This year I WILL splurge on... OR This year I want to get...

Leopard Print by Thomas Johnson @ Mid-America. Plus several others, but that is the ONE for this year in the pricey new intro field.

oh wow that is cool...:-)

Leopard Print is a wowzer, for sure, but I would never pay intro price for any iris. Waaaay too many of them can't handle my climate. I'm not about to shell out big bucks just to watch a new intro rot away in my garden.

Now if I lived in Iris Heaven, that'd be a whole different story ...

Laurie

Laurie, Where is Iris Heaven?

It's beautiful! Can you believe that I'm not buying a single iris this year? Spent my iris money on daylilies and my iris beds are full!

That's what happens when you get greedy.

I believe I live in Iris Heaven...the Pacific Northwest? :0)

Laura

Yes, Laura, you do indeed live in Iris Heaven. The West Coast and irises seem to be made for each other.

Of course, you're all going to fall into the ocean at some point, so I think I'll just stay safely landbound here in iris-hostile northern MN. ;-)

Laurie

Oh....hahahahahahahaha!

What I wouldn't give to be in iris heaven at least for a visit, but that future tsunami prediction... Of course having once lived in Minneapolis, I wouldn't want to be in northern MN either.

That is a breathtaking Iris!

Susan

Just to keep me from looking it up...How much is it? curious I'd sure like one...heehee

It's on this page http://www.mid-americagarden.com/iris_details.aspx?=4&irisType=standard%20dwarf%20bearded about half way down. :o)

The intro's on iris aren't as shocking as on daylilies...:-)

I know. I can't imagine spending hundreds on an iris rhizome. But I can squeeze a dollar or eighteen out of the grocery money here and there for that darling.

I say you go for it...maybe I can trade you something when it produces babies...heehee

I spent all my money on hostas and irises last year and this year is a waiting time to see how the outside stuff does. However.........I have started a collection of African violets. What else is money for, right? :^)

I live in Minnesota and think Iris do quite nicely here. I have some from my MIL (yellow, name unknown) that I've been moving from place-to-place for over thirty years. They originally came from "up north" around the Walker area. Not sure where Deer River is, but can't be too much different. These yellow iris are about the prettiest I've seen and l look forward to seeing them each year. Last year I added some reblooming Iris, but I don't think our season is long enough to really have that happen. This year, I'm adding 4 Japanese Iris; my first, and I'm hoping they do well.

beaker_ch, many irises do quite well in my garden, but many do not. I currently grow about 730 named iris cultivars (in addition to about another 70 unknowns) of all bearded classes, as well as a variety of beardless types and a cristata. Over the years, Ma Nature has ruthlessly helped weed out the weaklings - primarily modern tall beardeds. I've lost hundreds of TBs, though I still grow about 230 (half modern, half historic). I've lost non-TBs, as well, but not in nearly the numbers as the TBs.

If I've learned one thing about irises over the last decade, it's that they are NOT all created equal. My ongoing goal - and one which I come closer to achieving every year - is to develop an iris collection that is hardy enough to handle this climate and my specific growing conditions without coddling.

Most of the large hybridizers, including the hybridizer of that charming Leopard Print with which Roni opened this thread, are located in mild climates out west. Those new intros are born and selected under climatic conditions that are so vastly different than northern MN that there's always a pretty good chance they won't be able to hack it here. That's why I won't waste money on new intros at introductory prices. I will be delighted to add Leopard Print to my beds in a few years when its price comes down enough to make it worth the risk, but for now I'll just drool over the pics and bide my time.

Laurie

P.S. I also grow 7 Japanese irises in pots, and they do fine for me here.

This message was edited Apr 28, 2006 10:04 AM

I guess I didn't understand the situation. I've never peeked into this forum before. Open mouth, insert foot.

How big of pots do you use for the Japanese? Do you winter them inside or out?

Laurie,

When are you going to start hybridizing from your collection of hardy irises to build a new breed of irises? Cold hardy rebloomers!

Roni

Well, I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't know what size the pots are. They're pretty big, maybe one gallon? I'm not even sure what a one gallon pot looks like. Anyhow, I'm growing them in pots because I've read some vague and conflicting information about JIs poisoning their soil after a period of time and needing to have their soil changed to keep them healthy. I figured it'd be easier to change their soil every few years in pots than in the ground, in any event.

I overwinter the pots outside buried up to the rims against the west side of my house foundation. I mulch them well and leave them be until early spring when I dig them up and move them to a sunny location around the front of the house. I keep them well watered and mulch the tops of the pots with pine needles.

JIs prefer acidic, fertile soil, so sphagnum peat mixed with some compost or well-aged manure and a handful or two of alfalfa meal makes a good potting medium for them. Pine needle mulch also helps acidify the soil.

In reference to your comment about rebloomers, you're correct that most of them can't manage rebloom in our short growing season. I have had six bearded irises rebloom for me over the years, but the only one that has done so twice (two different years) was Lilting. It is rather sad to see stalks start to emerge in the fall, only to be blasted by frost before they can mature.

Laurie

Roni,

Before I would even consider doing such a thing, I'd have to come up with a way to prevent Bambi from culling my seedlings as soon as they germinate!

Laurie

I'm going to ask around about the Japanese Iris and soil. I haven't heard that. My main passion is lilies, but I dabble in other plants as well. I can't afford a second "passion". Thanks for the info. If you ever have any questions about lilies, come on over to the lily forum and just ask.

Here's info I found about Japanese Iris and soil:

At the time of division, the iris should be moved to a new location where japanese iris have not grown before. It appears that JI excrete something into the soil that causes the iris to lose their vigor over time and decline. It is recommended that something other than iris be planted in the soil since other types of iris will grow there but not vigorously. The one exception to this is soil that has a lot of water leaching through it such as soil under a downspout or by the side of a stream. Whatever is causing the iris to lose vigor appears to be removed by water leaching. Research is ongoing in Japan to determine what is causing this effect. Japanese iris in Japan are commonly grown in pots and it is easier to replace the soil the iris grow in.

Laurie,
I applaud your efforts to grow very hardy irises. The ones I got from you last year ALL look like they are alive and healthy. I am excited to see if any will bloom this year. That is interesting about the JL's. They would be easy to move front and center, also, if they are in pots when they bloom. It seems like it would be just as easy though, to dig them up and move them around in the garden though.
Sharon

Hi Sharon,

I'm thrilled to know the irises I sent are doing well for you, and I sure hope at least some of them bloom for you this year. Laura seems to be getting good bloom from the irises I sent her last summer, but of course she has a much longer growing season than you or I, so the irises had a lot more time to settle in for her.

Since I grow primarily irises, and since it is not recommended to grow any type of iris in soil that has recently grown JIs, I'd rather grow those particular beauties in pots than let garden space lie farrow while it recuperates from whatever nasties JIs excrete into it. If I grew a bunch of JIs, I'd probably go ahead and plant them in the ground, but with only seven of them, it's easier for me to do the pot thing. I'm sure, though, that my pot-grown JIs don't perform nearly as well or grow nearly as large as they would if they were in the ground. It's a trade-off, to be sure.

Laurie

I have grown JIs in heavy clay soil in a bed at the bottom of my sloping yard for at least 10 years. Sometimes the bed is under water for 6 months at a stretch and sometimes it dries out with cracks 8" deep and 1" wide. I usually forget to give them compost and never remember to fertilize them. I have divided the JIs a number of times and never had any problem with them dying out. In fact it's just the opposite.....that's why I have divided them so often. Usually when I divide them I don't dig up the whole plant. I take out pie-slice shaped sections and fill in with soil or compost.

The odd thing about this boggy bed is that some other plants that are supposed to need excellent drainage do well here too - plants like baptisia, daffodils, some asters and daylilies. On the other hand I have lost many plants in this bed too. LOL

Laurie,
I didn't realize that you mainly grow irises - I was thinking of course, of rotating other perennials with your JL's.

OMG! Talk about a beauty!!