My first thread was starting to take a while to load over my modem connection, so it seems wise to start a new one.
Continuing on with the 2006 maiden bloomers here at Shadowood ...
This little cutie is an historic dwarf registered as an MDB, but it's blooming a stalk with a branch here, which implies it's actually an SDB. Its foliage is also 2-3 times as wide and tall as any of the other MDBs.
Little Mohee, MDB (yeah, right)
This little newbie is perhaps my darkest MDB to date. Very nice! Why anyone would give such a name to such a tiny flower is beyond me, but hey, nobody asked my opinion! LOL!
Black Stallion, MDB
I don't know why this one's falls are so recurved. I've seen pics of it blooming like normal with petals extended. Perhaps it just needs another year to acclimate here. I can't fault any iris that manages to bloom its first spring here, though.
Sixteen Candles, IB
Apricot Party, SDB
Six more maidens opened today. Well, seven if you count the misIDed historic TB that went from three names to zero (more on that later).
Patacake, SDB
This one grabbed me the second I spotted it, and it didn't let go!
Starbaby, SDB
'Patacake' is so pretty...and, of course, I love 'Starbaby'. That baby is always a star in my garden!
This one is truly lovely. I don't know if the photo shows it clearly, but it has a very pleasing lavender flush on the falls when freshly open. The flush does fade after a few hours, though.
Peach Parasol, BB
This one has wonderful vivid colors, but I suspect the bloom will look better tomorrow after it relaxes a bit. We had a good chance of thunderstorms today and tomorrow, so I didn't want to risk not getting a pic of it at all.
Blast, IB
Irises don't get much more classic or more historic than this one. A serene blue white.
Florentina, TB
I lost this one before I saw him bloom the first time I tried him. It's a good thing he decided to bloom this time around. Very few irises get three strikes in my garden!
Oklahoma Bandit, IB
Here's "used to have 3 names, now has none". A friend received this as a leftover from a club sale and passed it along to me. It was marked "Great Lakes, Copper Lustre, or Wabash". It was explained that those three clumps had grown into each other in the contributor's garden, so it was unknown which of the three cultivars this rhizome would be.
No problem, I thought, since those three cultivars are decidedly different from each other. It would be easy to figure out which of the three it was when it bloomed ... unless ... it's none of the above! It does, however, look very much like Nightshade which opened yesterday just a few feet away from it.
NOT Great Lakes, Copper Lustre, or Wabash
And last but not least tonight is Nightshade. Not a maiden; I'm posting it for comparison with the previous misIDed iris.
Nightshade, TB
I wasn't going to post this pathetic little thing, but then I thought, "What the heck, at least it'll give a vague idea of the color." This opened several nights ago then immediately got hit with frost in the morning before I could get out to the bed to rescue it. There were two little stalks on this first year plant. One had one bloom that was completely melted, and the other stalk had collapsed and withered with the frost, leaving only this remnant of a flower behind.
Violet Lulu, SDB
Love Oklaholma Bandit! Glad it bloomed for you.
I can't say I care for the open form, but this one does have wonderful dark color.
Dark Avenger, IB
I've got a little bit of everything opening today, MDB throughTB.
Not sure why Sutton's introduced this one. It's very narrow through the hafts and essentially the same colors as several of my other MDBs that have superior form. All I can see that it has going for it is that it blooms so late that it extends the MDB season.
Mighty Mouse, MDB
Sherlock, SDB
This one has me stumped. Several years ago, I purchased what was supposed to be Little Black Belt (dark purple) from Sutton's. Last year it maiden bloomed looking very much like Auroralita (yellow plic). I sent pics to Sutton's, and they thought it might be Auroralita, so I requested that they send me a piece of Auroralita in lieu of replacing it with Little Black Belt so that I could grow the not LBB side by side with Auroralita and see if that's what it really is. So this spring they are both blooming and they look very much alike. HOWEVER, not LBB bloomed TEN DAYS earlier than Auroralita, and they're planted only 1' apart! They were also both planted into that bed last summer. The only difference is that not LBB was transplanted as a small clump from another part of my iris beds and has been here long enough to be fully acclimated to my growing conditions, while Auroralita moved here as a single rz from CA last summer. Do you suppose that the lack of acclimation to this climate could have caused the ten day delay in bloom on Auroralita? Should I assume these are the same cv just because they look alike in spite of the difference in bloom commencement?
BTW, I LOVE this SDB! At least I LOVE my not LBB version. It is incredibly vigorous and floriferous. Really quite impressive in the garden.
Auroralita, SDB
Prince of Burgundy, IB
Not too impressed with the form of this flower, but perhaps it's a result of the this frosts last week. I'm waiting to see if the later buds on the stalk look nicer.
Goddess of Yellow, IB
I've wanted this one for a long time ever since I first spotted its pic in a catalog. I've seen it in photos appearing anywhere in the color spectrum from grey to brown. I was hoping for grey, since that's such a unique color in the iris repertoire. What's blooming here today is a brown plic -- not the grey of my dreams, but still a very attractive flower. It can stay. :-)
Persian Wood, IB
A very old and exquisitely classic, historic iris.
Zua, IB
Laurie, love the Peach Parasol. Do you have an extra rhizome of that one?
Don't know if I have anything that could tempt you with all the iris that you grow, but willing to try.
Maxine
Maxine, I'll D-Mail you tonight after I finish outside chores.
Wampum, IB
Laurie,
With regard to Auroralita, I have several iris that were planted at the same time and are between 1-2 feet apart. However, they bloomed as many as 7-10 days apart. I have found that iris of the same cultivar (in my garden at least) will bloom from West to East. So the one on the west side blooms first and then the one on the East. Don't know why but it has happened several times.
edited for spelling
This message was edited May 27, 2006 9:59 PM
Thanks, TD. I took the last, withered bloom from one of my clumps of not LBB and held it right next to the fresh bloom on Auroralita. They are an exact match. Since this is a rather unique looking flower in the SDB class (or any class, for that matter), I'm comfortable overlooking the rather broad difference in bloom commencement on these first year plants. I now believe that not LBB is, in fact, Auroralita.
Laurie
Hi they are pretty and wumpum and mighty mouse and oklahoma bandit very cool..Sharon
Another nice batch of maidens opened today. I can barely keep up with all the bloomers each day now. It's an AMAZING year for bloom!
I'll start with my two favorite maidens of the day. This first one captured me with such soft, watercolor hues that it immediately calmed my frantic pace through the beds and inspired me to stop to absorb its peaceful aura. It cleansed my visual palate in a most delightful way. By one of my very favorite hybridizers, Cy Bartlett.
Eleanor Clare, IB
I had no idea what this one would look like other than I assumed it would be blue. No surprise there. What DID surprise me, though, were the larger than normal flowers, the satisfyingly relaxed ruffles, and the beautiful shade of light blue with dark accents at the hafts. The flower also has an interesting mottled appearance, but I'm guessing that's a manifestation of my northern MN climate rather than a consistent trait. It all makes for a very lovely presentation.
Fantastic Blue, IB
Coralie, TB (historic)
Blue Eyed Blond, IB
Why Two Kay, SDB
Court Magician, SDB
Vibrant and cheerful!
Vavoom, SDB
Hi Laurie,
They are all so beautiful and I enjoy seeing your historics. Here is my best SDB so far-Devoted.
boojum,
That's the second pic of Devoted I've seen this spring that has left me drooling. What a beautiful little iris. Is it a vigorous clumper?
Laurie
Dunno. Just bought it last year, but it survived in an area where I lost a bunch, so I'm hoping for clumps!
LOTS of new faces have opened here over the last two days. Let the parade continue ...
I've been waiting for this one for a few years. It's a very nice creamy yellow.
Gilded Cream, TB
This one is supposed to be a fairly reliable, cold-climate rebloomer. Time will tell whether it can do so this far north.
Constant Companion, IB
