Does ANYONE have Japanese water Iris

I'm looking for several Japanese water Iris plants. If anyone has the ones I have on my want list, PLEASE D-Mail me. Mekos

I have a lot JI

D

But believe me you're not going to find any that color. Boy, is that photoshopped.

Do you mean it is not real. I almost had an accident when I saw that. If it's real we need one now!!!

how deep in the water can these live?
and are they hardy, come back in the spring in zone 5?

They can not survive in the water over the winter if it freezes. Your zone would mean that they would have to be planted in the ground. They will come back if heavily mulched for the winter.

It's probably a real iris, just photoshopped red. No color even close to that in Japanese irises.

FrillyLily, they can sit right in a pond, but in your zone, over the winter you would need to take them out, and bury the pot in the ground. They won't survive the winter in standing water in zones colder than 8. The water freezing over the crown kills them.

Oops, sorry Mittsy, we cross posted.

sounds like more trouble than I want to mess with.

No problem, you worded it better.

Has anyone ever thought of Dying an Iris?

I'll try it! I have red food coloring and a white iris. Will post after I set it up.

FrillyLily, just plant them someplace they're not going to get standing water over winter. They're actually easy to grow.

WE used to Dye flowers at the Greenhouse I worked at years ago depending on what we needed at the time or to create something different but never ried an Iris. This could be a new thread.

I sacrificed 5 blooms for this experiment. Four unopened buds.
3 drops red food coloring in a budvase of tap water.

Here's the picture. Day one.

I know carnations dye well.

Pretty doggies Mittsy.

Those are our granddogs courtesy of our youngest son, James. They are Shiloh Shepherds. Big dogs but sweet.

Mittsy don't think of it as sacrifice. Enjoy them inside as well as out. I love the Dog photo. Very handsome animals.

Iris picture, hope you can see the color feathering along the edges. I didn't think it would react so quickly.

How about we get back to helping ME find some?!? Yours are beautiful. I have other colors on my want list other than the red. Just can't find them.

Also-

Also this one??

The bottom photo #6622274 looks like a Louisiana iris, not a Japanese iris.

Didn't the link I gave you for Ensata Gardens work? Aitkens Salmon Creek or Iris City Gardens should have the Louisiana irises. Names are most helpful.

Yea, it worked! I almost wet my pants there. Especially when I saw the prices. I'm looking for someone who has extras that might want to trade some for something I have. I can't afford to buy straight out. But thanks

Yes, some are costly but others are not. Many can be purchased for very reasonable prices. As for the expensive ones that's why some of us give up buying clothes, food, and driving around in cars that aren't BMW's or Jaguars!

Many of us began our love affair with JI's by purchasing a few and then traded JI for JI with others.

Ensata still has the collection offer. Siberian, water iris, species or Japanese @ 10 for $39
plus $8 shipping. I bought the Japanese.

I too love the J iris and have had some friends help me with getting a few started. they are hard to come by, so you might have to buy a few to have some to trade with. I find most people like to trade J iris for J iris. Mine are not large enough yet to divide, but when they are, I will try to trade for other J iris.
Good Luck getting started with them.
Sandra

Well today was our 46th anniversary so spent the morning cutting down a tree that fell on my raised bed iris and raspberry gardens. Then we went out to lunch at Red Lobster and on the way home stopped at a favorite nursery and bought a Hosta for a swap I'm in. The asian proprietor was so nice, I was looking for a small hosta that would fit in my priority box and she says, no no buy the biggest one and you divide and keep one for you. My sister caught me getting out of the car with it and wanted to know how did I rate a new plant. Told her it was for a swap and that I would be dividing it. Guess she'll get a piece too.

I totally forgot about the red food coloring experiment until I walked past it. I couldn't imagine where the pink iris came from as I don't have any that color. So here's the picture, stem.

Closeup. This was fun to see.

Mittsy, NOW THAT IS SOMETHING!!! Happy Anniversary also. Like I said before, I did find the red Iris. It's called SHOGUN and it really is red. I ordered it today and it should ship soon along with the purple LA Iris and when it's big enough to devide, You're getting one for all you've done for me. I won't forget you. Mekos

I'm going to repeat this just one time, and if you want go ahead and waste your money.

There is no such iris as Shogun. These are just made up names certain large companies give to market Japanese iris. There is no such color in Japanese irises as what you posted a picture of. There is no true red in Japanese irises.

The companies that sell these irises like Henry Fields, and Gurneys, are not iris growers. They are just buying any old leftover iris from Dutch growers, and tacking any name on it they wish. Most of them will turn out to be plain purple. None will be red.

The Society for Japanese Irises has a checklist with all the registered irises on it, and it is free on their website. Shogun is not a registered iris.

I'm sure you will go ahead and waste your money, but at least now you've been told. Make sure you keep a label on it, so you can show it to us when it blooms.

Mittsy the veining in the Iris is awesome. So glad you did this.
Mekos save tthat photo and frame it as the Photo is beautiful. Polly is right. There is no true RED in the Iris Family. Schreiners is working feverishly to get as close as they can to a true and pure Red but it has taken years and still not perfection but getting close.

OOPS!
Meant Makos. I had just made a reply to Mittsy and still had the name in my head. Sorry.

This message was edited Jun 1, 2009 10:38 PM

if anyone had an iris that color they would be rolling in dough lol

Funny, the daylily folks are working for blue. Lots of wonderful blues in the iris group.
Lots of wonderful reds in daylilies. The reason I love them both!

BUYER BEWARE. I have bought many plants from Home Depot and Lowe's at the end of season clearance. I pay about half of what it would normally sell for. It's a 50/50 chance that it will be what you are buying. A couple of years ago I bought two JI at Home Depot. Shiro Nihonkai and Pink Frost, nice big healthy looking plants. The following Spring, Pink Frost bloomed in all it's glory. Just beautiful. S. Nihonkai tripled in size of clump, but no blooms. The anticipation builds. You think, next spring will be spectacular. But Spring brought this one, definately not what I was expecting. Now I have another NOID with no hope of ever knowing what it really is, and still wanting Shiro Nihonkai.

I got a striped foliage J iris at Lowes a couple of years ago, still no bloom on it. It had a picture of a purple bloom on the pot, but no blooms at all yet.
Sandra

Sandra, the striped foliage one is correct. They do bloom purple. There's only one striped foliage Japanese as far as I know. It's a pretty slow growing one, so I'm not surprised it hasn't bloomed yet. Give it lots of water and some fertilizer. It will.

Thanks, I will keep looking for it to bloom then !!
Sandra

My variegated one has never bloomed and now it's a huge clump so I'm hoping this is the year!