Japanese irises - why don't you grow them PART 2

Yea, already had several headaches browsing their website, trying to keep all the details clear in my brain. They all started to merge, after a while. :-) The pictures are so wonderful, I couldn't turn away, though.

I guess if I don't get a name, that means one less goes on the want list? lol

I love pam harpers books. Thanks for the link to the blog site too. Just added it to my favorites.

I think Galien is right by them. they are in Galesburg. Go visit them this summer beakerlj!!!

Thanks, flowrgirl, I got it penciled in for late June. They are about 1 1/2 hr away, so not too bad. Glad to hear your visit went well! Sometimes it seems visitors are tolerated, not welcomed, but from previous discussions, there are some pretty badly mannered visitors.

I agree. I went with a friend after we called and set up a time to visit. They dont have a sign outside their place so it was tricky to spot but wow. When you get back in there it is so beautiful. They were busy in the garden so we only spoke breifly but they were nice. Here is a shot of the brick house on the property.

That's great to know. I'll be sure to get good directions, and now I will know what the place looks like when I get there. Much appreciated - I hadn't thought to ask that.
LJ

Diploid vs. Tetraploid~~aren't the tetras sterile and therefore keep making flowers (or perhaps bigger flowers) because they don't put their energy into making seeds? Might this be applicable to JI? Thanks,

That's not true at all. You may be thinking of hybrids.

Tetraploid just means it has double the chromosomes of a diploid.

I did the tet cross Japanese Harmony x Fourfold Pink and the reciprocal cross of these two. Plenty of fertility there.

I may be wrong , but I believe that a cross between a tet and a dip won't take.

pard, you're crossing JIs too! Oh, do tell us about the JIs you grow and what you've got up your sleeve with crossing them.

Pirl... Can you tell me the name of the one in your first Post #5980667 I love it!!
Robin

Pard, can you show pictures of some of your crosses? Are you registering and introducing them, or is it just for your enjoyment?

A cross between a tet JI and a diploid won't take. It is possible to get a sterile triploid from a dip X tet, but I don't think one has ever been done in JIs.

You folks please tell me if you get too sick of hearing some of history of JIs, but here's the info about tetraploidy in JIs:

Dr Currier McEwen first worked with tetraploidy in JIs in the late1960s after Orville Fay showed him how to do it using the drug colchicine. At the time they were working mainly on siberian irises, to create tetraploid sibs. Raspberry Rimmed was the first tet JI, introduced in 1979.

When a sprouted seed of plants is treated with colchicine, they go through cell division (mitosis) and set double chromosomes. This is what Dr McEwen did with JIs.

Mother nature can throw a tetraploid, but it's highly unlikely in JIs.

So after Dr. McEwen made numerous tetraploid JIs, through the use of colchicine they have since been crossed with each other to create the number of tetraploids we now have.

arejay - Frilled Enchantment. It's hard to take a bad photo of that one.

Polly - I find it all very interesting and know of the ploidy issue from daylilies. That colchicine is a carcinogen - great care is required using it.

Wow......................Pirl, they are GORGEOUS. I think I may have 2 un-named JI...not sure. Are siberian iris and Japanese iris similar looking? This may be my new love. When they bloom in spring I will take a pic and maybe you can tell me which iris they are.

I love Hegira and the one that you noted
"this is the beauty that accompanies the sign. Glorious! Had to be at least 8".

Who are the top few sellers of these so i can go peruse their websites or set up trades for some of these beauts.

Yes, Pirl colchicine is a carcogenic, apparently it was used by Dr. McEwen as he treated patients with gout.

I honestly don't think you can just buy it, so I feel safe talking about it. But if anyone here has gout, don't start cracking open your pills for increased ploidy. If they even use that for gout anymore.

pirl, in your picture of a clump of frilled enchantment, you have a purple iris in the background. What is that one? Very velvety.

Maureen - when they bloom please post photos and we'll try to provide answers. Do you have any idea of when they bloomed? May, late June, July? They are similar in some respects but "the look" is different. Here's 'Dance Ballerina Dance', a Siberian iris.

Go to this link and check out the various places where you can buy JI's:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/933190/

beakerlj - I see low deep violet JI's (nameless) in with Peacock Dance but not with Frilled Enchantment. Hope that is of some help. I love how they bring out the best in each other - Pam Harper, once again.

Polly - people with no experience with the drug were once attempting to get it through pharmacies and that scares me. It's not worth a life just to "try" to change a flower from diploid to tetraploid. Many things are best handled by professionals and that's definitely one of them.

here here Pirl I so totally agree some things are best left alone and after reading some of the side effects it is scary

One way you can tell a JI from Siberian is the leave...the leae of JI has a rib you can feel very easily down the center of it.

Hope this helps

D

That's precisely what Polly told me.

Pirl - after reading the 2 threads on the JI, I realize I have one of these. When it bloomed last year I ran over to my neighbors house and said "Louise, you have to come see this iris, I've never seen anything so beautiful".

Now I realize, it's not a siberian iris like i guessed it was.

Someone sent it to me in trade a few years ago, and i didn't pay much attention to it....until I saw the bloom. This year when it blooms i'll post a pic of it. It's one of my fave blooms in the entire yard of flowers.

It's so easy to get hooked. When they get to 9" it's time to pull up a chair!

Wow that is a huge bloom, so beautiful the coloring. (Are those your long nails Pirl??)

Yes, Maureen, but it's the JI that's remained our favorite over these past 14 years.

Pirl do you happen to know the name on that one? One of NOID looks alot like that....it is next to my pond and no one gets to buy it because I do not know its name but it is huge and looks very similar...

D

No, I don't. I suspect it's Ocean Mist. It's why I won't trade it with a name so when I send it to anyone I just say it's our favorite and don't even mention any possibility of a name.

OK, I do not even sell it here, if a friend or customer who is here completely falls in love, I just dig some and give it to them...
D

pirl - is that purple one with your hand holding it your favorite? (sorry, i didn't understand your post) (my brain is getting foggy from being out of work since 8/27).

That's the one, Maureen. The color changes depending upon the amount of sun it gets.

Here it looks lavender to me.

Here it looks light blue to me.

Same flower in late afternoon sun.

Pirl That is fabulous. Where would I buy that?
Robin

Oh, that one is ethereal and enchanting! Looks as though the petals would move in a breeze, is that right? I love the graceful movement of petals like butterflies in the garden.

Polly, I'm quite enjoying the in depth info you're passing along :-)

arejay - since it doesn't have a name that I can be sure of I can't imagine how it could be purchased. Sorry!

Neal - I feel it's ethereal, too. I have a small video clip of it in the breeze and can enjoy that any day of the year. They do float like butterflies.

In going through an OLD edition of Wise's Garden Encyclopedia, they mentioned that sometimes ensatas only last 2-3 years. Does that seem to be the case in your experience? If not, about how long does a clump last? Many thanks!

I've had clumps for 6 years. You need to divide them about every 3 years...

D

My first ones are still going very strong and that's 14 years. The huge fields in Japan don't seem to be depleted. Perhaps Polly can tell us her experience with them.

Speaking of old books...my former neighbor majored in nutrition before she became a Pediatrician. She gave me her college cookbooks and they say to boil fresh peas 20 to 30 minutes until tender. So much for old advice.

Wow, Pirl that last pic could be in a gardening book or calendar, just spectacular. I love it!!

What a terrible way to treat fresh peas! Green mush.

Thanks, Maureen.

Yes, Cheryl, green mush. I have no idea what I'll end up doing with that huge set of cookbooks.