Those silly Naked Ladies

Maybe your DH will volunteer! :o)

I want to see the pictures of your rebloomers, Sharon. I ended up cutting off the stems/buds of 4 that didn't get a chance with the cold MN weather and brought them back home to NE. I couldn't just leave them there! Seeing a picture of yours will help. I had Cornhusker (again), Suger Blues, Skating Party & Other Voices 'wanting' to...

I am starting to believe that having rebloomers in the colder states isn't fair to our Iris plants.

I'm glad you got your bulbs Mother Winters. I'm sure they forgot their clothes and that's why their called Naked Ladies. They enjoy running around showing off what they got if you know what I mean.

Husker's all those rebloomers that your having problems with you can ship to me. However they probably would like it much better here however because of all the heat. Sometimes you just can't win either way. I should be walking the beds looking for blooms but just don't bother unless I know for sure somethings blooming to see. Shoot I haven't even got out and looked to see if we got any damage from the storm Sunday night. What's wrong with me?

There is nothing wrong with you! You had a very harsh dry Summer and it's a downer! I've felt that loss before when MN had
ice storms early & tons of snow. One year I lost over 70 beautiful named iris. It hurts but it's still worth all their care. It's kind of like that song, 'I Beg your pardon, I never promised you a 'Iris' Garden... :o)

Well, I think Sharon's re-bloomers would love our dry heat. Better than snow and then there is all the Texas Bull.. But that Texas Bull should make them grow better.

Sharon, I will take a photo and then also attach a photo of your babies that you sent. They are very happy here in the 70 degree weather. They are planted close together because two areas are not ready yet. But if the areas were ready, I would have nothing to do next year.

I have a busy day tomorrow so I need to get to bed. If I hurry up I may get to sleep by 3am.

Later Friends, Love Sharon....AKA, Mother Winter.

Husker Sharon I know EXACTLY what you mean when you say you lost so many of your irises one year. I've lost nearly all my irises twice and each time was because of rain for months on end with no time for anything to dry out. One year they we under water for well over 3 months. Over 90% of them turned to mush in the ground. Talk about a STINKY mess and I was in tears over some of them (ok Most of them). Once again I've lost a few this year from lack of care on my part. It was just too darn hot and I couldn't take the heat to get out and keep them watered.

I just came in from spraying the Irises and Daylilies with the Hi-Yield Grass Killer. We have a 60 gallon tank hooked up on the tractor. It still took me a couple of hours to spray everything and that was with George driving the tractor. We have a boom sprayer on the thing but I wanted to use the hand held wand and make sure I got every single blade of grass I could see. Now if I could just remember to use Preen or something else at the correct time for the winter weeds I'd have it made. Besides that if I didn't have weeds to complain about what else would I have to do??? Yea Right!

I have been busy all day long and haven't had a chance to catch my breath. Now that I've been back in the house for 15 minutes it's time to get off my rear end and get back with the program. I've got to go wash off Polly's Naked Ladies and get them in the mail to her tomorrow. I just got too many irons in the fire as usual. No rest for the weary.

Earlier today I was cleaning out from under my bed and guess what I ran across. Yelp Iris Catalogs from Tempo, Snowpeak, and a couple of other places. Of course I couldn't look at them, so I just put them on top of my bedside table to look at tonight and have sweet dreams of plants I may purchase next year, provided I find someone to set with in the near future. LOL Ya'll have fun with your Naked Ladies but watch your husbands around them. They like to show off thier tutu's and strut their stuff at certain times of the year.

Love Ya, Marian

My DH was impressed by their lovelyness also... until I brought them inside & put them in vases. 'What stinks?'
Yes, they can be a 'little' overpowering.

There is one Iris that is better left outside....'Ring around Rosie'. She seems to stand out as far as that 'musky' odor... she is still lovely!

I DIG THE PINK NAKED LADIES like weeds! lol I try to keep them contained in a nice neat row, but alack and alas they want to lay on the iris early in the spring. If I wasn't so exhausted ,I would dig you all some. If you can remember to ask me next June, I'll be glad to send them.
I lost more iris this year, than any I can remember. I'm not sure if it was last winter or the summer, or a combination of both. I need to go through and add soil to many that are in the ground. My carport (porta cher??) is full of iris waiting for the new bed behind the garage to be ready. Hopefully my husband will finish this week.In case you haven't noticed, getting older sucks!! Happy Thursday BIF's

NickysIris,
That is so sweet of you, I don't have many Iris, just started collecting this year, but I am sure I can find something to send you for some Naked Ladies in the Spring. I had about 5 of them but through the drought and harsh winter last year I have only seen one flower this year. I do so love them when they suddenly pop up in the fall. These that were here must have been here for a long time as they were here when we bought the place 18 or so years ago. My soil is sandy, I don't know if that has to do with them not multipling as they should. I need to look into what exactly they like and try an provide it for them, so someday I can give some to friends as well.
Thanks again and you will hear from me in the Spring.

Cool! They are pretty, but grow like weeds here. I also have a plethora of daffodil bulbs in a double or semi double cream. They are also attacking the iris. I'm always afraid to thin them, afraid I'll give all of some other colors away. I used to have lillies that grew like that, but they have quit.

I have no daffodils. I use to have the lilies of the valley in another house I lived in. I tried some spring crocus but they rotted before spring got here.

I have a friend that is a daff judge. I've been buying a few from her, and they are super cool! I have lilly of the valley that came with the house.LOL
A couple of years ago a man was standing in my yard and wanted to know if I grew anything but iris. There were daylillies, hostas, roses and a bunch of others in his view, but the iris in bloom blind you to all others! pic Partial Eclipse

Partial Eclipse is just lovely. Does it have a fragrannce? Does it rebloom?
I know what you mean about things in bloom blinding you. LOL!
My Iris I got this year are Bewilderbeast, Mother Earth, Colorwatch, Exotic Star, Fanfaron, Social Graces, Wild Frontier, Impressionist and Queens Circle. I can't wait to see my first blooms. I hope the rymzones are to small to produce flowers next year. They aren't very big right now.
A lady sent me some from her garden two years ago and they took two years to bloom. They aren't named, they are purple and smell like grape. I feel in love with Iris right then and there.

Lovely iris - good to see that you are up and trading again.
Last November, I sent you a box of Amaryllis belladonna in exchange for some Oxblood lily. You mentioned that you were not able to locate them at the time, but will send something else, but I guess life's ups and downs got in the way. Now that your bulbs still have some greenery left so that you can identify them, do you still have some of the Oxblood lily? If you are not able to send those, I would be more than happy to have some of the red spider lilies that you have.

Thanks, and looking forward to completing the trade.

I found this. I need to get planting. I have my bulbs min the garage in a flat box. They were quite damp and I thought they needed a little air. Wrong.

Lycoris do not like to be disturbed. When you receive new bulbs or dig and divide old plantings, the bulbs should be replanted at once. Try to keep the roots intact, moist and healthy. After planting, expect most new bulbs to sulk for a season or even two. You may not see any foliage or flowers the following season, but they should eventually send up foliage and thereafter bloom in season.

Lycoris come from climates with year-round moisture, and they resent a prolonged dry period. In droughts and in seasonally dry climates, they need watereing at regular intervals.

In cold climates, only the varieties and species which produce their foliage in spring and early summer can be expected to do well. Plant the bulbs with the neck just below the ground surface in a semi-shaded area. They should do very well in a natural setting in open woodlands.

Feed established plantings in late autumn with a high potassium fertilizer such as 16-4-20 and again in very early spring with a high nitrogen fertilizer such as 20-5-10. Do not fertilize newly disturbed bulbs. Wait until they have produced some foliage in season before starting the feeding routine.
Propagation
Lycoris normally increase by offsetting. When this is not fast enough, one can artificially propagate the plants.

Polly and Soilandup your bulbs are on their way. Hope the two of you enjoy them and they do well for you.
Love Marian

Maybe I'm a bit late to get in on this conversation, but I have a question about naked ladies. Here in Mn. I see the pink ones all over the place. Is there any chance that they might grow in pots that were sunk in the ground? I'd love to have a color that is not pale pink and none of them are hardy here. What do you think?