New to Irises...

Rarely do I get a chance to post on the iris forum, but having run across this topic tonight I want to share my sympathy with Sharon for her loss. This might also serve as useful information for zville123. I got several SDB's from Laurie in July, 2006 as single rhizomes. They grew into thriving healthy plants. However, during bud formation last spring we got a severe freeze on April 4 lasting several days which decimated over half of the flower buds, leaving few if any flowers in 2007.

In all cases every single rhizome recovered, and now are blooming as if nothing ever happened. Additionally those plants (in less than two short years) are fully developed clumps with numerous flowers. I want to share just a couple pictures here of them. The first is Raspberry Jam.

The second is Snow Tree, which my wife promptly claimed as "hers"!

Hi, thanks for sharing ,when things like this happen you only thinks it happens to you I love snow tree I wonder if I have that one guess I have to wait and see what blooms so far there is four of the dwarf iris blooming can't read the tags !!! ......sharon

sharon, make sure that fence will keep out lots of critters - and I do feel for you. But I still think you should try to get a gate, a fence AND some new irises out of it!

Iaurie, that's good to know on maturing the seedpods. I learned something!

Not a day goes by that I don't learn something new on Dave's Garden! We have deer, groundhogs, dogs, cats, squirrels, possums, skunks, raccoons and the neighborhood kids (I'm sure I'm forgetting something) that have us contemplating putting up fencing. Like they say...good fences make good neighbors LOL. And I'm finding new irises to consider for new flower beds. I'm loving the pictures, too.

Denise

This message was edited May 8, 2008 11:32 PM

Leon, those clumps look GREAT! Thanks for posting the pics. Your wife has great taste. Snow Tree is one of my favorites.

Sharon, if you can post pics, I might be able to identify your blooming dwarfs for you. At the very least, I can send you a list of all the irises you've received from me, if that'll help. Just let me know if you need it.

Laurie

So am I to assume that if there are reblooming iris'....then there are non-reblooming iris'? This is the third spring and granted, more bloomed this year than the previous two but still, only about 1/4 of mine bloom. At first I thought I planted them too close together....but now I don't think that's the problem after seeing TBGDN's pictures. I do have a couple of pics...I'll post after I mow some more....whew it's hot!
Ping

Sometimes the problem is depth of planting. The rhizomes should not be buried as it needs sun. Some of the very hot, dry climates need some dirt on top to protect them, but not much & I should think that it is not necessary in your area.

Ping, I jjust took some irises to a friend, Mike Ohaire in Mooresville. Your climate should have more bloom than only 1/4 - are you talking about 1/4 of all? or what? because some that have fans are still immature and will bloom the following year.

non-reblooming iris are sometimes called "spring blooming" by the folks that are into rebloomers. Rebloomers are a subset of most all other types. the technical term for reblooming is remontant.

We have a fairly large lot(s) as far as our neighborhood goes. But, unfortunately, we do not live out in the country with an acre or more. Maybe some day :~) So, any flowers that make it into our garden have to meet certain criteria...and usually more than one LOL. They need to be easy, fragrant, deer resistant, in some areas we want spreaders, &/or long bloom time. That's why I'm interested in fragrant, reblooming irises.

Hi bonjon~
The ones that did bloom had 4 to 6 blossoms per stalk. But out of approx. 25 fans, only 6 or 8 bloomed at all. The first one to bloom was at least 3 feet tall. And the fans of the ones that didn't bloom are about a foot or so tall.

And here's another pic.

I can sympathize with you. My husband brought home a beagle pup right before bloom time last year. Every time I got near an iris to take a picture of the few of them that managed to survive the hard freeze we'd had, Molly leaped upon it and chowed down. Ughhhh...I hated that dog!!! Thankfully the pup has finally grown into a manageable beast and has at last been trained not to attack my plants. Of course she forgets sometimes not to stomp on them when she's playing with my German Shepherd. They both get made to settle down and behave quite often!!! Luckily, dogs are people pleasers, so they do listen when you yell "bad doggie!"

I thought about fencing too - but then I'd have more area for weed eating...There's no way I need any more of that!

from your photos, they look either planted a bit deep, or mulched. Neither will promote bloom, and either may cause them to rot.

When you see heights on iris, it's always the stalk height. 36" is about the upper end of average for TBs like these, I think. The foliage height is usually half that or so for me. shorter foliage for me is always either not enough water or immature.

I think the planting depth is the problem...
Thanks for all the advice!
Ping