Laurie, Tazzy and you other "experts" :)....

I have a couple of jap iris that I received in trades and a couple of L.A. that I was blessed enough to receive.

If I order a few more....I'm trying to decide if I should get the jap or the L.A.

Is one easier or harder to meet requirements for. both like moisture...I've read the jap dont like wet feet in winter so that could be a problem in a "manmade" bog... any points of view regarding the different characteristics?
charlotte

Tazzy's gonna be your girl for this one. I've only ever tried to grow two LAs, and they both died pretty quickly. I do have about a half dozen JIs that I've managed to keep alive for a couple of years in large pots, but that's it for my JI experience.

If Tazzy doesn't answer your questions in a day or two, I'll come back and tell you what I've read about LAs and JIs, but it's always better to get info from folks who have actual growing experience.

Laurie

I have several Japanese Iris growing in a bed that receives full sun and is sometimes under water, sometimes a running creek, and sometimes cracked cement. For the last 2 1/2 years the bed has had either standing or running water except in winter, when the standing water turned to ice. We have had record rainfalls during that time and the bed never really drained. In normal years the bed would have standing or running water in spring and early summer and by August would be as hard and dry as cement with cracks 1" wide and 8" deep. The Japanese Iris have done fine through it all.

Through trial and error (and the loss of many plants) I have found a number of plants that can handle those extremes including boltonia, certain asters, swamp milkweed, daylilies, certain narcissus, certain phlox, joe pye weed, queen of the prairie, obedient plant, sedums, camassia, siberian iris, hardy ageratum and helenium. I am always amazed at how adaptable these plants are.

jap . like water so there no problen with wet in winter because any day above freezing they need to at be least be moist . louisiana in pond is great i put them in huge tree pots full of clay . My jap because im have pure sand, are in buried tubs and tree pots with a few drain holes and i keep them moist all year around was lax in watering last winter and lost some . they like good poiting soil and like the La . ACID+ Acid i use azalia food on them and they are both heavy heavy feeders

so..the japs really need to stay wet . The LA's CAN stand some drier times ? Is that correct.

Also, why is one "better" than the other in your opinion.

OK, let me toss in some of what I've read about these two iris types. Please, anyone with growing experience with JIs and LAs, feel free to correct me, if necessary.

LAs - prefer bog conditions; acid soil; tend to spread rampantly in a sprawling, running manner; like to be well mulched; do well in the hot, humid south

JIs - prefer lots of water before bloom and more normal garden conditions after bloom; acid soil; clump tightly; like to be well mulched; can suffocate under ice if left in a pond over winter; suffer if grown in the same soil for more than a few years (need to be moved to a different garden spot regularly or grown in pots so the soil can be replaced every few years). I have also read that one hybridizer in MS won't grow any JIs with more than 3 falls because the multi-falled cultivars don't open properly in his heat and humidity.

There's the sum of my "book-knowledge", for what it's worth.

Laurie

This is my experience growing Japanese iris about which I know nothing except that a) I like them and b) they don't mind boggy spots.

I have at least 4 different varieties growing in a long narrow bed in full sun. Sometimes the bed is under water for days/weeks at a time; sometimes it is a narrow running creek and sometimes cracked cement. The plants have been in their original spots for at least 10 years. The soil is alkaline. I put some compost around them every year or two if I think of it. The clumps are close to 2 feet in diameter; I have never really divided them. Occasionally I have taken a pie-slice shaped piece out to give away. They are very healthy and bloom abundantly. We have had over 100" of rain in the last 2 years so most of that time they have been in extremely soggy soil and a lot of the time in standing water. I haven't mulched them under those conditions although I do mulch with chopped leaves during normal summers so the ground doesn't crack.

To sum it all up, it appears that I have done everything wrong that I possibly can and yet have had great success with them. I guess ignorance is bliss. LOL

I am trying LA irises for the first time this year so I hope they do as well.

sounds like you have broken alot of the rules but still been successful :)