In my hay meadow...

I found hundreds of these! This is the first spring in our new house. Are they just a "wild" iris????

They look like a dutch iris to me....but I'm no expert. Maybe one of the experts will come by here soon. :-)

Very lovely, I don't think that it's just a "wild Iris". I have one growing in my yard but I don't know what it is. Is it very short?

I knew it wouldn't be long before an expert showed up! lol So, whudduya think Doss? ;-)

I'm no expert on this one. laurief is the one to ask here. I'm not really an expert, but I'm a pretty good researcher, and I've done some gardening. :-)

They are probably blue flags.

My Daisy,
I live in Broaddus on Lake Sam Rayburn. We are neighbors!
I have this exact iris in my East flower bed. It is IRIS RETICULATA. There are many different hybrids. However, this one is species iris. They are tough little guys that will bloom & survive in the face of snow and cold winter winds as well as drought.
I plan to move mine from under a big pine tree to my West bed where it gets more sun so that more blooms will appear.
Dig those jewels from your hay field & plant them in your display garden!
You can transplant now by cutting plant back by half & keep it moist during first few weeks until it overcomes transplant shock. They like full sun.
They are lovely planted in 10 to 15 plants in a cluster.
You are blessed to have this lovely iris.
warm regards

Sudie and MyDaisy, you are lucky to have those...they are so pretty! At first I was thinking they were I. Reticulata, but they looked too tall. Think I'm gonna have to get some of those! :-)

Mendy

How tall are they? Are they growing in a damp area? How large are the flowers?

Iris Reticulata is very short, isn't it?

Your picture looks like my iris giganticaerulea, which gets quite tall (up to 6 ft., but usually between 4 and 5) - especially in damp (or even wet) conditions. Also, the flowers are about 6 inches across and held above the foliage. I think the natural range is from south central Louisiana (where I am) to coastal Texas. It's not very cold hardy at all.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/60454/index.html

Then again, it could be Iris hexagona, which is very similar and closely related to giganticaerulea, but is smaller, has a much wider range and is more cold hardy.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/57938/index.html

Or reticulata. I've never grown reticulata.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/669/index.html

Either way, dig some of those up!

Cheri'

They are about 12-18" tall. The blooms are probably 5" or so, I didn't measure. The area that I found them in floods a lot. It borders on a large creek. DS & I dug up bunches of them yesterday afternoon. :) See...here's one flood...the iris' were found where the water is standing.

What did the root look like? Was it a big ugly rhizome?
http://www.badbear.com/signa/photos/Iris-hexagona-3.jpg

Cheri'

A 5" bloom is pretty big for a reticulata. That I do know.

Yep, looks like that, except not as thick. There weren't very many thick clumps. Most were single.

ah, well, not reticulata, because that would be a bulb. So, it's one of the water irises, I guess. Maybe Iris brevicaulis, which is apparently one of the hexagona related irises as well.

It's shorter, so that fits your iris. It's native to Texas. The identifying feature is the zig zag flower stems (which I can't find a picture of).

anyway, whichever iris you have, it's a beautiful gem.

Perhaps you would like to trade some for some of my giganticaerulea?

Cheri'

I'd love to trade! I really need to look at the bulbs again to make for sure I'm remembering correctly. I didn't really pay much attention. I'm going to be out of town for the next 2 days, but when I come back I'll take a pic of the bulb so we'll know for sure. Sound good?

Cynthia

works for me. =)

Cheri'

Cheri',

Sorry I've been so long getting back to you...I was really under the weather after I got home. Anyway, I took some pics that better show the iris.

I hope you can tell something from these...

One of the larger rhizomes

This is actually one of the smaller flowers. I was a tad bit scared to go into the waist-high hay to dig up the bigger ones!

If you want some, just let me know!

ooooh, wonderful! Thanx for the pics.
I hope you are feeling better. Health has to come before gardening.

I would love a few of these beauties. =)

I'm looking at your first picture, at the one that is in bud . . . I wonder if that's what they mean when they say Iris brevicaulis has distinctive zigzag stems. That stem looks zigzaggy to me. I think these are brevicaulis. I can't wait to find out for sure!

I'd love to trade you some of my Iris giganticaerulea for some of these. I'll message you.

Cheri'

could be a number of iris. looks a bit like I. siberica. they do set seed. I don't get many of them germinating so I think something must like to eat the seed. but a few manage it. once they get the rhizome going that's how they prefer to spread. especially if they were mowed back in your hayfield. I also think of iris and blue eyed grass [an iris cousin] when I think of the passage "...consider the lilies of the field". Enjoy your treasure.

Martha

Thanks for the input Martha. The area that these iris are growing in hasn't been mowed for hay in over 10 years. They are across a small creek from the rest of the meadow & we just installed a large culvert so that area is accessible. Although the deer & hogs may have eaten them, LOL! Maybe not...there is so many of them now & I didn't notice any nibbles!

I have a similar plant growing in my back yard under fir trees in the shade. Every year there are only about 5 or so plants that come up. They are about 12 - 18 inches high and the flower is about 4 inches across. Mine aren't as dark as mydaisy's and mine have some speckles on them. Someone here in Oregon told me they were wild iris, but after reading all the possibilities already mentioned I'm not sure of that. Sundry might have named mine correctly as the Iris hexagona. Do you think this needs more sunlight to multiply?

That is beautiful!

Based on your location, I think it's more likely to be a Pacific Coast Species than a Louisiana Species. I don't know a thing about PCI, except what I read. Maybe it's Iris tenax? AKA Oregon Iris, Toughleaf Iris.

Wide color range from purple and lavender to white, cream and yellow. Grows 6" to 14" tall with flowers in lavender, blue, violet, white, cream, or yellow. from the Iris Species Database http://www.badbear.com/signa/signa.pl?Iris-tenax

For preferred habitat they say
Open or lightly shaded sites in open oak woodlands; unusual in coniferous forests unless they have been logged over.

There is a pretty good website all about Pacific Coast Irises,
http://www.pacificcoastiris.org
including the 11 species
http://www.pacificcoastiris.org/framewld.html
There is even a page about idenitifying wild PCI. http://www.pacificcoastiris.org/specieid.html

They do warn not to dig them up.

Collecting seed is prolly the best way to establish a clump in a sunnier location.

What do ya think?
Cheri'

Cheri', Thank you for solving my mystery iris issue. I'm sure you're right about my plant being an Iris tenax. The link you sent me to has a picture of a tenax that was located about 20 miles from my home, and it looks just like mine. I'll attach it.
I never imagined there were so many types of wild irises. I'll have to go back and read all about them. I've been here four years now and every Spring these few irises come up and stand out on a bare slope of a terrace in the back and between some of my ferns. I've always wondered just what they were. It's too bad that they can't be moved.
There is another beautiful native yellow plant that pops up a little earlier. I don't think it is an iris though. Its flower hangs like a bell. I'll have to find out what that is too.