blooming today sept. 1st

figure this one out! " Chatter" did not bloom for me this year,at the time it was supposed to bloom,nor is it a rebloomer. boy it sure is pretty though. it is blooming now!!!!!!! what a treat.

This message was edited Sep 1, 2008 9:30 AM

Do you mean it is blooming now? I agree that it is lovely.

Nice, glad a friend sent some to me this year.

And I had a delightful surprise when I went out in the back yard today. Here is Elephant Footprint, blooming in my garden for the first time. It didn't bloom in the spring, but yesterday after 1 inch of rain, it took off. The standards have dirt splashed on them and the falls have some tears, but it has lovely colors and markings. Also given to me by a good friend last year. It is listed as a rebloomer, but I get very, very little rebloom here!
How exciting.

Oops! Now the photo!

You are both so lucky! I've never had a rebloom on an iris, yet.

Reblooming is definitely rare in my part of the world. I had Romantic Evening rebloom in two different years, not long after I got it. Now probably 5 or 6 years later this one, which though it is a rebloomer, has never before bloomed for me.
Those of us with short growing seasons get very few reblooms even on rebloomers. So lucky people get regular reblooming though. And much hybridizing is being done to increase the number of rebloomers on the market. I am definitely in favor of that. It would be wonder if I could have rebloom every year.

Reblooming today in Wichita, KS is Pink Attraction. Last year when it rebloomed it was such an insect magnet that I almost trashed it. I'm glad I gave it another chance!

What a beauty Pink Attraction is. Yesterday I went to the banquet for the local chapter of the AIS. One member brought a reblooming stalk of pink attraction that she had entered in a flower ( not Iris) show the day before. She had won a first place ribbon which was still attached. It was extremely beautiful, but even more amazing was the fact that we rarely get rebloom here! I vowed to get a rhizome of Pink Attraction in my first opportunity.

Thanks for posting the pic of P. Attraction. I just ordered it and several others from the iris co-op :) I am trying to add to my reblooming list.
Teresa in KY

My Pink Attraction rebloomed last year. Not so far this year. But as sjsg said it was a huge insect magnet. I wonder why? The only thing I can think of is there are less flowers for the insects this time of year, but my gosh!

I have blooms on Pink attraction too, three stalks (is that what you call them???LOL) full of buds. Sure took me by surprise.

Yes the stalks with buds are called bloom stalks. And congratulations for having rebloom in zone 4a!

MTB breeder Ken Fisher has said that he has given up rebloom in Arkansas. He says that every cabbage beatle in th county lands on them.

Okay, I, too have one blooming today. It is Blyth 2007/8 intro called Pretty Witch. It isn't a rebloomer as far as I know. It is just confused. As IrisMA points out, iris from Australia, where Barry Blyth hybridizes, get a bit confused when being shipped to the northern hemisphere. So they now think it is spring and are blooming beautifully. They should get into the normal swing of things next year.

Oops! The photo!

And here is Stop the Traffic, which came in the same order and bloomed last week. A bonus that comes with an order from Australia! Also not a rebloomer as far as I know.

IB 'Charmed Indeed' bloomed this summer--so won't see it next yr. The SDBs usually make the transition better.

Hi, do you know any more about B. Blyth? I am adding a few of his intros to my garden. Does his plants do well for you?
Thanks,
Teresa

I am growing a number of Blyth intos and they are doing very well. Before I ordered from him I had Chinese Treasure which I love and which grows like crazy. I have a number of more recent additions of his that have not yet bloomed, but the plants are doing great.
I met him at the AIS Convention in Austin this year. Apparently, the growing conditions in Australia are rugged and as a result so are the irises that survive. I haven't tried every one of his irises, but the ones I have are quite strong.

I met Barry last year at Keith Keppel's. He's semi-retired now, and hasn't put his irises up for honors here in US or in Australia, though i think Keppel put some up there for him in the US recently - Glamour Pants for one, which is an awesome plant. He and Keith share pollen/gardens, so they are, or at least were, getting two crossing seasons out of it. I've heard three iris lovers now describe he and Keppel as 20 years in advance of all the rest.

Blyth is the only other hybridizer Keppel sells, but he's also semi retiring and selling fewer every year. In a couple of years he probably will only be crossing, not selling.

So far I haven't seen an intro of Blyth's that is low on form, substance or growth. He's got some of the best colors out there, and some of the weirdest, to my eye, too.

You can find only this year's intros on Tempo Two. You can order his catalogue by emailing and sending $5, I think it was - and it's worth $10 as a research tool for iris growing, as it's the only way to keep the info on his. He gives a lot of info on each of the newer plants, and you can kinda tell which he thinks are worth hybridizing with from the ones he's selling from the US growers. I've been using it as my wish list for a year now.

Glamour Pants and Terracotta Bay are to die for, they are on my must have list next year. Some of his pinks and light purples are much prettier than the photos.

We buy Blyth medians especially pink SDBs to work from in crossing. There are climate differences, he is on a latitude with Fresno, CA so the few TBs we buy are from colder regions. Some of Barry's TBs do fine here--others , not their climate.This applies to all TB plants from warmer zones than here in New England; the the reverse is true also. At the same time Barry's colors & great form are an asset to the garden and if you see something which is really appealing, try it. Blyth irises sold in the US are already acclimated to the climate of the seller, so if plants from US gardens work for you, get them there. I'm sure that there is a huge compost pile at Tempo Two as Barry is meticulus as to the plants he is willing to put on the market.