Laurie, your Blue Doll was first to open but it was only three inches tall this year. Pink Blink died. It was subjected to a freeze then 80 degrees the next two days. Maiden bloom of Blue Doll.
This message was edited May 15, 2007 2:48 AM
This message was edited May 15, 2007 6:00 PM
Snow Tree Maiden Bloom after a frost of 29 degrees. It too was only three inches tall. One rhizome from Laurie and one from Maine Iris Society Show.
This message was edited May 27, 2007 2:58 PM
Smell The Roses was more SDB size and has a bee in it. True color, more blue here possibly the soil or cold but it does fade to a more purple shade as the bloom gets old.
This message was edited May 26, 2007 2:27 PM
First IB to bloom Ask Alma. Been raining for three days and I guess won't stop until Sunday. Reduces fire problems but my gardens are getting weedy. From Maine Iris Society Show.
This message was edited May 27, 2007 2:59 PM
My iris season just ended. Thanks for sharing your photos.
cactus patch:
I loved being able to look at photos of irises while there was still two ft. of snow around here. Glad to share mine back.
Cherry Garden, Copenland tulips and Doronicum. Still raining here. Later I will take a nice mature clump picture but the clump is in a maltese cross wooden raised bed in a less protected area so is not blooming yet but sent up many bloom stalks.
A very wet Eyebright. Most of the blooms were tattered by heavy rain but I got a few blooms today. Baby Blessed has not finished opening yet. Should be by tomorrow.
Baby Blessed just opened up this evening. Maiden Bloom in my garden after wintering here.
Firestorm Maiden bloom. From Maine Iris Society Show.
This message was edited May 27, 2007 3:00 PM
Caution Sign just opening Cherry Garden and Snow Maiden inter mixed with doronicum, copenland tulips, daylilies, lilium, and golden oxford tulips. The sun finally came out and it feels good!
I feel in a silly mood today, where's waldo? Can you find serendipity elf and firestorm?
Serendipity Elf Maiden bloom. From Maine Iris Society Show.
This message was edited May 27, 2007 3:00 PM
Caution Sign maiden bloom
Eyebright not drowned.
Mainer,
I absolutely LOVE Serendipity Elf :)
I'm also in Maine. Kinda challenging to garden here sometimes huh?
I had my first Iris bloom (I don't keep the names), it's a dwarf and very cute :)
WOW, the Serendipity Elf is amazing!
Kim
Hi Kim
It is a challenge to grow iris in Maine. I have clay like soil so have to add lots of sand to make things drainable. It flooded last year and wiped out most of my iris that I had for thirty years, lots of old ones we had when I was a child were destroyed. So with close to 18 inches water in my basement, sump pump was working but no place for the water to go. Lucky I am my cellar is dirt but the furnace is down there.
I went to the Maine Iris Society Show in Auburn Me that day so did my Mother and husband and we cheered up at the sight of those beautiful blooms on such a gloomy day and of course we bought new ones. These are what I call maiden bloom, not been blooming in my garden before.
I met Laurie from Shadowood another HIPS member while I was identifying my new iris and she introduced me to MDB's and versicolors. I got the reg types too but I never knew about MDB's extending our iris season until she told me about them. They bloom around May 9th or 10th around here.
I do belong to HIPS as a member and have been tagging the iris this year as soon as I pick up metal tags to hopefully have a display garden next year, there are none in Maine.
Peak bloom is around the 9th of June so the Maine Iris Society Show is scheduled for that day at the Auburn Middle School. I intend to be there. I want to ask questions about their organization, see the beautiful iris, they had nine historics there last year, I got pics of most of them, and I want to get some more irises from them.
Serendipity Elf was one of the ones I got from them last year for only a dollar. The local Maine Iris Society members share the iris old and new. They dig from their gardens any extras they might have and on the day of the show non members may come and buy some rhizomes too. The proceeds are really a donation for the Maine Iris Society and it gives the Mainers a chance to get expensive irises at a reasonable price removing the postage rate and oil heating in a green house problems. This was started back awhile for it was like around their 45th show but all this was new to me last year, we only expected to see the iris not knowing about the sale they provided us with a plastic bag told us to get in line and to gather what we wanted. They count them at the end of the gathering a dollar a rhizome it was last year. I plan to join this year and learn more as I go. I know nothing about the showing or judging end of things.
Our most famous Maine iris representative was Dr. Currier McEwen who bred Sibirians Butter and Sugar, Silver Edge, Polly Dodge, and many other irises. He lived in Harpswell Maine, hence the name Harpswell Happiness and others have it include in their names. Harpwell is an island or part of a series of islands so they get very wet weather. At The Maine Iris Society Show they do have a Dr. Currier McEwen award that is given to the best Siberian of the Show. He lived to be older than 100 years old. Naturally with all the rain we got last year my Siberians and Ensatas did very well. They like moist soil as long as it drains.
Your iris is very cute and if you are interested in a source for reasonable iris that bloom at this time, no TB's for that is another sale entirely they hold an auction for the bigger iris usually after they are done blooming in July, for the small ones up to IB's attend the show. I can not guarantee Serendipity Elf will be there this time but it might be.
You will see TB's at the show but the members usually swap among themselves and sometimes hold auctions for non members throughout the year it may be perennials like they did in May this year. TB's in July, siberians and ensata and daylilies in Sept. Not every year do they hold all three but last year they did. Schedules and directions to the Middle School should be posted on their website by now.
The rhizomes are in paper bags and labeled and it is an honor system, one rhizome per bag per person and giving the persons in the back of the line a chance is a must. Persons in the front pass the bags to the back. I got about twenty seven different kinds to try and they had many more but I did not have a clue what I was buying except for two. All were clearly labeled but Serendipity Elf was an unknown to me. I am glad we picked it.
The most hardy SDB's I had that even survived the flood and heavy rains was Snow Maiden and Cherry Garden. Of course they are prolific too. Got extras for sure of those most every year.
Grin.
WOW, you really know your Iris!
That sale sounds WONDERFUL! Auburn....I think that's about an hour for me.
I have the opposite problem with my soil. We have extreme acidic sand. There was a fire back in 1942 I think it was that wiped out all of West Kennebunk and because of it the soil is extremely acidic. We have 3 acres and 2 of them are covered in the small Maine blueberries, lady slippers and for some reason I have hazelnut trees in the back woods.
I have a handful of Iris and at one time they all had names (so did my daylilies) but I took all the name tags off. I have decided not to be a collector but more an admirer. The name is not important to me, the look of the flower is :)
I found I was stressing to keep everything named and then I didn't like the looks of the "headstones" (markers) in my garden and hubby didn't like them either so I took them all out and decided no matter what the name of the iris is, I was just going to enjoy it for it's flower :) I don't have the space or the ambition to get too much into collecting outside plants as I try to obsess over names etc. for my houseplants instead. I prefer collecting houseplants as I can enjoy those year round. But for $1.00 each, I would certainly love to attend the show. Right now though, I'm out of work and I know that things are going to get quite tight for a while. Long story :(
So nice to see another Mainer :)
Kim
Kim
I can relate to that. Jobs went out of Maine and that trend is not reversing. Oil prices are not helping the situation. Not working either, greenhouse shut down where I was working part time hence the big reason I own so many plants. Live on a 3.8 acre farm and it was flooded last year, took all summer to dry out. I am very allergic to nickel which is in hydrogenated foods, cigarette smoke and gasoline fumes make it hard for me to find jobs but the hubby is working thankfully. Gardening is my healing process when I am cooped up most of the time because of my allergy. Photography of my plants is another hobby I enjoy.
No room in our small house to grow houseplants except aloe vera and a christmas cactus so I enjoy outside. Like you I feel the beauty of the plants is first priority.
Bet your land is beautiful if it has lady slippers and blueberries and things.
Whew! 90 degrees in the shade! Not Maine weather usually until July. Still a few blooms bravely opened up today.
Boo
Little Episode maiden bloom.
Prescious Little Pink maiden bloom.
Serenity Prayer.
Almost lost this one this spring when two feet of snow left on the 80 degree day. Cooked it I think. I had moved one to another spot and it looks much better than the one in triangle number 1 of my wooden maltese cross raised bed.
Snow Maiden is showing signs of not liking the 90 degree in the shade weather. Today the apple blossom petals are falling everywhere so are in my shots.
You've got some beauties. I really like the looks of Boo! Very few of mine bloomed this year, so they better put on a double good next season.
susan
Hi,
LOVE your collection of iris,I only really started seriously last year so I will only see a few of them bloom this year I guess.Have high hopes for some of them.One opened today ,will post a picture later.
I have been wanting to go to Auburn for the last 2 years and something always came up.Probably going to join ,the same with the Maine Daylily society.
Are you both going ?
Brigitte
Thanks Susan. Boo is one of my favorites too. It is delicate looking, an historic, and blooms every year for me even in the flood like rains it bloomed for me. Nice to know it tolerates the heat too.
I hope your iris are making babies so you get a beautiful bloom season next year. I feed mine the end of March or in April if the snow has not yet gone. Then again in July because fall comes early around here beginnning of Sept is usually our first frost. I live in a cold area on top of a big hill near Androscoggin River but a few miles away it is zone 6 near the ocean. They alway bloom before me and after me not getting frost until near Oct.
I decided last year cold or not to let my rhizomes be halfway out of the soil instead of burying them the way I did before. It increased my blooms this year. I lost only a few iris so I will risk it again this year.
Julianna
Brigitte,
Would love to see the blooms you get this year.
Same problem. I only live in the next town yet work was scheduled wrong, or something else like a school, I went to college in the summer all year round actually to earn a degree a few courses at a time. We, my Mother and my husband went last year for the first time and I saw what we missed out on and we will go again this year.
Julianna
This message was edited May 26, 2007 2:27 PM
Susa maiden bloom.
Susa up close. It is short this year like most of my iris.
Windrose maiden bloom. From Maine Iris Society Show.
This message was edited May 27, 2007 3:01 PM
Lenna M did not care for the 90 degree weather but it opened.
Julianna,
You have some really georgeous ones there.Did you know there are 2 iris Co0-op's going on right now for all us iris addicts :-) go look and see if you can say no.One of them are offering 50% off,
Brigitte
firestorm rocks my boat . have to get that baby
thank you for sharing your garden with us
patty
Brigitte
No I did not know. What is a co-op?
Thanks Patty. Firestorm was one of those obtained from the Maine Iris Society Show. It seems to just glow in the garden.
Avanelle became a historic this year. From Maine Iris Society Show.
This message was edited May 27, 2007 3:02 PM
Candy Queen at first only had three petals so I waited for the other bloom to open. It did today. Maiden bloom.
From Maine Iris Society Show.
This message was edited Jun 7, 2007 12:07 AM
Lemon Pop maiden bloom. From Maine Iris Society Show.
This message was edited Jun 7, 2007 12:08 AM
Julianna,
try this link to see if it works ?
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/725661/
The Co-op forum is found among all of the forums.Many gardeners getting together to share purchases and therefore save money.The selection is usually mindboggling :-) there is also another iris Co-op by Brenda but I just noticed that it is closed.Maybe she would take on Co-op newbie ? Have fun looking,
Brigitte
