Share your early bloomers

Deb,
'EASTERTIDE' rebloomed in the fall for me this past fall. I've had it for almost 3 years now, it bloomed in spring, but also rebloomed in fall. That could be why yours is blooming way ahead of schedule.

Hi Dorothie,
' APRIL JEWEL' is really quite a bit more on the orange side than 'CORAL POINT' is. It also has much wider form. Both of those varieties have healthy plant habits and are quite vigorous - good growers and increasers! You have a good eye for seeing how much they tend to resemble each other. :-)

~Margie

Hi Margie! How fun. Eastertide is so beautiful and also reblooms. Its funny. I have both April Jewel and Coral Point and never thought that they looked so much like each other.

Margie: Thanks for the info on Eastertide. A rebloom would be wonderful!
Deb

Is it OK to mulch between the clumps so long as the rhizomes aren't covered by the mulch?

Gee I've never tried it. Hadn't considered it but it would help keep down the weeds.

woodspirit.. I have mulch in my bed and it doesn't seem to bother them.. like you said.. just make sure rhizome isn't covered

Thanks. Now I need to know the name of that Bayer stuff you can apply to prevent borers.

I use mulch in my iris beds. I try to put my iris up on little mounds so that when it rains really hard, the mulch doesn't flow from around the iris onto them. That seems to help. I just have to mulch up to the iris to keep the weeds from totally taking over. I also try to check my beds after a rain to see if I need to brush the mulch away from the iris.

As far as I can tell it's Bayer Advanced Lawn Season Long Grub Control Ready to Spread Granuals Or Merit of the same name.
Read:
http://www.irisgarden.org/regbul0302.pdf

This message was edited Mar 15, 2007 6:27 PM

Hey, I finally found my paperwork, my iris isn't Edith Somethingorother... it's Blue Rhythm (Whiting, 1945)
http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=3277922
And yes Louise you are the Iris Lady !

;-) Dovey!

Here is my first bloom. Don't know the name, but if anyone else does, I would be very interested.

So nice to see blooms!!!

Shuggins: IRB Eleanor Roosevelt? Maybe? It was my first bloomer this year, and yours looks the same.
Deb

Here's a few I took yesterday.
This is Camelot Rose...

Here's Color Burst.

Rock Star.

(I knocked one of the petals off towards the right, did I do a good repair job??!!?)



This message was edited Mar 20, 2007 9:01 AM

The next 2 are LA's.
Ashley Michelle.

Rhett.

And the last 2 are unknown TB's. They both are very proficient bloomers but I don't know their names.
Feel free to ID if you can.
This one is a light purple/blue.

This one is a beautiful white, look at the yellow on it.

Margie, have I improved??!!!?

One more thing, if you see that any of the photos I post are the wrong name, please let me know. I've tried to be as precise as possible but you never know what you're getting now do you???!!?!?

Tell me about it! I've got six that are wrong in my beds.

So, I'm not the only one! Good to hear that happens to the experts too, Wanda!

Weegie,
My yes! :-) Your photography has indeed improved greatly!! Lovely!! Keep up the good work!!

by the way - - I think your "COLORBURST" is misnamed. check out:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/60360/index.html

AIS description: S. copper-bronze; F. imperial purple, banded copper-bronze; yellow-orange beard.
I've seen that one of yours before, if I remember the correct name I'll let you know.

Expert? Ha! Fat chance. Just a beginner with 50 years experience.... LOL

AIS descriptions are too vague & color subjective. I would like to see more pictures of iris like HIPS historic iris database http://www.hips-roots.com/visitors/v-frame-menu.html & Dave's database. I would like a bloom size too like daylilies added --it would help in some cases.

Thanks Margie, I know Colorburst looks totally different than yours. I got that one from one of my customers and had hoped it wasn't mismarked. Please if you do remember the name, let me know.
Wanda, LOL!

Here's Square Dance Skirt. It's a real performer and blooms for a very long time.

Candy Rock

And the very best. One of Margiempv's seedlings. The flower is huge.

Hi Dorothie,
Is that "seedling" from the seeds I sent you? Do you remember the cross? (the parent's names)? Are there other "seedlings" that will be opening soon too? Those dark red shoulders remind me a little of "Burst". The unusual veining and coloring the falls is ....... well............unusual. :-)

Wanda, bloom size added to the descriptions of irises is a good idea. Who knows - maybe someday.

~Margie

Margie - the tags disappeared unfortunately. It does remind me a little of burst but that wasn't a parent you sent me. The flower is quite huge and not small like Burst either. More like Burst on vitaminsd. It's absolutely breathtaking. Do you want it back? Or is it too unusual? It's not ready to divide yet but I'd send it to you.

Actually - - it's not mature yet, Dorothie. It's needs at least 2 bloom seasons to mature. This is it's first.

A seedling when it blooms for the very first time is called "maiden bloom". (Sometimes you will hear others call anything that blooms in their yard for the first time "maiden bloom"........ but in reality it is not "maiden bloom") It is the first time that it is blooming for THEM, ** but the accurate use of the term "maiden bloom" is strictly for seedlings - when THEY bloom for the very first time.

Many times by the second year a seedling changes. The form is usually better/fuller, the coloring and markings can change (not drastically of course), and the branching and budcount is also usually higher.

** I'd be interested if you noted if the rest of the blooms are identical - - or if each bloom is different. If they are different, would you mind posting those? I don't remember the cross either. But, you're right it wasn't "Burst".

~Margie

OK< I"ll take baby photos of it and send you an album. LOL No I'll send them to you as they come along. Hopefully they will stay true to the first flower. It's so stunning.

doss - Candy Rocks is awesome

And Margie your seedling...well, it Rocks! They are both lovely flowers. Thanks for sharing.

this is my second iris to bloom - unfortunately the neighbors cat had a party in my raised bed this winter and I am going to have to go get the list of what I bought last fall and try to match up with them as they bloom!

audrey

Oh, sorry MrsJ. That's a pretty white. I hope that you get them all sorted out.

Me too Audrey. It looks just like one I "inherited" and have never been able to I.D. :)
Deb

Bloomed on Saturday, another opened further down the stem today and there are 3 others on the same stem waiting to open. Rained all day, thank goodness. Will update when the others bloom.

What a pretty historic old lady you have there Lou. I love to come across these.

This is 'Square Dance Skirt'. I realized after I posted it that I had already posted it.


This message was edited Mar 26, 2007 8:01 PM