Irises at Shadowood!

This is a year when every bloom will be especially precious. My beds suffered substantial losses this year, probably resulting from the frigid, snowless days and nights of early Feb, followed by warming temps in March, followed by more freezing in April. It all proved too much for quite a few of my irises. Even the survivors were hit hard. Mature clumps were left with only a few viable rzs, and clumps that started growing strongly a few weeks ago are now inexplicably disappearing. It's going to be a tough year in the iris beds.

But ...

That's why each flower that manages to pop open is a special treat! Let the treats begin!

I'll start out posting just my maiden bloomers. The first maiden opened day before yesterday. It actually did bloom last year but the single flower was so badly deformed that I didn't even photograph it. And so, allow me to introduce ...

Sugar Maple (SDB)

I've been wanting to see this one in person for years. It is incredibly cute in the garden - full of color and contrast!

Being Busy (SDB)

This one looks very similar to both Golden Violet and Caution Sign, two of my earliest bloomers (in fact, GV opened my iris season three days ago).

Cornhusker Autumn (SDB)

This latest maiden arrived with the name 'Yak Attack', which it is not. It is, however, an absolutely adorable MDB or SDB; I'm not sure which because the two classes are blooming simultaneously, and my SDBs are blooming at MDB size and height this year. So this little cutie could be an MDB or an SDB. Wanda, this is one of the ones that came from Deb. It looks a lot like the pics I've seen of an MDB named 'African Wine'. Do you happen to know whether Deb grows AW? The only thing I know for sure is that it is ...

NOT Yak Attack

Hi Laurie!
Can you believe that it's sposta be 32 degrees tonite? I lost a bunch here, too.
Anyway, Caution Sign is blooming today.

And Double Byte.

This is the first year since I've been growing it that Caution Sign wasn't my first iris bloomer. I think it's punishing me for not dividing it last summer. I'm glad to see that it's being more cooperative for you this year, Boojum.

We're supposed to drop into the mid-30's Tues. and Wed. nights, but we're not predicted to drop below freezing anytime this coming week (knocking on wood).

Congrats laurief on the first teases of spring. Your STBs are lovely. And I am sure you will have more every day now.

Laurie -- here's a picture of my AW. Mine is the size of smaller SDBs when in bloom.

It only got to 41 here! Yay! Hafta look for cornhusker's tag and see if it made it. Love that one. Looks like you have AW, Laurie!

Another day, another pretty little maiden bloomer ...

Plum Wine (SDB)

Ack! Frost this morning with lots of iris buds swelling to burst forth. I hope this frost doesn't do them in.

Anyway, here are several more maiden bloomers over the last few days ...

Nessie (SDB)

Ahwahnee Princess (SDB)

Black Suede (SDB)

Whoops!

Black Suede WITH PHOTO

Jelly Belly

Jelly Belly (SDB)

Laurie I love Nessie, is it clumping well for you? Did it bloom the first year or has it taken a few to settle in? I think it would be great next to my Sea Monster (well, maybe in close proximity LOL).

Roni, I planted Nessie in 2005, so she took two yrs to settle in before blooming. I think I actually have two little clumps started out there, but I don't think either one of them has more than a few rzs yet. I have her planted in a completely separate bed on the opposite side of the house from your Sea Monster. I'd hate to see those two doing battle in my iris beds! ;-)

I think that a battle in the irises would be a site to see. Especially the way that Sea Monster clumps here! :)

Two more delicious maidens have opened today, and I LOVE them both!

This one is absolutely luscious in rich chocolate hues.

Indian Beauty (SDB)

Though a bit misshapen with the late frosts and perhaps a whiff of Roundup drift, the colors, patterns, and blending on this baby are undeniably intriguing.

Escape Hatch (SDB)

Whoa! That is so unusual, Laurie!

Hope your season is still going to produce beautiful blooms like these in spite of the tough winter. Love the last two especially.
Julianna

When it froze here in Oklahoma in April .
i wandered weather north would suffer
well frost and freezing In May are Awful .
Not a iris year ,in much of the USA
We had three weeks of rain and now getting some rot in beared iris.
Heck ! heck !
Worst of all I lost my " Death by Chocolate "moving it to new house and late freezes done it in.
My favorite little one.

Laurie,
What precisely does maiden mean when referring to iris? Is it the first time a seedling has bloomed or is it the first time a cultivar has bloomed for you?

"Maiden" refers to the first time an iris has bloomed. In some cases, that means the first time a seedling has bloomed; in other cases, it means the first time an iris has bloomed in a particular garden. I'm using it in the latter sense. The irises pictured in this thread are registered cultivars that are blooming in my particular garden for the first time this year.

Julianna, I am continuing to get some bloom, and I'm particularly pleased to be able to see some maiden bloom on unfamiliar faces. I'm trying to overlook the enormous losses in the beds and focus on each individual bloom that opens, few and far between though they may be.

Tazzy, I was holding out hope that all the late freezing weather than wiped out so much iris bloom further south would leave my beds unaffected since they had barely broken dormancy in early April when that extended cold front moved through. In my heart, though, I knew I'd have substantial losses back in Feb when we experienced a week or two of sub-zero temps with virtually no snow cover. I wish I'd been wrong, but I wasn't. The majority of my TBs were wiped out. Nothing but a mass of rot in the TB rows. On the bright side, though, I did find a surviving rz of Death by Chocolate last time I checked.

Laurie

Thanks for the info and my deepest condolences for the loss of your babies.

Three more maidens today. Two are light blue SDBs which I am very glad to see. I particularly love the light blues because they look so beautiful next to most other colors - purple, pink, yellow, white, peach, lavender, red. They make visually harmonious partners for nearly any other iris. Light blue also has a calming effect on my soul.

Sapphire Gem (SDB)

This is a lovely lady who is not who she claims to be. I acquired her with the name 'Jump Start", which she is not. JS is an IB, which this pretty thing might be in spite of the fact that she is blooming at SDB size and height this year. She is not, however, even close to JS's color.

NOT Jump Start

Chicory Charm (SDB)

Three more maidens so far today. Should be a couple more before the end of the day unless we get an unexpected downpour.

Imbue (SDB)

Rare Penny (SDB)

This poor little guy has put forth a valiant effort to bloom at all this year, and I am grateful for the attempt. For all his tenacity, though, the best he could manage was a misshapen bloom no more than 1" across. Still, his colors are there, and I have no doubt he'll look MUCH better next year.

Ace of Clubs (SDB)

Laurie

Any that I have extra that can help towards replacing your loss, let me know. You helped me last year that way after the flood so most of mine are still babies but I can reserve them historics or not first extras that comes along can be held out for you if you want them. Just give me a list of what you are interested after reading mine on garden web. Check under Zintal.

Julianna

laurie--so many pretty and unusual pics of your early irises! They are so interesting.

Sorry to hear that you lost so many of your collection. It has been a really trying year so far in the garden, hasn't it? I'm about ready to give it up it's been so disappointing. Most of the short and medium iris you sent me survived but I haven't had blooms yet.

Patience and perserverence are so essential for the happy gardener aren't they?! t.

Julianna, you are so incredibly sweet! Thank you for your wonderful offer. I'll email you privately.

tabasco, don't give up. Let me explain my iris philosophy to you. Perhaps it will help you put things into a different perspective.

I love irises. I love the elegant and graceful form of iris flowers, the extraordinary range of color and pattern, the fragrance of many of them, the variety of sizes, the bloom period that can be extended by growing irises of different types. Simply put, they add irreplaceable beauty to my life. I would love to see every iris ever created in bloom in my garden, no matter how unachievable that goal truly is.

However, I already have more space planted in irises than I can reasonably maintain, and I'm not inclined to create more beds that I know I won't be able to keep up with. Also, since I garden in such an extremely severe climate and in iris-hostile clay, I just can't bring myself to remove any iris that manages to survive here, no matter how visually unimpressive the flowers may be. So how am I to be able to grow and see new and different irises in bloom?

The answer is simple. I welcome Ma Nature's ruthless assistance in weeding the weaklings out of my iris beds. When she sweeps through with a vengeance and leaves empty hole after empty hole in my iris rows, I no longer lament the losses. Instead, I see those empty holes as opportunities to add new irises - new irises that I haven't yet had the great joy of seeing bloom in person! I'm already dreaming of all the new additions for which I now have room.

I'm not going to claim that I haven't cringed at the losses this year, but I certainly don't waste time dwelling on them, and I'm not about to let them discourage me from enjoying the beauty of irises in my garden. I figure by now I've probably grown (or attempted to grow) at least 1500 different irises over the last decade. That only leaves about 58,500 to go. :-)

Don't sweat the small stuff.

Laurie

That's a great philosophy, Laurie. Reminds me of Ensata Gardens Bob and John. Fine Gardening (I think it was) did an article on them, and said they just loved bearded iris, and killed off every one, because their soil was so inhospitable to them. So finally they tried Japanese, and of course we all know where it went from there.

Polly, I didn't know that about Bob and John and their journey into beardless irises, but I can certainly relate. I don't think I'll ever be without my beardeds, but the quest to find the classes and cultivars that can handle my climate and growing conditions certainly continues. I don't think I'll be wasting space on any more TBs, but the MDBs and many of the medians are still worthy garden residents here. I still want as extended an iris bloom season as possible, and the only way to achieve that is to grow all of the bearded classes and as many of the beardless as I can figure out how to make happy.

Right now I'm just waiting for it to warm up a bit before I go out and see which irises have opened for me today.

Laurie

Ah, I see. Very thoughtful outlook on iris gardening!

Although I like irises, I'm more into designing garden beds using color and shape of irises and a variety of other shrubs, perennials and annuals and when one planting doesn't show up, the omission ruins my 'strategy' and drives me crazy!