Different Irises?

Mostly I've read about bearded irises here. Do any of you have different ones--like Japanese, Dutch, Siberian or Louisiana irises? Linda

I have 5 colors of Siberian--lots of the deep prurple ones. I use them for height & foliage variance in my garden. They bloom the same time as my peonies and are a lovely contrast.

I had yellow Japanese irises for several years. Nice & tall, deep green foliage. But they took up alot of space & blooms were too rare to make them worthwhile for me.

i have all kinds and growing! ;)
i just picked up sibs-steve and a jap sib--its pink!
forgot the name.

I have quite a few sibs. In fact... I prefer them over bearded irises. I have a lot of trouble with TBI rottings here. Siberians do much better for me.

I a few bearded iris too, but I think I like the Siberian Iris better too. I think I'm falling in love with LA iris too. I have LA iris 'Gamecock' and 'Freddie Boy' and I ordered a few more from Iris City--will get them this fall. Linda

I've got swamp iris, yellow and blue, and I just got my first Siberian. I'm re-building my bearded iris collection, focusing on re bloomers. I want iris blooms in the fall!

I also plan to try some Dutch iris this fall, and I'll be looking into Japanese and Louisiana iris next year.

Cheri'

I've got about 6 rebloomers that I got last year. Had them in a pot and put them out this spring. Two bloomed in the spring, and none of them have bloomed this fall. What do I need to do to make them bloom?


This message was edited Saturday, Aug 16th 8:53 AM

We were discussing that in another forum ... somewhere around here ...
I read somewhere that you should feed the re bloomers after the first bloom is done.
On the other hand, I wonder if they are too well fed, they may not re-bloom, or may even rot.
Since I'm planting them this fall for the first time, and I'm giving them some osmocote mixed into the soil (which should still be releasing nutrients after the spring bloom) I'm not going to do the extra feeding thing. I'll report what happens next fall.

There was also discussion of re bloomers too far north not having enough time to re bloom? In zone 9, the growing season starts in February (March at the latest) and doesn't end until October at the earliest. I feel sure they will have enough time to re bloom, here. I don't know how that applies to your situation.

And I keep reading how bone meal is the thing for bulbs and rhizomes.

I'm not any kind of iris expert, I just go by what I read, and what I've seen.

If you just planted them out this spring, maybe they didn't have enough time to develop strong enough roots to support a first bloom, much less a re-bloom? Ideally, Iris are planted in fall, right? Maybe you will get your blooms next year.

Cheri'

I just dug out two big Purple stands from my business partner's house. He saw my garden & wants to make room for more daylilies & other perennials. I couldn't bear to throw them out, so now they're hiding in my garage...

Sundry, I could have overfed them when I planted them. I put lots of rabbit manure under them. I'm going to try to get some bonemeal if I can remember it when I go to the store. The plants look really big and healthy, but planting them in the spring and not the fall probably hurt them some. Wanda, it's always hard to resist plants. My main problem is where am I going to put them? One good thing about irises is that they seem to be deer resistant so I can put them in the upper garden if I can't find a place closer to the house. Linda

merkat123, they will prolly thank you next year for all the manure!

Why does it seem so much easier to plant in spring than in fall? I always end up with stuff that needed to be planted in fall, and doesn't get planted out until next spring. Of course, this year, I'm still planting out stuff that should have been planted this summer ... lol.

It seems logically that fall planting would be easier. I can't figure it out ...

Cheri'

I'm glad you asked this Merkat because I've just popped in to ask the very same question! We don't grow many Iris but we grow a (very) few species Iris and was hoping to be able to ask a few questions when they crop up *G*

I was elated but disappointed in myself this year, My Iris chrysographes flowered (whoohooo) just one flower but the flower only lasts a day and it was a day I didn't have my camera (booo on Baa). We've had an absolutely devestating year for slugs and snails, even the poultry can't keep up with them so we're hoping for a better season next year, I will keep a note to have my camera at all times!

Anybody grow Iris relatives?

Hi Baa, The slugs and snails are really here this year too. I have a little resin frog with a hand over his mouth and he looks like he is giggling. I use him to mash all the slugs and snails I gather up. That's why he is giggling. I know it is a dumb question, but what is considered an iris relative? Hope you get a picture of the iris chrysographes and post it so we'll know what it looks like. Linda

Is this the iris chrysographes?http://www.hortpix.com/pc2299.htm

I've never seen these before. And the flower only lasts a day, like daylilies? Interesting.

Cheri'

Sundry

The plant we have is much darker purple, it's almost black http://images.google.com/images?q=iris+chrysographes&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

Merkat

A few examples of Iris relatives (Iridaceae family) are Sisyrinchium, Crocosmia, Crocus, Dietes and Freesia

I only grow the siberian and the Ensata Iris for now. But hope to remedy that real soon! :)

Baa we have had the reverse here, our slugs have almost disappeared!!?? but then again we have millions of frogs and we have put in 2 new ponds so maybe that is why??

Oopps thanks for the reminder Psilo, I never said what Iris we have! We grow Iris Green Spot, an unknown bearded, I. sibirica, chrysographes, ensata, pseudoacorus, versicolor, kerneriana, cuniculiformis, confusa and bucharica.

We have a pond too, along with quite a healthy wildlife population as well as the poultry so it seems odd that we've had such a bad year. Mind you maybe it's all just balancing out and it's our turn, we don't normally have too many problems with them at all!

That's a nice iris, Baa. =)

Candy lilies are iris relatives, aren't they? I'm thinking of trying some of those next year.

Cheri'

I used to mix course sand with Bone meal to keep slugs away from my strawberries. >^,,^< SB

Thanks Sundry! Yes Candy Lilies are in the Iris family, I love their bright colours but I always manage to kill them off *G*

Scooterbug

Good idea, we tried wood ash to good effect too but this year they must have super slime! I suppose they are just hungry this year ;)

Baa, I have crocosmia, Lucifer, George Davidson, and unnamed orange. I also have blackberry lilies. Are they relatives of iris. Another thing that is good to get rid of slugs is crushed egg shells. The shells pierce their bodies. Linda