Should I be overly concerned that all my tall bearded iris are blooming on short stalks this year? Never a problem in the past.
Our season has been unusual and my plants began to show bloom almost 2 weeks earlier than usual, the blossoms are beautiful but many are hidden in the leaves!
Lane
SC 8b
I don't think its a serious problem. I think its related to the crazy weather we've been having
Lack of rain? We are just getting some & all stalks have been short.
It is funny that you asked this, my stalks were very short last year, it was extremely dry here! This year we had a warm wet winter and I was a little worried when my stalks came up too tall, and I mean over a foot taller than they are supposed to be!
Mother nature seems to have a way of messing with our irisesin a unique way each and every season!
I would say a lack of water. Our SDBs are in bloom at the moment & we are having trouble with some of them. The recent heavy rainfall here should help our problem.
I have that sometimes, the blooms that seem to spring right up out of the ground with little or no stalk. I've had it with several types of plants including tulips as well as irises. In both cases I was told it was due to the heat. It just seems to depend on the cultivar and the specific conditions that prevail when it is forming buds. Here on the southern coast of SC, only the TB iris will bloom, again due to heat. Most of them have normal, long bloom stalks, but occasionally there will be one or two with blooms that just seem to be sitting right on the ground.
A friend says that her SDB stalks are sitting out the ground. It has been dry except for a rain 2 wk-ends ago/ One of our new SDBs has a flower in the foliage. Its chums are not blooming at all. How much rain have you had?
We get quite a bit of rain here, 52in annual avg. In fact, the rain and humidity here make iris growing somewhat challenging. (But then I guess you are probably directing your question to gessieviolet.)
I think you answered your own question with the question-- the weather has been queer here, too; all my irises have started late, with one exception,, a rebloomer, Ocean Pacific. I'm in 9b and it started March 23 despite some mornings below freezing, into April--not the usual weather. I have a 7 foot long raised bed in which I planted 7 fans in fall 2010. (The 2nd pic is 1/3 of the bed.) All fans bloomed in spring '& November, 2011. This spring there are 28 stalks, each with 6-7 large ruffled flowers, still going now. Also in '11 I had a clump in a 15" tub which got handtrucked in to the south living room window, where it bloomed in December & January.
I forgot to ask you, what is the name of that luscious pink pink in your post? It's the 2nd pic from the left. I have a nice orchid one--Wild Irish Rose. (It's shorter this year than last.
gussie, unfortunately I am not the most careful record keeper. I think that one is "Beverley Sills".
