White Iris affecting colors?

I was told that haveing white iris in my bed with all the colored Iris I have will eventualy wash the colors out of my Iris and I will end up with a bed of all White. Is this possible? It doesnt seem right to me or possible. I am new to iris so I could be wrong. I have about 60 varities thanks to a fellow DGer and some I bought.

You were given silly advice. The only way whites would increase is to form seedpods & drop the seeds in the bed if whites were better growers. I would not listen to people even on other iris statements if they tell you that.

true. irisMA knows her stuff.

Had a friend say the same thing of a bed of blues and a few whites, said they all turned white/grey. What happened is the whites were more vigorous growers, and were more fertile. Over time, whenever she divided them, she replanted everything. the whites, being more vigorous, multiplied more so there was more of them (see Example below). Over 15 years they also interbred and dropped their seeds, which carried the vigor of the whites but muddied the color into a white tinged by the blue. I'm finding, for most plants, the less they flower, the more they grow. Those seeds had low budcount and REALLY took over, crowding out both their parents.

My sister had the same thing happen with a very very vigorous blue iris taking over. It will happen, with human help, with any vigorous iris that grows more than it's neighbors.

Example: My Lady Friend produced 37 sales-sized rhizomes and 19 smaller rhizomes in the time it took it's neighbor, Vizier, to produce 5. Now, if I divided and replanted all those, it's going to look like LF took over! I started with 1 each, but ended up with 56 to 5 ratio.

Just be sure to always give your irises room to grow, jumping4joy. If a vigorous one overruns it's neighbor, it can take the nutrients away, and slowly the less vigorous will dimenish.

Unless you just want to play at hybridizing, always cut off the stalks, at the base, at end of bloom.

60 are quite a few plants to monitor. Keep an eye on the # of increase per plant. The are the little new fans which which come out from the original rhizome. If one plant (no matter the color) seems to be producing more it may want a different bed where it can happily become a large clump or one growing slowly may want to be grown away from its more vigorous neighbors. Do color patterns in the garden the way YOU want them. We have a yellow daylily which gets planted in separate beds as it outgrows its neighbors. A notebook in a handy spot for notes is in order. If you don't have names for all your irises, assign them a number so you can keep track of them.

Follow bonjon's advice about cutting stalks. leaving them on can lead to rot.

WOW im glad I asked and it sounds like the right people chimed in. I am very excited to see what happens this spring. I can already see some have shot out several fans to the one that many others have produced. I also like the idea of assigning numbers for no names to help me keep track if I really like something. I did invest in the metal markers for the ones that are named. Ive never really cared about names bt I can see many people do so Ive decided to try to be diligent in keeping up with that. Thanks so much again. Brandy Newbie to Irises...

nice to see another Carolina gardener growing irises!

Irises grow differently. Genetics will tell. And it always seems in my garden that the most fragrant, or more lovely, are the tenderest, finickiest growers. Although irises are generally hardy, they do vary widely in growth, dependent on where you're growing them compared to the area where they were created.

For example, irises of one of my all time favorite hybridizers, Blyth, who works out of Australia, have to have one full year to get well established for me: 1st year bloom is....well, crappy. Next year bloom looks like it's supposed to, and 3rd year the clump is a showstopper. I've decided this year to plant all his together and leave them alone for 5 years minimum.

So you will find irises that grow slower or faster, hardier and healthier, etc. Great thing is, there's about 10,000 cultivars on the market today. You and I are sure to find something we like!

Ok now I have another question about old antique white cemetery irises. I too have had an iris bed with lots of different colored plants one year and then the next year EVERYTHING that was growing ALL bloomed white.

I've heard of this and never believed it. But, since I've seen it with my own eyes I have another question a little later.
Mind you I didn't have any of the plants marked and they were all planted in a big circle around a huge oak tree. Is it possible that the old white cemetery iris has something that kills the other irises and the white ones just take over? I just don't see how the white irises could have taken over all the other ones I had planted out there. This bed is no more than 15 ft from my back door so it's something I see all the time.

I think I'm going to do away with all the old white cemetery irises anyway. Whatever the reason is, the white ones do not bloom that long, they do not have that many buds just like the above post said. I'm sure there are several hundred of these white irises around this one tree.They are all going somewhere other than my place. Anyone have any suggestions as to what I should do with them besides tossing them? I have a feeling they are just like one of the yellow water irises that take over everything and should not be planted.

Bonjon, Blyth is my very favorite hybridizer too. I've planted several of his and unfortunately for the most part they didn't like where I planted them. I still have a couple but they don't look real good. I'm planning on purchasing some Blyth's from Dee this year. (grin)
I'm thinking I'm never going to have LARGE CLUMPS of irises if I keep trading with everyone. LOL
I may not do much trading this year since my irises had alot of bloom out this past season.

I'm going to look through my old photos and see if I can find some before and after photos. If so, they are only one or two years at the most between photos.

Marian

If the old whites are anything like this, I would like to have
3 or 4 when you decide to dig them. If before next spring,
I can keep them in a refrigerator. Will pay postage in
advance.

There may be some interbreeding problems with the white
and colored irises but I have read from some respected
iris experts that it is genetically impossible for an iris to
change colors since the increases are exact clones of the
parent rhizome. The white pictured is old, rugged and
prolific and could take over a small bed in time.

the "old white cemetary irises are ususally a very very old variety. It got that old because it was incredibly hardy, able to survive without any help from anyone, and incredibly vigorous. My guess is that, with only 15 feet, if you had a lot planted there, then that's not enough space for the cemetary ones. They spread fast, probably covered and smothered the more modern ones.

It's not only that they "steal" the nutrients right out from under their neighbors, it's that they can and do grow right over the top of them, and those rhizomes have to breathe. Anything that smothers them will either kill them outright or they will succumb to rot. You've had quite a lot of rain, flooding, right? Great rot conditions that would cause an iris under stress to fail.

you might find those missing irises where you left, just so stunted they didn't bloom.

lovelyiris,
I'd also like a few of those white iris when you dig them. I have lots of room for them.

Mary

I would be more than happy to give all of these old fashion white irises away. But I would suggest if you want them to plant them far away from any other irises. I'll dig them sometime in March when it warms up some here. Please try to remind me in the later part of February if you want some.

Marian

I have a small collection of the old antique irises and am interested in
anything I call pre-1940. The older the better. The white pic I posted
is of one very similar to 'Florentina' which supposedly dates back to
1500-1600.