Iris at Walmart & Kmart

They are probably still trying to flog their mislabeled, shriveled up moldy rhizomes from 2003!! I am not a fan of the big box stores. Patti

You're right bbrook. It won't hurt to look and see anyway. I bought some shriveled up ones from a Farm Supply store near me...they're slow in growing and I've lost a couple. They haven't bloomed yet so I don't know if they're accurate but hope so as I have an iris business...guess I should right the questionable ones down and keep track, well there's only 2 but I better get to writing them down!

In some areas of the garden, I am not compelled to have named varieties, so, that being said, there were actually some fat, heavy, healthy looking young things the other day - so I bought 3 bags of each Supreme Sultan and Dover Beach. If they thrive and bloom and are not Desert Tan or Sage Green, well I will be pleased as punch next year :-) The ones they had last spring looked like the year before's leftovers all dried up...

My Dover Beach was from Walmart 4 years ago.

My Sultan's Palace were Walmart too.

I planted Batik 3 times before it finally lived & bloomed!

Ooooh, can't wait, can't wait! I learned from the Dog vs. Day Lily Debacle - irises are planted in a raised bed surrounded by wood planks (actually, pulled out spent/dead peppers and put them in the veggie garden for now, for lack of safe, Dog-proof location - guess that's what happens when you impulse buy!).

I hate to put a damper on everything but I must warn you all. 90% of the Iris bought package like at Wal-mart, K-mart home depot, lowes etc are not usually the named variety. Wholesalers buy what ever they can get and package them as what is currently selling hot. I did an experiment and bought 10 packages. of the 10 5 survived but took 3 years to bloom. Of those 5 1 bloomed what I thought was true. the other 4 were obviously not as advertized. Example the superstition which is a black iris bloomed yellow. Camalot Rose which is a wonderful bitone rose what bloomed was a pink over purple umbreta.
Just to warn you
:)
A

Like I said, Batik rotted twice before it bloomed properly.

I had several that came mis marked from various places. The same Dutch wholesalers name tags were on TB iris I bought at Earl May & 3 local private nurseries as well as Menards, Home Depot & Target. ALL had the same problems and came from the same Dutch wholesalers. I only bought firm roots, but many did not survive or bloom true to tag.

The same thing happened 2 years ago in the Lily trade---lilies our Lily Society bought wholesale, lilies fron Brecke, and various other sources were all mis marked & packaged.
Quite the drama. Many rotted or bloomed wrong. Asiatics were Orientals and visa versa.

Lily bulbs I bought from "reputable" lily catalogs & sites last fall bloomed wrong this spring.
All Dutch origin.

And we won't even start on daylilies that are mis named wherever you buy them! I grow my iris & daylilies & lilies in clumps that are seperated from each other. All are marked, I store file pictures & I know when something blooms wrong. Walmart & box stores are not at fault, wholesalers to the entire gardening industry are.

wanda--interesting thread--I'm interested especially in who the wholesalers are...does anyone have names for them?

I was also amused to see that it's a 2003 thread--didn't notice it until Weegy mentioned it! (I wonder where Mainecoon found it?) LOL

Still, your irises from the 'marts' were/are beautiful. (I assume most of them made it for three years...) And the price was right for all that beauty!

Your 'raspberry blush' is really pretty. t.

Funny how old threads of conversation hang around...

I know I am going to get in trouble with this but Wandasflowers'
picture of Sultan's palace is a perfect example. This is not Sultan's Palace
This is the OFFICIAL AIS description:

TB 34" (86 cm) M.
Tailored rich maroon-red self; F. velvety and slightly ruffled; self beard. B 530-2: (S 799-2 x Glowing Tiara) X Spartan. Schreiner's 1977.

One of the great things about Sultan's Palace is with rich red beard that matches the falls. If you look up on Dave's plant profile and look at all the different pictures of this iris you will find many which do not match this description and many do not even look like each other. Yes I know different soil and growing conditions can change the general coloring but not that drastically. Even my Sultan's Palace was pitched (no not composted given to a friend as an unknown) this year becasue it did not match the official description.

Having said all this however, I love all iris even the no names but since I am now hybridizing I need/want known irises which I can draw specific genes from. The large unknown area in my garden is getting smaller as I find homes for the no-names or misnamed including the mart iris I have gotten.

This is not to put ANYONE down for their purchases just information. Occasionally you get a jewel of an unknow that is just worth keeping. I have a historic MTB that I am keeping and using most I have talked to just call in the grave yard iris since it has been naturallized in many grave yards all over the country but no one has been able to identify it.

Have a wonderfull fall and hope All your rebloomers bloom.
:)
A

Of course, I had to immediately check out my Sultan's Palace against the description.......

If you go to Schreiner's website, they released SP in 1977 and there's a picture. Even in their picture, the beard looks a little golden to me. But if definitely gives you a sense of the correct coloring.

Neil

Gee, I guess I don't see the difference in Wanda's Sutton's Palace and Shreiner's Sutton's Palace. I guess, I'd have to see them side by side in the same lighting conditions to make a real determination. The bloom would have to be the same age, etc. What am I missing? I don't know.

Diann

I keep my expectations low for whatever I get from the *Marts and my favorite HD. Since we live in the middle of the high desert where everything is pretty much desert tan and sage gey-green covered in desert tan dust, if it grows and is some other color than tan or greyish green, then I'm happy. If it gets a bloom or two, I'm estatic. My *Mart flowers are just for prettys - I've got a few acres of sand I'm trying to cover up - so if they are fat and healthy looking - and cheap to boot, they fit the bill. I bought a few named varieties from Schreiners for the scienticfically correct part of me and for the start of my "official iris garden" that I am finally going to have. Of course they cost 2-3 times more, but will be worth it, I'm sure. They will also get plant labels so the aging part of my brain will have a clue some years down the line. :-)