Question About Rebloomers

I am wondering if anyone could help me. I am trying to plan which Iris to get for 2010 and I am wondering about bloom times for rebloomers. My question is, if a Reblooming Iris is listed as an Early bloomer, when should I expect to see it rebloom? I know I've read on the forums that they rebloom late. I am wondering if that means they bloom again with the Iris listed as late blooming. I have an Iris that is special to me and I want some other colors to compliment it, but there doesn't seem to be many choices for late bloomers. So being able to plant some rebloomers for longer bloom would be wonderful.
Picture is of a Historic Iris a friend gave me.

If you don't mind an IB, Jumper 2 had Champagne encore bloom from Sept 18 until ealy in Dec. on its third yr. First 2 years just had a single stalk up. Now she is a couple blocks from Lake Erie so has a milder climate even though OH is zone 5 in the north. Immortality is white & goes with anything colorwise.

Thanks so much! Immortality was one I was considering too : )

Be patient with Immortality. It can be slow to get established. But once it is, it is very reliable.

I'm not sure if I understand your question correctly, but I think you're asking for rebloomers that would bloom at the end of the spring bloom season, or early in summer, to extend your bloom season. Our regular season is pretty much completed in Bakersfield before the end of May, but I have had three plants rebloom again right after that: Kevin's Theme, Rio, and Bishop John-David -- and sometimes Swingtown blooms again right at the end. Kevin's Theme is the most reliable of those early summer rebloomers and puts up a couple of beautiful stalks each year after everything else has pretty much finished. But that's the only time it reblooms for me, so it's not a multiple rebloomer. Right now I'm just finishing fertilizing for spring bloom, but I have Forever Gold, Pure As Gold and Again & Again blooming, and Pleasant Peasant and Priscilla of Corinth just finished. The IB's Double Overtime, Mariposa Wizard, and Red Hot Chili have also just finished, and Double Overtime and Mariposa Wizard already have stalks with buds up again (really love those!). Again & Again has pretty much been blooming since around Thanksgiving, and Golden Immortal started to bloom in February before a neighbor's dog knocked the whole stalk to the ground. But it has bloomed extra early for me and then again at the regular time. Here is a picture of Kevin's Theme taken in June after everything else finished a couple of years ago. Oh yes, and I mustn't forget Marty Richards. I just put it in the ground in October, and it was blooming by Christmas. I really love that one and have just ordered another plant.

If you're interested in finding out a lot about rebloomers, you might want to join the Reblooming Iris Society (RIS). It costs $10 per year, and you receive two "The Reblooming Iris Recorder" magazines with that membership in spring and winter. An excellent publication. Members give input and in each magazine they publish what has bloomed per month in the different regions. I think it's really great, and that's where I've discovered some of my rebloomers. I think if you join they send you their last magazine free, too -- although I'm not sure if they still do that. Check the website below for membership info.

www.rebloomingiris.com

C & T Iris Patch has their tall bearded iris divided into early, middle and late bloomers. They sell rebloomers too. Maybe you can contact them and see if they can help you about late blooming iris that will bloom at the same time as the rebloomers.

Betja that Iris in your pictur eis beautiful!

Thanks so much for everyone's help. I am going to check out the Society and C&T Iris Patch . : )

Meredith, go to Schreiners and you can browse their excellent web site of irises. Also articles on growing Irises, includingt rebloomers. Sign up and receive their newsletter in your inbox. Also, they have a 50% sale every year so if you buy $80 worth of irises, it will only cost $40. You will also get a bonus iris. That is where and how I buy mine. Here is the link.

http://www.schreinersgardens.com/

Speaking of Schreiner's, I noticed that they've raised the prices on just about all their new introductions to $60, up from $50, and they only have two at $50 this year and two at $75. Ouch! I've ordered from them every year, but I think I'll hold off for now. They seem to always have a summer sale each year where you can purchase them at half price without the $80 minimum, so I'll probably wait and strike then. I do love their plants, and I'm hoping to get up to Salem in May to see their display gardens. The only time I felt I got stung was a couple of years ago when I purchased 'Raven Girl' as a new introduction. It still hasn't bloomed for me, and I just moved it and will probably dump it this summer because I got a chance to see it up at Schreiner's last May, and it looked NOTHING like its picture. I posted a couple of pictures in DG of it, plus they have the original picture from the catalog there, and you can see they just don't look anything alike. Oh well -- what is it they say -- caveat emptor? (Let the buyer beware!)

I think a good if expensive deal is buying their 'bonus' plants from the yr. before. Those plants are usually good growers. We are more interested in medians, but I am the aquisitions person for our iris club & really feel that I have to get a lot of bang for the buck, yet buy newer irises.

Thanks, I got the Iris I'm trying to compliment from Schreiners and I looked through all the lates and I did have a few that I might order. One is a white one Porcelain Angel, the the others are blue or violet tones - Standing Proud, Rhinelander or Aristocracy. Standing Prouds price tag is getting me or I'd probably go with that one cuz it looks real purdy ;) Then I got thinking that maybe if I went with rebloomers they'd have their second bloom with the late Iris. Plus I'd get more bang for my buck - lol. There unfortunately is no mention of when to expect a rebloom on Schreiner's site. I think I remember reading that the bloom time on them depends on weather conditions so they can't say when it would be. So I figured it wouldn't hurt to try here, in hopes someone might say, hey I have a rebloomer x and it does bloom with my late irises. Just extra wishful thinking I guess! lol : )

One of the problems with rebloomers is that there are absolutely no guarantees as to when they will rebloom. There are those that rebloom about when you indicated you would like them to or a little later, then there are the fall and winter rebloomers, and then there are multiple rebloomers. I've tried to get the fall/winter ones because they look so beautiful on our dreary, foggy days here, plus our 100+ summer temps sometimes literally fry summer blooms; but my friend has Rosalie Figge (a really beautiful deep purple multiple rebloomer) and the first year there was no bloom at all, then it started blooming in November and didn't quit until March, then it took a breather and didn't bloom that spring or fall, or the next spring -- and then she started blooming only in June and July for the last couple of years! We really love it, and it has increased enough that she now has two big clumps, but she never knows when Rosalie will do her thing. It's kind of fun, but if you really want those that will rebloom at certain times you might want to correspond with a nursery and see what they advise. I checked out C & T Iris Patch and it looks pretty good, so you might email them and ask for name suggestions for certain colors of iris that would rebloom during certain months in your area of the country. I guess that would be my advice at this point.

Betja, thanks for explaining it for me. I feel like your explanation helps me understand the complexity of the rebloom being affected by climate. My Iris are all still sleeping. So one that took until Nov. most likely wouldn't rebloom for me. That is part of the reason I am not jumping on rebloomers. It doesn't seem as well known as say Daylillies are. As to wether they are worth growing as rebloomers up north I mean.

I believe the colder weather rebloomers are triggered by colder temperatures, so the reason they don't bloom for me until November is because it's warm until then. But in your area these fall and winter rebloomers would probably rebloom in September and October, and the rebloom reports I've seen in the RIS magazine from the Northeastern area usually show Sept. and Oct. rebloom. And your spring bloom is probably later than mine (mine starts in late March and is usually ended by mid-May), so early summer rebloomers might be really good for you. The thing with rebloomers is that you need to fertilize them again right after they finish blooming to get the best rebloom. But I wouldn't give up on them at this point. Immortality is a multiple rebloomer and would be an excellent starting rebloomer for you. And if you liked Kevin's Theme from my picture, C&T Iris Patch has that one, as does Blue J Iris. Blue J also has a section of rebloomers and their prices are extremely reasonable. You also mentioned really liking Standing Proud but not the price. Joe Ghio lists it in his catalog for $22, which is probably about half of the Schreiner's price. If you really want that plant, you could email him and he'll let you know what the total amount would be to purchase it from him, and I'm sure he'd send you a catalog also. But please don't totally give up on rebloomers based on what I said because they are such a delight and I know you would really enjoy them. Here are Joe Ghio's email addresses:

ghiobayview@surfnetusa.com
bayview@mail.usa.com

I have quite a few rebloomers but no one told them that. They will not rebloom in my zone 4, including Immortality. Luckily I don't buy iris according to their blooming time, but for their color etc.

Betja is correct that they do need additional feeding and water to rebloom. From what I have read, rebloomers don't go dormant during summer like non-rebloomers do.

You know, it is true that most of the iris I purchase for rebloom never do rebloom for me either. But there are a few that do, even though I never fertilize again beyond the basic early spring and fall applications, but there are a few that keep reblooming each year even though they get no special attention. They are:

Again & Again (the best reblooming TB for me!)
Golden Immortal
Forever Gold
Priscilla of Corinth
Pure As Gold
Pleasant Peasant
Rosalie Figge (sporadic for me, but reblooms each year for my friend)
Marty Richards (this one is new, but everyone says it's one of the best rebloomers)
Lake Reprise
Double Overtime (IB - Absolutely incredible rebloom for me!)
Mariposa Wizard (IB)

I did check my RIS magazine, and the head of the Northeast Section says Rosalie Figge is the best rebloomer in that region. I can't find my picture of it, but it's a beautiful deep purple. Here is my picture of Marty Richards, taken in January or February of this year.

And here is a picture, taken last winter, of my best multiple rebloomer, Again And Again. I really love this iris because it's a big, beautiful flower (although a little on the dull side, I must admit). And in my RIS magazine it's listed as blooming in July also, so I would really recommend it. It was hybridized by Sterling Innerst of Pennsylvania, so it should do well back east.

Betja Thank you for the wonderful list. I have to go out to work soon, but I will have fun looking those up later. I will definitely check out those Iris nurseries. Thanks for all you help. : ) Marty Richards looks like a wonderful color. At least at Schreiners you get 50% off if you place $80 in your cart. So technically I'd pay half for Standing Proud which isn't too bad, that would bring it's price down. I'm sure if I end up ordering from them I'll want to spend at least that much anyway. : ) I really want to place an order with Rainbow Iris but they aren't up and running for 2010 yet. They have one that I haven't been able to find anywhere else. Their website says they hope to be up and running by March 2010, so I keep checking every day. With my luck the one I've been hoping to get from them will be sold out from last year.

Here's one of my confused iris - bloomed in mid-Feb in our desert (Mesquite, NV)
One of my favorite rebloomers - Hawaiian Dream
Anne King

Hey bachngolf -- very nice! Love the colors, and I just discovered that it's not in the alpha listing here in DG. Can you tell me anything about it? Like where you purchased it, what time of year does it usually rebloom, does it rebloom each year for you, do you do an extra fertilizing for your rebloomers, etc.? I'd love to know, as I'm always looking for new ones that might rebloom in fall/winter with no special attention in Bakersfield. And mine are mostly yellows with a couple of purples and one apricot -- except for Mariposa Wizard, which is somewhat like yours but is an intermediate. So I would deeply appreciate any info you can provide. Thank you!

I would get it just for the name! lol But it is very pretty too. I love the color. :)

I googled it and couldn't find it. Where did you get it? It seems like every time I really like something I can never find a vendor!

I bought the Hawaiian Dream iris in Jun 2007 from Michigan Bulb (before I found DG and began buying from specialists). I planted them immediately and they bloomed in Sep (see photo - taken in early Oct 2007). Yes, I had amended my desert soil with mulch and manure (1/4 parts each) and used Epsom Salts (our water and soil are extremely alkaline) and calcium tabs. Yes, I fertilize about three times a year (with "Bulbs Alive" from Gardens Alive) and spray with fertilizer from Spray-N-Grow about three times each summer.

Not advertizing for these products; just saying what I did.

Anne King
Mesquite, NV (100 mies north of Las Vegas)

Great info! I'll have to look for that one.
Thanks, Betty

Has anyone ever heard of Superstition or Study in Black reblooming? I don't think that they are rebloomers, but I've had one of them ( got them mixed up a while back ) bloom in September, and also bloom after I divided them and gave some to a friend. She was very pleased.. but I thought it was strange... &:-)

Check with reblooming iris society--see under AIS site--www.irises.org