Blooms starting!

Thanks Tntigger, I would love to see a picture and to see how well it has grown for her. I wonder if anyone has tried Austar Pink?

Parjaritomt, love the pink, pink is my favorite, I will send on this gorgeous pink, I lucked out in getting, no name though, I have several pinks, and this is one of the best. Hunter pink is also good, that I got from mid-america. I was told that Ovation which is a historic is one of the best if not the best all time pinks, I bought it last year and hope to have a bloom this year.

That is a lovely pink. Too bad that, like me, you don't know the name I had wondered how good Hunter Pink would be. Hadn't heard of Ovation, but will look to see what it looks like. It is great to compare notes like this!

and my Golden Immortal opened up this am:) it is usually the first also Juicy fruit, I will send a pic of juicy fruit another fav

you are right, like the beverly sills, funny that one is so well loved, but i really have a hard time with it, I have hundreds of others, but beverly may not ever be one:)

Was that Golden Immortal? Amazing. it is so much pinker than the Golden Immortal you posted above in this thread. it seems to change with age. Very beautiful!a
Hunter Pink and Ovation sound like they are worth a try.

the last picture was Juicy Fruit, the yellow farther up was golden immortal. I bought several pinks, to find out which ones are the best, pinkest etc... I thought why not buy several different ones then you will know as it will be clear seeing it for yourself with your own eyes:)

LOVE Juicy Fruit!!!

I love Juicy Fruit as well! Mostly pink but with just a little gold. Very nice. Good idea about buying different ones to ses which does best. I guess you don't know yet? Or do you have recommendations.

Juicy fruit is a true performer, one of the first to bloom each season and blooms like crazy. I had a long row of it last year and it was wonderful to see.

drooling here and can't wait for mine to bloom.
Elaine

I am jealous! I am new to irises, tried a few last year and for some reason they flowered just above the soil. Also the foilage seemed distorted. I am not sure if I planted them too deep, or if the soil in that area was bad etc. I dug them up and never got around to re planting them.

In the fall, I planted yellow and white 'symphony' and purple and yellow 'saphire beauty'. I didnt want to take a chance on putting them in the flower bed again, so I planted them in pots in the front yard. there is foilage, but no flower buds yet... Is this normal for my zone? I LOVE these flowers and am dying to get them to grow in my junkyard!

If you know of some great places I could order bulbs for next year...that would be a wonderful help. (the ones I planted in the fall were from our local hardware store...)

I would much appreciate all the help I can get :)

oneanjl,
I know that people grow bearded iris in your area, but I don't know a lot about how they do it. I met some ladies from an Iris club in your area who had hundreds of irises each. I would work with a nursery to learn what they need in your area. You can plant them too deep. Bearded iris should have the top of the rhizome exposed to the sun -- the rest buried. Stunting that you describe can also come from an early spring freeze, while blooms are forming. I wonder if you had one in LA that year.
Iris survive in flower pots but I don't have great luck with them blooming in flower pots. I just use the pots as a temporary location. I have had a couple of them bloom in pots, but it isn't all that common for me.
I would talk to your local nursery or join the local chapter of the American Iris Society for help. The local chapter would be most helpful. The following list has two AIS chapters in your area, but I have no idea which one is closest to you. You could probably find out with a phone call if there are others. Iris people are usually very friendly.

http://www.californiagardenclubs.org/html/Membership/plantsocieties.html

oneanjl,

I have a lot of bearded iris and only a few of them are blooming now, but they are the "rebloomers", the majority of mine are leaves only....

You do want to make sure you have not planted them too deep....but out here they do need a little protection from heat/sun, so I still plant each one on a little mound, but bring the soil up around the rhizome...I do not cover the rhizome completely, and I do water much more frequently than they do back east and in cooler climates.... mine are in a raised bed with dayliles, miniature roses and a few perennials, they get drip irrigation 3X a week in the summer and once a week in the winter...I feed the whole bed once a month with miracle gro, and every other month with Bayer Systemic rose and plant food.....

hope this helps

audrey

Hi mrsj,

Like you -- most of mine are leaves only too, with those leaves being not so tall. 2 rebloomers are blooming at this time - - Pure as Gold and Lichen ( http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/61451/. ) Lichen is SO much greener during the cold weather months.

PURE AS GOLD is pictured below:

This is my first Iris bloom. Just bloomed last week and still has buds on the scape. I don't know the name it was given to me by a friend.

Thank you Margie and Lyle,
It is so energizing to see your flowers blooming. Margie, I love both Pure as Gold and Lichen and Lyle, yours is georgeous, too.
I am probably almost 3 months from my first iris bloom, though I might get some fruit tree flowers in 2 months. Sigh. Your pictures help me to hang in there through this interminable winter.
I do hope you will both post your flower pictures as they come on. And to think you are the next state over from NM but your season is so much earlier!

pajaritomt, ......actually since these are rebloomers they always start early like this. The single bloom (or spring bloom only) irises will not begin to bloom for me until the end of March. That will be another 5-6 weeks or so.

Mrsj's 'spring only' iris blooms (who lives in Phoenix) will start blooming before mine do. That is because her climate warms up a bit sooner than mine on average. Usually like the 2nd week in March or so, doesn't it mrsj?

Lyle - - your iris reminds me of Eleanor Roosevelt (posted above) http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=4525970 I wonder if it is. ???

~Margie

Thanks Margie,
I gathered that you were making the point that the rebloomers come on very early. I wonder if that would be true here where we get rebloom only occasionally. I do have a few rebloomers in the yard, but they are new. I don't know what their schedule will be like, but if they turn out to be early, it won't break my heart. Nice to have something to look at before the heavy iris season begins. I gather Eleanor Roosevelt is also a rebloomer.

Margie and Lyle,

Purple and bright yellows are my absolute favorite in Iris'. Lyle I love the veining under the beard. Margie, your Pure as Gold, is such a nice bright yellow. Both added to my list this fall. I do not have any TB at this time, but plan on adding several this fall. Thanks for the pics......

Don

You are right Margie...2nd week of March - I have quite a few that will be blooming for first time this spring (fingers crossed), so I am really looking forward to the show!

All I can add is we just got rid of our snow overnight. However for a comment on the blooms, in our soil Lichen was a much darker olive color. I can see why it would be useful for doing the pastel plicatas. Pure as Gold seems an interesting bright yellow, the one which is very bright here is Martile Rowland, originating in NJ. Not even snowdrops have made an appearance here--they usually have by this times, maybe need new ones.

Thanks Margie.

I do see the resemblance. I started out with 3 fans per pot, now one pot has 14 fans shooting up. Did not know Irises multiply that quickly. I use the same soil mix that I grow my daylily seedlings.


Lyle

Lyle: E. Roosevelt was my thought, too.
I'm waiting for my Lousianas to start - probably late next month- sooner if this warm weather keeps up. Their foliage is very tall. They do better for me than any other kind for some reason.
Deb

Thanks Deb - I’m new at growing Iris. But I can see they could become another addiction after seeing all the beautiful Irises here. Hope your warm weather comes soon.

Lyle

Come on spring. I am pretty sure that the hundreds of purple Iris I have from 40 or so years ago are Eleanor Roosevelt. And they are so hardy and smell so good. I need to go and make a plant/seed trade list.
sitting here now and organizing and packing some seeds to trade. Come on spring.. also watching that beautiful lunar eclipse.

Elaine

Spring? Spring? I'd just like to see the ground again! We've had 54.8 inches of snow since November plus temps of 24 below zero some nights. We've passed 1954 and going for the worst winter on record. My beds are buried under 36 -48 inches of compressed snow & ice right now. More snow coming next Tuesday .....

Real temps of -24, Wanda? Not the wind chill factor temps?

That's the kind of weather we used to get here. We haven't been below zero this year.

Your plants are lucky they have the snow cover.

EFGeorgia, if you're making a trade list, I would love to be considered for some of those old purple irises.

polly,,, I need to do that. And I would love to trade.
Wanda, just keep telling yourself,, this is just really moisture that those flowers need. And the cold should help kill some of those bad bugs too. We got 2 and 1/2 inches of rain again today.. just wonderful after the drought we have had for the past year.

EFGeorgia,

Aren't I a shameless beggar.

If you dmail me some of your wants, I'm sure I can come up with something.

Our ground was saturated last fall BEFORE this heavy snow fall. The floods should be pretty spectacular this spring as it all melts.

-24 was the ACTUAL temperature--the chill factor was colder, but we try to ignore that. We are thinking a bout a new state slogan that is more appropriate than "Grow with us" ... IOWA--TOO COLD FOR TERRORISTS.

Wanda,,,, LMAO... I love that slogan.
Polly, d mailing you. LOL

Sigh. I don't know if we will hit our all-time record of snow--only at 62 inches. The snow plow scraped 6-10 inches of ice off our street yesterday & today. 0+ degrees has loosened it up a bit. I think he pushed it ALL into our drive! We shoveled a 4 foot high wall of ice last night and another 2 foot high ice wall today. Hubby had to use a sledge hammer to make some of the hunks small enough to move!!!

Rain turning to 2 inches of snow tonight? Fun & games. Will Spring ever come?

Wanda you have my deepest sympathies on your weather. My snow plow does the exact same thing but usually our snow piles are not as high as yours. Spring will be here soon, I expect, but it is snowing here, too, tonight.

Wanda - please stay warm. My wife is from Marion, IA and she always tell me how lucky we are this time of year. ALthough very windy today, temps still hit 70 degrees. Don

Don't be wimps, Ladies. We're at 107 inches and that's really low for us. But I'm sure glad I'm not getting the cold Wanda is.

At the end of my driveway:

Good grief Polly! I had no idea! Now **that**'s a pile of snow! I plead wimpy!

WOW,,, that's a lotta snow stay warm.
Elaine

Wanda, Polly, and Betty.....................why don't you move out here??? Arizona would love to have you guys and your irises!
:-)
~Margie

wow! grateful Im in cali!