While this species iris isn't your "regular" MDB, it is bearded.
Also 4 inches at bloom stage. Foliage reaches 4 inches in length, but because leaves arc, and do not grow vertically, height never surpasses 3 inches. Leaves are evergreen, even in Minnesota, and are just as fresh in the spring as in the previously fall.
The yellow form of Iris suaveolens.
Lovely Picture Leftwood
:)
A
WOW! I don't think I realized there were that many mini's out there! I've never noticed more than 3-4 at any given place. Those are awesome!
Here is a shot of my Gardens with some medians blooming and Dwarfs
This is a species as well I. lutecian this clump gets bigger no matter how many I seem to take away from it
Buckeye Baby Clump
Chubby Cherb Clump
Petite Shadow Clump
avmoran: who gets to name these little gems?
If any of you decide to thin your clumps I would love some starts. Minis aren't something I have many of. Just please put the name on them if you send me any so I can tag and stake/label for later identification. I am a shameless scrounge! LOL
I can't believe you already have blooms in Jan. We won't get iris blooms until sometime in April or May.
Mine aren't pics from this year, and I'm sure none of the others are, either.
Laurie
Gloria the Hybridizer or originator of the iris gets to name them.
If there is a death then usually the hybridizer or their family or the farm introducing the iris may be the naming authority
leaf Lady 90% of the pics are from this past April/May just passing the cold days of winter wil color and I love introducing others that may not have know about other types of iris other than tall bearded
Wait until you see the next group
Wow -- this is really inspiring -- thank you! Wouldn't it be nice if someone stepped forward to do a co-op for these!!! (Alas, my purse has been emptyed so many times for plants already this year!)
Avmoran, now that is a reasonable explaination. I couldn't figure out how you got blooms from iris this time of the year. LOL
Cant wait for the next group. This has been a wonderful adventure avmoran!
Beautiful pics Anita! Please show more pics of your gardens, they are gorgeous, neat and healthy looking.
This is my Historic bed needs reworking and reducing but it is at peak
Side garden Dwarf Just Starting
The short wall in front is the wetland garden it is 2' down and all down spouts empty into it
that was last year's project
Beautiful! Anita, how many different bearded iris do you have?
I have a total of 647 bearded cultivars including arils
12 Siberian cultivars
4 species wild collected
and about 300 seedlings at various stages both bearded, species and siberians
I have 1 Japanese in the pond but I expect it to die they hate me
:)
Anita
I am new to this type of iris though I bought a few from Laurie this summer, I do not expect bloom from them the first year. I am enjoying looking at the pics of what Alpine Lake, Blue Doll, Aurora Sea, Pink Blink, will be like in the future. It has been 17 below zero outside but we finally got some snow before it got so cold. I am glad really for we had really odd, warm weather in November, December and a high of fifty degrees weather in January, in fact, no snow until this past couple of weeks. My daffodils were poking up about an inch before the snow came and I was poking my MDB's and other irises back into the ground from frost heave. I am excited about learning about MDB's for it will extend my bloom season.
Being a HIPS member I was wondering what is involved in being a display garden. There are none in Maine and I am starting to collect quite a few historics, about 150 so far but most are baby stage right now.
Julianna
http://www.hips-roots.com/visitors/v-dg-frame.html
Contact Laetitia Munro I believe you must be a member of HIPS (Historic Iris Preservation Society) to be a display garden.
:)
Good Luck
Thank you for the link . Been a HIPS member for two years now so I will be having some bloom this year hopefully from the HIPS's iris sale when I first joined. Will check with Laetitia Munro about the display garden rules.
You have very beautiful irises from the pictures I have seen. Why would a japanese iris hate you? My Light At Dawn and Royal Robes like exactly the same conditions as the siberians. All need proper drainage, especially the ensata for the poison they create needs not to accumulate in the soil. They tend to kill themselves off from this over the years and other nearby plants. I do change the soil frequently around them when division time comes to prevent this. I am trying veriscolors this year thanks to Laurie.
I definately will be trying more MDB's and SDB's now I know more about them. I had a few DB's for years like Cherry Garden, Lenna M and Snow Maiden. I never knew how many different and beautiful types where out there. They sell the same kind of iris year after year here. This is like being in a candy store using the web and looking at your beautiful photos.
I am only a town away from the Maine Iris Society yet never attended a show until this year. School, work interferred, but what a waste. I am glad I attended this year and was surprised that quite a few historics were there. Pink Horizon won first place. The Society sold MDB's, SDB's, BB's and IB's during the show. I got to buy about 25 at a dollar a rhizome, all labeled with marker on the leaves but no pics or info. I got Serendipity Elf, Hoodlum, Cherry Child, Bumblebee Deelite, Infanta, Snow Tree, Dash Away, Bee's Knees, Yearling, Jesse Lee, Chantilly Dancer, Firestorm, Blue Moss. Only two so far did not make it, Little Show Off and Indian Footprint. Still trying to find info about Cherry Child, Infanta and Jesse Lee. I can not remember the others right now.Proceeds were really donations to the Society, so were the plants being sold. I had to look them up on the web to id them and found Laurie as a result. She chose some nice ones for me to try, requirement being different colors not, all the same. Some were obtained for noid identification. The hard part is waiting for them to start blooming.
Julianna
It sounds as if you are going in a great direction.
and the bug has you in its grip
:)
Little one seem to be more forgiving after moving but you are in the NORTH country so may take longer for bloom
some iris I have if I just change it to a new bed sulk for a year or two
:)
Have a Great Spring Julianna
:)
Anita
Hi Julianna,
If you check through your issues of ROOTS, you should find a description of the requirements and procedures for becoming a HIPS display garden. I don't think there's much to it, and you would surely qualify with the historics you're growing now.
I grow about a half dozen JIs in pots (making it easy to change their soil as necessary and preventing any leaching of toxins into the garden). They don't exactly thrive for me, but they do survive and occasionally even bloom. I'm just guessing, but perhaps Anita's soil isn't acidic enough for JIs.
You're going to love those versicolors. They are soooo easy and forgiving in my garden. Easier than Sibs. Tough as nails. Exceptionally hardy.
You got quite the wonderful deal at the Maine Iris Society sale! A few of my personal favorites on your list. It's interesting that you lost Little Show Off, though. I rarely lose SDBs, but LSO only lasted a year before it disappeared here. I was happy to see it bloom before it died, though. It is a pretty thing, but apparently not quite as hardy as its brethren.
It looks like this winter is going to be a real test for all of my irises (including your versicolor seedlings, Anita). We have only an inch or two of snow cover at present, and our temps are scheduled to take a dramatic dive into zone frigid this weekend. Anything that's still alive this spring will have proved its mettle!
Why does spring feel so much farther away in Jan than it does in Oct.?
Laurie
This message was edited Jan 31, 2007 1:42 PM
Becasue in October at least here it was 80oF and Now it is 8oF and you just know it is never going to be warm again
LOL
A
Thank you both for the encouragement. I will definately be attending the 2007 Maine Iris Society Show after that wonderful experience. The day was awful for me until I went there. Water in the cellar, eight inches when I said flood like rains. They still held the show and cheered me up greatly for many had the same problem. The flooding was not going to wreck the fun and those flowers looked extra bright and cheery to us that day.
Not usual weather for us so any iris that died I am not going to blame on being tender. I am going to respect greatly those that not only survived but attempted to bloom and made babies. I do agree that Little Show Off was not able to handle the extra wet soil this year. The fields and lower garden beds never dried out until September. On the other hand the Siberians, Japanese Irises were wonderfully huge. My daylilies, the ones not lost, had greater color.
I will check into becoming a display garden for Maine. Whether or not mine bloom this year I will enjoy your wonderful pictures and iris discussions.
Julianna
Pretty little flowers. I didn't know iris grew that small. LOVE that!
If anyone is willing to mail for postage or sell any, please dmail me.
