Favorite Irises

The terraforming and soil amendments to the new iris bed WILL be finished before the end of May here in Zone-5B Glenwood Springs, CO, that is as long as I keep axes away from my fingers!

I am drooling over some of the Zebra Gardens "Kidz", but what are your three favorite bearded Iris? What plants do you recomend to take up the slack time?

Looking forward to your comments so I can dream, scheme and plan for the coming blessed Spring!

Pewjumper

Winter is a great time to rest, but why does it have to be so long?

Brickle
Raspberry Silk
Boutique Fashion

But those were 2009's favorites. The list changes every year.

As far as plants to take up slack time, can you give us some idea about your conditions?

Welcome to the forum, by the way. I only remember seeing you on the iris forum maybe once before?

I like SDBs Pussycat Pink,Soft Air (historic) & my own Lemon Chill.

Thanks all for the messages so far! I usually hang out over in the Rocky Mountain Forum. In response to some of the questions....

I live in the arms of the western side of the Rocky Mountains at 5760 feet elevation, I am about 40 feet above and to the south of the Colorado River. A bisecting ridge & river valley is directly to the south which protects me from a lot of the really cold air coming off the high country, (11,000+ feet). My gardens gets full day southern exposure and it is a really nice micro-climate which is probably a zone 6. The "dirt" was brought in and has a very high pH and is somewhat clayey. I am digging down 18 inches, (The gas main is two feet down!) and straining out all the rocks. I plan on adding copius amounts of acidified cotton boll compost to lower the pH and improve the drainage. Some Dr. Earth organic fertilizer with bacteria, fungus & michorizae should help transform my dirt into beautiful well drained soil. Hmmm...gotta borrow a cup of worms from my neighbor. LOL

If you look at the picture below, my Iris bed will be between the two trees on the left. The bed is about 15 feet X 24 feet+.

I have found feral iris at an old homestead and must rescue them before the property is developed this summer, so I know that iris can grow & naturalize in this area.

I have deer, more deer and a couple of elk that come through all the time, (we won't mention the bears, they are very rude and their table manners are atrocius) sooo deer resistance is a big thing. the six foot deer fencing out front looks tacky but the tulips wouldn't make it without the barrier.

Plants to take up the slack time? I want something low that gives me lots of blooms after the iris , but isn't thirsty. I don't want my irises to rot...something like Gaillardia grandiflora "Arizona Sun". Did I mention deer resistance?

Thanks all

Pewjumper

I love nepetas with iris. They would do well for you, and if sheared back after blooming will bloom for a long time.

think we can guess from the deer guards around the saplings! LOL

Our deer have a nasty little habit of pucking up newly planted irises and tasting them, then spitting them out. I thought we had an OCD Bambi somewheres until I figured out that the joggers and walkers passing by were the ones picking them up out of the street and piling them neatly at the mailbox. Doesn't hurt the irises much, but does make for a lot of NOIDs. Once they are well rooted, this stops.

Pewjumper, check out the AIS website for their symposium list. that would be a great place for you to start.

Jumper, I don't have any Zebra Gardens "Kidz" iris in our gardens. But we do have quite a few "plain" TBI which would grow well in your area. This isn't the best pic, but you get the idea. We live at 7,000'.

Happy Jack Mom,

Absolutely gorgeous picture! I can not wait until Spring so I can get back to work on the landscaping!

Do you have much of a problem with frost heave pushing any os your iris out of the ground?

Bonjon,

Thanks for the tip on AIS and their symposium lists. I know about Screiner's Iris Garden, but I will definately be looking for some of these other growers on the net.

I haven't quite figured out what to do about the deer, besides fencing that is...Do deer like Cannas?

Long's garden is in CO & they have been growing iris for a couple generations. Don't know if they have a website, but their conditions should be like yours.

Yes, newly planted iris, which we usually get about August, can have frost heave if they don't put out new roots before winter hits. We don't have any problem with established rhizomes though.

I forgot to say this, we have large herds of elk, deer, cattle and other critters that love to get into our yard and destroy our plants & trees. We live in the boonies, so are able to have a 4' wire fence with electric fence on top of that. The deer & elk do not like their noses zapped, so will stay out, IF DH remembers to turn the charger on. He didn't feel good when we left home to come down to Mesa for awhile and didn't get the charger plugged in, and an elk jumped the fence and ate one of our fir trees to a trunk with a few limbs here and there. This WAS a 10' tree.

This message was edited Jan 12, 2010 8:45 AM

wow - hungry deer.

Have heard new reports for the last five years about suburban populated areas having deer problems, mostly in Yankee territory. Well, I've had that problem here since I started planting a garden - have given up on veggie gardening. FINALLY one community in Wake County has petitioned their town counsel to allow bow hunters in to help with the problem.

I mean, we have all these homeless shelters begging for food donations, and all this meat on the hoof running around causing problems. Just seems like someone somewhere would figure it out that the two problems could solve each other if only we'd let it.

elk not very hungry, only a 10 inch tree? lol

Thanks Gabriel, I changed it. ^_^

And yes Bonjon, those huge herds of deer and hogs in your area could feed the homeless. When I was growing up in CA, my step-father was a Deputy Sheriff. Whenever someone hit a deer with their vehicle and didn't want the meat, or from an illegal hunt, the meat was used to feed the prisoners.

well, it could have been a very small elk.

Humm, have you ever seen an elk up close and personal? Small is not a word I would use to describe them! lol

I meant small to only devour a 10 inch tree. And yes I have seen elk, in a drive thru park. Around here we have a lot of deer but not elk running wild. Not that I've seen anyway, and have lived here most of my life. We have a lot of wild life, some people think we are a dust bowl and there is no green stuff and we live in tepees, or dug-outs. I have Indian blood, but I live in a regular ole brick house. Lots of lakes, creeks and rivers here too. Not to mention iris. lol

Elk are generally not good for one's garden, but are better than moose. In my part of town we don't have elk. That is why I can garden at all. We do have deer, but they have so many gardens to choose from that they only take the best from each garden the see as they wander down the sidewalk -- yes, they do use the sidewalks.
I cannot really come up with only three favorite irises -- and Kasperek's are really wonderful. Here are some of my favorites, but by no means all and I am only listing things that have done really, really well for me.

TB

Dusky Challenger
Fiery Temper
Blenheim Royal (an oldie but goodie)
Candy Apple Classic
Crackling Caldera
All Night Long
Titian's Glory

SDB
Cat's Eye
Sun Doll

IB
Flying Circus
Gnu Rayz
Protocol


Of Kasperek's -- so hard to choose:

Tiger Honey ---- is beautiful and a very strong grower.
Grizzly Gozling -- just started this year -- but lovely at convention
Gnu's Flash -- really grows well in my garden
Okapi Poppy -- Very pretty and a tough little grower.
and many more.

This is only a drop in the bucket of my favorite iris, but enough to get you started and I did try to mention ones that are tough in our high altitude gardens.

Love so many it is hard to choose.

Dynamite
Cupids Arrow
Pond Lily
Pennant Fever
And 500 others

WHEW!

I have spent a better part of today going through the Blue J Iris website. My mind is numb, but I am excited! I narrowed down the field to 42 iris. All were iris with eye appeal, most had an Award of Merit and Honorable mention, a few even had a Dykes Medal. Most are reblooming.

When I was a kid we had a poor neglected iris. it was pretty, but nothing like most of the ones that I just ordered. I hope this doesn't become obsessive! LOL

I choose Blue J because their climate is more like mine. I wonder what extras I will get? My planting space is about 22' X 10' more if needed.

Sonny

It will become obsessive. Look at most of us.

Yeah, we really all need help....help finding more places to plant iris! lol

So far--and I'm still newish to named iris but favorites I've personally grown--top 3 are:

Earthborn
Ascent of Angels
Indian Ceramics

I've never grown this one but saw it blooming in some garden somewhere and went "OH WOW". hard time finding it, though: Indian Sandstone

in 2007, I went to OR/WA/ID to tour iris gardens. Got to see probably 1,000 to 2,000 some different irises in bloom. Made pages of notes. Ordered maybe $1000 worth. Almost 300 irises bought. Even joined the AIS and am still learning all I can.

Guess what? most of those irises did not flourish here. Yet. Some are getting better as they acclimate to here. There are a few standouts. Protocol, Miss Nellie are the first two that come to mind, and a deep baby blue median who's tag got lost. Orinoco Flow did well at first, then I moved it and it hasn't bloomed since.

For years Miss Nellie was the only BB which grew here. They have improved since that time.

I am sorry to hear that a lot of your irses didn't take to the change of climate.

I am really encouraged after I looked at the detailed daily climate summaries for Alliance, NE where Blue J Iris is and where I live in Glenwood Springs, CO. The maximum and minimum temperatures for every day are almost identical. The temperatures are so close that Blue J Iris might be located five miles up valley. We are a little drier & less humid, but all in all it's virtually identical.

Gosh I tell you it was a chore going through those Iris! Blue J says it grows close to 4,000 varieties, tough to narrow it down. Since the majority of the varieties I picked mentioned something about reblooming I am hopping the similar climate will encourage that trait. We usually get snow right before Halloween and we don't get the wild swings in temperature like Nebraska does....

Pewjumper, at your elevation....what climate zone are you?

The majority of rebloomers rebloom zone 6 and above. there are some that will rebloom zone 5, only a few that rebloom zone 4.

One thing Blue J does that most growers won't is display irises not available for sale in their online catalogue. Blue J shows EVERYTHING. Am thinking they must take prepaid reservations for plants, which leads to sellout before they open Jan 1st. Otherwise, why do it? It makes going through their list a real burden. It's bad enough going through the average 400 that most growers display!

If you know a grower had an iris in the past, you can always ask, and if they still have it most will sell you one. Have bought a lot of irises from Schreiners this way. But if they don't think they have enough to meet the expected demand, they won't list them in their catalogue that year, online or in print.

Blue J bought out an older couple up in Idaho who had around 4,000 varieties around the time they also went on the web with very very low prices. They had a lot of early bumps on service and product, but I've heard they've worked all that out.

Who did Blue J buy out? As far as I know the Jedlickas have always had it? I don't mind seeing the irises that are not for sale, I just wait until the following year.

those folks that had that huge long text catalog online. the ones that had health problems, and were having to move a few years back. Oh, the name escapes me. At one point they were trying to get the business back running at their new location. they'd sold most of their stock at firesale price to Blue J (per Dee and Chadwick's daughter Kathy) to pay medical bills. What remained got wet during the move was then stored until they could plant - yuck. Kathy White told me it about broke the woman's heart. There have been major problems getting them replaced and replanted. Oh - what was their names....DeRose?

Think they were called River something. Riverview!

I thought Blue J was in business before Riverview went out. Well, Dee would know. I bought from Blue J for many years, until I found Snow Peak :)

Pewjumper, you should know that there are two good iris nurseries in the Denver Area, where the iris should be pretty aclimated to your area. One is
Iris4U at
http://www.iris4u.com/catalog/catalog_a1.html
Their 2009 catalog is up, but probably 2010 will be different except for adding new ones.

http://longsgardens.com/
in Boulder. Their online catalog is only text, but I know some DGers who like to go there because they let you dig your own iris if you like and you usually get a nice clump.

I recommend these places because you can go there when the iris are in bloom. You might really enjoy seeing blooming iris in person in your area. And they bloom before shipping starts, so you could really pick them out in person.
The guy who owns Iris4U is the president of the Tall Bearded Iris Society -- or was the last time I noticed.

Blue J was in business before, but in a much smaller way. I think they originally bought from Riverview, too, because they had so many of the same older irises and similar pricing.

They haven't been online that long. Jedlicka explained when I visited that the website was his daughter's idea. She was going to college for a business degree. She's the one that really got them growing. She's a smart cookie, too, because they started raising their prices a wee bit each year. While still lower than most, they are a whole lot more than they were!

As a result of the business growth, Jedlicka had just bought another 20 acres. They have a very dry climate there, but also have a huge easily accessible acquifer. So expansion was really about the cost of installing irrigation. That was 2006, and he was really jazzed about the new acreage.

pajar, I can't remember his name, but he sure is nice and has a nice selection of irises on his website. If I lived around there, I'd be buying from him. Because we are so much wetter and hotter here, I haven't.

Pewjumper - you should always remember that what irises look like in photos, and what they look like growing in your garden, are two different monsters. Sometimes similar, all to often not much alike.

buying my first iris years exclusively from Cooleys, I got really frustrated that the irises with yucky photos were always the prettiest ones in my garden, and vice versa.

The owner of Iris4U is Bob Van Liere and is a very nice I guy. I haven't met him but am growing some of his iris. I also haven't visited his garden because I am always end up at the Denver Botanic Garden instead -- not all iris but gorgeous in its own right. That's because I usually go up with gardening, but not necessarily iris friends.
I bet I will get there some day. He is right in Denver. He has several beautiful intros, but I love Sisters of Loretto and that has special appeal because they are the nuns brought into Santa Fe in the 1800's to help Archbishop civilize this, then wild, state. They founded a girls' school which was still operating when I came here. One of my very best friends graduated from it. The iris he named after them is lovely, too.

Didn't we see that at Nationals this year? I seem to recall it somewhere. Maybe it was at our region's Spring Conference.

I suspect we did. There have been Van Liere irises, no doubt including Sisters of Loretto, for the last 3 years that I know if. It is one of my favorites, a beautiful rose pink that ought to grow well here in the Rockies. I will let you know in the spring.

I didn't get Sisters of Loretto Irises in 2007 or 2009 but I got some beauties in 2008. I think I saw it in 2007, but in 2009 things were pretty banged up. I don't know if it was even there in a condition fit to see -- thanks to the tornadoes etc.

well, I'm thinking I saw the tag. it may be that it was one of the beat up ones, or more likely, one of the ones not yet open, because there were even more of those.

I ordered 10 rhizomes from Iris 4 U last year and received 18 + one 2009 Introduction as a bonus. I also won 2 of Bob Van Liere's 2009 introductions in an auction at the TBIS Spring Meeting last year at Salem, OR, and received 3 each. I met Bob first while visiting Dee at Snowpeak prior to the TBIS spring meeting and had a chance to spend some time with him during the tours to Mid-America, Cooley's, and Schreiners. I would certainly recommend that Iris 4 U be considered for any purchases and to visit during bloom season if you live within a few hours drive to his gardens.
Picture taken at Mid-America during TBIS Spring meeting tour-- Barry Blyth in foreground, Tom Johnson (hidden), and Joe Ghio (green shirt)