Irises: Look who FINALLY gets to join in the fun!, 1 by laurief

laurief wrote:
I was beginning to think I'd never see anything bloom here this year. As if northern winters aren't long enough! And then today FOUR of my little lovelies just couldn't wait any longer to show me their stuff.

I've always had the majority of my irises planted in the largest bed in a sheltered area behind the house, but because that bed receives less than optimal sunlight, it's usually about two weeks behind the full sun beds. That's where I've always had my MDBs planted, so they've never started the show here the way I suspected they would if I moved them out front. So last year I took divisions of each of them and planted them in a full sun bed. Good news and bad news. The good news is that I was correct. Three of the four bloomers that started the show today are MDBs in the sunny bed. The bad news is that the sunny bed is so open and exposed that many of the irises in that bed are suffering badly from all of these late (and continuing) freezes. The same irises planted in the protected, less sunny bed behind the house are doing fine. So I get to choose the lesser of two evils - plant them in the full sun bed so that they can get the sun they need to bloom reliably (assuming they survive the unprotected exposure to the elements), or plant them in the minimal sun bed where they can more easily handle Ma Nature's volatile temperament but where they may only get enough sun to bloom and increase marginally. There is no right answer in this climate.

Anyhoo, I digress. Spring has sprung, and I've got iris bloom!

First up, SDB 'Plum Wine'