Pardancanda

Here is a photo of a Pardancanda (Iris family) blooming for the first time this year with almost black markings.

And one more, this one is yellow. Many of the blooms were almost semi-double, showing 8 or more petals instead of the normal six. Exciting! Will this be the start of a new line?

I have soooo many questions about candy lilies ...

Starting with, will they take the heat and humidity in South Louisiana? Do they really bloom all summer? Even in the heat?
=) They just seem too good to be true.

Cheri'

Cheri, they love hot and dry conditions. I think they would grow fine in LA if you provide perfect drainage. They are said to bloom from July to frost, mine are just about done blooming as of mid-August. They resemble sprays of orchids in the garden, and have endless variations of color and patterns. Easy from seed when winter-sown, probably not helpful to you... As you most likely do not have freezing temperatures? you might have best luck planting fresh seed as soon as ripe. Are you able to grow the old-fashioned tall bearded iris there in LA? If so, Pardancanda will be possible.

Blooming in July and August would be great! I do grow some tall bearded iris, in very well drained beds. I just built a new one for that purpose.

I've planted it with daylilies, Asiatic lilies, oriental lilies, Siberian and swamp iris, (gotta keep that section well watered!), bearded iris, Dutch iris, hosta and Amaryllis. I'm going to add some spider lilies (lycoris), English iris and maybe some rain lilies. It's my 'Fleur de lis' garden, and I want blooms continuously, from February until September!

It's supposed to be only iris and lilies, but I cheated, adding the Amaryllis (including lycoris) and the daylilies. I've been contemplating the candy lilies, they would be perfect. I'm a little intimidated by starting anything from seed. I have not always had good luck with seed. But, I suppose next year I will give it a try.

They don't need cold to germinate, do they? We don't get much of a winter here, but it does occasionally freeze. It's been more than 10 years since air temps stayed below freezing for more than 12 hours at a time. (gads, now that I think of it, we are just about due for another nightmare winter!) Ground temps don't usually get below freezing.

Cheri'

This message was edited Monday, Aug 25th 2:29 PM

wowzerz those are pretty!!!!!!!

John, I don't think you saw the one I posted from your seeds http://davesgarden.com/t/392778/ I've had 4 or 5 bloom and they seem to all be the same shade, more or less.

I think mine need more sun. The bed I planted them in has gotten too shady - dang pines!

poppysue, just went to your thread and posted. They do prefer full sun! Odd they are all similar, mine always show a large amount of variation. Hope you get some nice purples in there.

I can't wait til mine blooms... it's got buds on it... and even has babies coming up from the rhizomes.... mine is nothing special, "blackberry" is the name on the tag... I bought it at Lowe's early this summer, caught my attention because I thought it was Iris....

Do the rhizomes multiply like the Iris do John?

Melissa

Blackberry lily is more likely to be Belamcanda, one of the parents of Pardancanda; will probably be orange with red spots, or unspotted yellow. The rhizomes do multiply, I often see a new fan coming up on each side of a fan which has elongated into a bloom stalk. To compare to tall bearded iris, no, you're not going to have bushels of large rhizomes, but idea is similar.

Hey John!...

You spoke above about winter sowing...how is that done? (Maybe we ought to have an ASK PARDANCANDA forum!)

LimeyLisa Kay

Winter-sowing of Pardancanda: Sometime in early winter, I sow the Pardancanda seeds into flats (the kind with those plastic tops) which I leave on my cold, unheated porch. There should be a few holes punched in the top to prevent overheating, although mine are not in direct sun. When the conditions (temperatures) are right, the seeds will germinate naturally come spring. I remove the tops at that time, and move the plants into brighter light, eventually into full sun. This technique can also be used placing the flats outdoors; the idea is for the natural freezing and thawing to occur.

I get almost 100% germination this way, MUCH lower when seeds are started indoors.

Ahh, so they do need the cold to germinate reliably. =(

Guess I'll have to buy plants.

Cheri'

I put some plants in & the darn things rotted in the wet spring. Lots of clay here. I'll have to try again--they do look nice...

Wanda, try some raised beds and see how they do then. Use rotted silage, leaves, or stable cleanings mixed in with the soil/potting soil for improved drainage. I've also learned the hard way that they don't handle wet feet and competition from lots of weeds. We use to have 52 different colors but are down to 4 now because of my ignorance.

52 colors!!!

Yes, Pardancanda, 52 colors. Awesome isn't it. They were all at Powell Gardens and they got rid of all of them(I have seen a few that I missed when digging them out)a few years ago. I took a sample of each color. Many were very similar but t here was really a big selection. I think someone who use to work there was breeding them. Anyway, I lost most of them thru my ignorance and really feel badly about it. I don't think I have either of the colors you posted today.

leaflady, they are not the longest lived perennials. They seem to run out, unless divided and transplanted every three years. Don't feel too bad. My guess is that growing out seeds from your remaining plants will give you many, mnay colors.

Wow,
It is nice to see how far the Pardancanda norrisiis have spread! My Great Uncle Mr. Samuel Norris was the original hybridizer of the 'Candy Lilies'. He worked with them right up until his passing Nov.2002. His last hybridizing efforts were to convert them to tetraploids for the larger blooms. I have just a few plants which look converted but they are hard to get to produce viable seed. He managed to get a tetraploid Blackberry Lily (Belamcanda chinensis) inwhich to back-cross the P. norrisiis with but just a few plants have been grown thus far.

Wow, I've just seen pictures of these wonderful lilies in red, pink, and purple. I've got to get some. Anybody know where?