All my iris are pass-a-longs from garden friends. This one came form Annie at The Transplantable Rose. Not only is this iris a beauty but it has a delicious peach fragrance.
My second iris came from Linda Hutson's garden. This is a phenomenal grower and has to be divided every two years for fear of it taking over the garden. For that reason it has been shared many times among my gardening friends.
But here is the strange thing. Last year I divided the clump closest to the house replanting some of the new rhizomes in the same place. This year the first one has opened in a much deeper color. What has happened here. I did a little investigating and found several gardeners having the same experience. and yet there are those who say this is impossible. They believe that the new colored iris was already there but had not yet reached bloom time. I suppose that is the most likely reason.
I will mark the plant when it finished flowering so that I can keep my eye on it, maybe moving it to its own location. away from the others. For now I will enjoy it.
My white cemetery iris, Iris albicans, is planted out in deer territory.
I have one more iris and the buds are ready to open. It spent 2 years in my vegetable garden but was relocated this past fall. It seems to have enjoyed the move because it is flowering much earlier this year.
I have one more iris and the buds are ready to open. It spent 2 years in my vegetable garden but was relocated this past fall. It seems to have enjoyed the move because it is flowering much earlier this year.
The house across the street fro was recently torn down and it had a huge bed of irises. Several construction trucks have gone into the lot for another building and they are mangling the iris. We're sneaking over and gathering some. They are a lovely purple.
ReplyDeleteWe should all practice plant rescue. My neighbor is destroying his native areas with bulldozers and bringing in fill to raise the ground. I wish I had rescued a few plants.
DeleteI agree, RR. I rescued cannas from Caswell Tennis courts when they were resurfaced several years ago. They aren't special in any way except that they came from an Austin landmark. I smile every time I pass them by.
DeleteI also have that purple iris and you're right, it grows and grows--but I really love it. A friend just shared a white iris with me. I imagine I won't have blooms this year, but hopefully, next. Nice post about these wonderful spring bloomers.
ReplyDeleteMy iris have all shaded out and had to be transplanted so I'm guessing no blooms for me this year. Thanks for sharing yours!
ReplyDeleteI vaguely remember reading something about if you let your iris go to seed after blooming they often "revert" to a deep purple color. It was suggested to promptly cut flowering stalks after blooming to prevent this, but I can't swear by it. Anybody else ever seen that advice?
I think I read that too. It is possible that I let one go to seed but my normal practice is to remove the spent flowers, not for this reason, but because they look unattractive. I did have a day lily come from seed and it is just like those roadside ones you see. Not very exciting and small flowered. However, I do like this purple iris.
DeleteBeautiful! I especially like the peach-colored one. I inherited a good many bearded Iris with our current house and have fallen in love with them. I divided and moved many of them in 2012 and the show in 2013 was lackluster. Only one has bloomed so far this year but I have great hopes that this will be a better year for them.
ReplyDeleteI always think of my Mom when I see irises. She had over 55 varieties of them. While I have a bunch, I'm not a big fan.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy to see the peach iris blooming in your garden, Rock Rose! That deep cold/19F on March 6 hit the peach & the white irises while they were in bud. Right now the only blooms are on Pam's Amethyst Flame (it looks a lot like your mystery iris) but I'm hoping that a bud or two of the peach & the Lucinda's you gave me may have survived to make a late appearance. It just doesn't seem like spring without irises!
ReplyDeleteAnnie at the Transplantable Rose
I had the very same thing happen. I was wondering about it when I looked at the second batch that I'd divided. I'm just so glad I have all buds coming and that the late freeze didn't zap them all.
ReplyDeleteI love yours! Yesterday some of mine in similar colors bloomed. In one bed, that pale lavender and the deeper one behind it. But it wasn't a change in plant color: the slowpoke deeper one just finally got into gear.
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