[pbs] Iris--TOW/sources?
Susan Hayek
susanann at sbcglobal.net
Tue Mar 9 17:25:07 EST 2004
**I bought lots of Pacific iris with us and I have regular bearded
iris (which are being slugged to death). So where is a good reliable
source for some of the others you've mentioned?
susan
> >>If I can get healthy bulbs of Iris reticulata, Iris histroides,
>and their hybrids, they are long-lived in the garden in areas not
>watered in summer. They flower best if planted deeply. The problem
>is that most commercial stock is infected with ink spot disease,
>which soon debilitates the plants once they are not subject to the
>Dutch cycle of lifting, treatment, and controlled storage. Growing
>I. reticulata from wild-collected seed was a revelation for me:
>plants three times the size of commercial varieties, and setting big
>seed pods.
>
>A few bearded irises have persisted here, notably I. albertii, wild
>forms of I. pallida, and I. subbiflora.
<snip>
>Some Juno irises seem to be doing all right outdoors here, in
>particular I. magnifica, I. vicaria, and I. bucharica, all of which
>are readily available. I grow them on the rock garden. Now I'm
>trying some selections of the Regelia species I. stolonifera
>outdoors. Oncocyclus irises cannot be grown in the open in the
>Pacific Northwest, and hardly can be grown under cover, unless you
>use fungicides and keep them dry until late winter.
>
>The bulbous irises of the Xiphium section are represented in our
>gardens mostly by "Dutch" irises, which don't persist here over many
>years since their winter-growing foliage gets frozen. Far better is
>the "English" (actually Spanish) Iris latifolia,
<snip>
>Iris unguicularis is increasingly grown in the Pacific Northwest,
>though it can be expected to suffer in our colder winters. (I keep
>some in the bulb frame as insurance.) Its close relative I. lazica
>is more cold-hardy and flourishes here, as do most plants from the
>Pontic region, its home.
<snip>
>Spuria irises do very well here, but they are grown mainly by
>specialists, since they take up a lot of space for the sake of a
>very short season of proportionately small flowers. Siberian irises
>are fine as long as I get them in spots where the soil is retentive
>enough. Iris cristata cannot be grown here because of the slugs,
>which love it intensely. Japanese irises (I. ensata) do not flower
>for me, I suspect because of too much night cooling at this
>elevation; they are hot-and-humid-summer plants and do fine on the
>valley floor 1500 feet (500 m) below me.
--
*~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**
Owned by Jasper & Schubert the Standard Poodles, Pup-Quiz the
Basenji, puppy Basenji boy, Jones, & Gracie the Rhodesian
susanann at sbcglobal.net
On the North Coast of CA, USA, copyright 2004
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