offers a multitude of information that makes reading his new book a joy. 

During the recent National Convention of The American Iris Society, held in Portland, Oregon, attendees were able to experience the beauty of Kevin Vaughn’s garden twice. Once during the pre-convention (optional) tour, and then as part of the Siberian & Species Convention held after the regular convention.  It was during these two sessions that I had the pleasure to meet Kevin Vaughn and enjoy his friendly demeanor, and also his knowledge of irises.

Cover photo provided by Kevin Vaughn

One feature of the Portland convention that was really different from other conventions is that many of the irises were blooming at the same time. Call it "Global Warming," or simply, "the weather." Normally, one would not see this, but having all the different irises blooming at the same time made it an extraordinary experience. The Vaughn garden had a huge variety of iris types, Louisiana, Spuria, Siberian, median and other irises, several of which he's also hybridizing. There was a particular combination towards the back of the property that really caught my attention: a fantastic display with a gorgeous bright yellow i. pseudacorus next to a deep purple Siberian iris seedling. Both reaching five feet tall and blooming in full glory. What a sight! (I'm still to post the many photos of this garden, stay tuned). 

Pacific Coast iris 'Caught in the Wind' (Joseph Ghio, R. 2012)

Even though Kevin grows many bearded and non-bearded irises, this book focuses on everything that is fascinating about the latter. 

So why write about beardless irises? Kevin says,”Compared to their bearded iris cousins, the beardless irises have remained a secret to many gardeners…” 

With this gorgeous book, suddenly a wide variety of non-bearded iris types are introduced in a way that is easy to understand, with a multitude of photographs to tempt the unsuspecting reader to take a chance; perhaps grow a few of them.

Louisiana iris 'Aqua Velva' (Kevin Vaughn, R. 2014)

You will also find answers to the following questions:

"What are beardless irises?"

"What is the purpose of the beard on bearded irises, and how do beardless irises do without them?"

Pacific Coast Native iris 'Moderator' (Joseph Ghio, R. 2011)

If you don't grow beardless irises in your garden at this time, after reading this book you may just start doing so. Some of the sections on each chapter such as, "Garden Use and Culture," Pests and Diseases," and Kevin's own "Favorites," will help you make decisions about where to start. 

Vaughn Seedling 40-chromosome Siberian iris seedling 

I hope you also start keeping an eye on Kevin Vaughn's work as I have, as many of the iris seedlings in his garden show much promise. I have started to add some of his Spuria irises to my wish list, and one of the first ones is a child of 'Adriatic Blue' called 'Adriatic Memories,' that is just amazing. Can't wait to see it growing in my own little garden.

Vaughn wide-ruffled Spuria iris seedling

Enjoy this preview of pictures provided by the author, and let me assure you that there are many more in the book. Besides being a great writer, Kevin Vaughn is a great photographer and hybridizer. Here's the list of iris varieties covered in the book:

Siberian

Louisiana

Spuria

Species

Species-X

Pacific Coast Natives

"BEARDLESS IRISES, A Plant For Every Garden Situation" is available via Amazon.com