Why Grow Rebloomers?

November 17, 2014, 5:00 am

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by Betty Wilkerson

In the world of irises, there are different guidelines for garden judging and exhibition judging.  What is the difference, you ask? Show bench irises for exhibition only have to look good, and be good, for one day.

'Summer Radiance'(Wilkerson 96)

Garden judging involves how an iris appears in the garden, not for just one day, but for the full iris season. It also assesses plant health, branching, bud count, and sequence of bloom, among other things.  Sequence of bloom not only involves how the blooms open on the stalk, one at a time, two at a time etc., but how the stalks extend from the iris clump.  For instance, an iris I grew years ago had approximately 15 stalks and they all opened the terminal buds on the same day, and then it bloomed all of the first branch primary buds a couple of days later. Yes, it was beautiful, but the clump was finished blooming in just a few days. An iris that puts up one stalk at a time, like 'Summer Radaince,' displays its beauty for a much longer time.

'Vanishing Act' (Wilkerson 2004)

'Echo Location'(Wilkerson 2007)

'Returning Chameleon'(Wilkerson 1995)

When you hear people speak of their remontant irises, they are talking about reblooming irises. Reblooming irises extend the length of bloom per season, per iris. Since there are only two or three fall shows for reblooming irises in the United States of America, most of my focus is on hybridizing good garden qualities.  I'm particularly fond of irises that are dependable for rebloom, as are those shown on this page.

Seedling # 1907-10Re

My interest in rebloom began over 30 years ago, because I love iris blooms so much that spring bloom was not enough for me.  I'm as thrilled with one bloom as most people are with a whole clump!  When planting a new rebloom bed in my garden, I first research the cultivars that rebloom well in my area, zone 6. Second, I plant them in a good spot.  Third, I make sure I water and fertilize them well.  Nevertheless, there are no guarantees! We are still bargaining with Mother Nature.

As a breeder, I have the added advantage of seeing seedlings, like 1907-10Re, that others may never see. Ask any questions you like.  Enjoy!

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Growing the Guest Irises

November 24, 2014, 4:00 am

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By Renee Fraser

In the spring of 2016, the American Iris Society Region 15 Garden Tour will come to my area, and for the first time I volunteered to grow guest irises in hopes that they will survive my gardening skills long enough to put on at least one show of blooms for the attendees. 

In case you are unfamiliar with these tours, each year hybridizers of new irises send dozens of rhizomes of their newest creations out across the country to live in "guest gardens" two to three years before national or regional garden tours.  Volunteers grow the irises and record their performance, and iris lovers sign up, load onto buses or into car caravans, and tour all of the gardens during the treks.  Iris judges take notes about the new plants and evaluate their health, vigor, and blooms. 

My original intent in volunteering to grow these irises was to have an excuse for expanding my garden beds at the expense of my husband's lawn.  Mikey and I are like two feudal lords, jealously guarding the borders of our domains and expanding into neighboring lands when our opponent is occupied on other fronts.  My latest strategy is a row of unmortared bricks lining my beds.  Using a half-moon edger, I can slice out three to four inches of unprotected St. Augustine grass in under an hour, move the bricks out, and pretend like I have just "edged" the lawn for my husband.  The request from the San Fernando Valley Iris Society to grow guest irises was the perfect excuse for demanding a huge island bed in the center of the lawn, where the sun is best, since the big coast redwoods shade the rest of the yard.  My bid was foiled, however, when Mikey offered to fell the ailing and dehydrated coast redwoods, letting sun stream into one of my existing beds instead.  This I allowed, since his other offer was to add an arbor so he could hang himself.

It turned out that the 44 guest irises would not fit into the existing bed, so I claimed imminent domain over about two feet of grass in the borderlands.  A treaty was agreed to, and I began my expansion.  I quickly realized that Mikey had taken me in:  this area of the lawn was infested with Bermuda grass!  This required double-digging, and much screening of dirt.  I wanted the irises to be in raised beds, but to look naturally planted, so I carted in wheelbarrows full of dirt from a neighbor.  Three bags of vermiculite, four bags of soil amendments, and a few wheelbarrows of composted chicken manure from the girls were dug into the soil as well.  (I generally just stick irises straight into the ground and ignore them and they give me a great show, so this preparation is due to unreasonable anxiety, not to any special needs of irises.)

The next challenge to growing irises in my garden is me.  I want lush, green, flower-filled English gardens and I live in a drought-stricken, hot inland Southern California valley.  I know, I know, I should accept the natural order of things and go native, and I have eliminated some of my favorites because they are so thirsty. Even with these changes, weekly irrigation is still a necessity, and that can cause irises to rot, especially when beds are irregularly shaped and lawn sprinkler water reaches them.  I left two patches of Japanese Blood Grass, which appreciates a good swim now and then, at a lower elevation in the bed in the vain hope that water will drain through the raised irises and into the gully of blood grass.  An old plowshare blocks the back spray from the worst offending Rainbird, and in this photo it appears that it will have the added benefit of knee-capping Mikey while he mows.  I shall hand-water the new plants when they get dry, and avoid watering in the heat of summer, which should help prevent rot.

The guest iris bed.  Please ignore the yellowed St. Augustine grass and the crispy Bridal Wreath Spireas and pray for rain in Southern California.

After growing in pots in the shade through the hottest part of the summer,  I planted the irises in the new bed in September. The plants had healthy looking roots and seem to be adapting well to their new home.  I organized them according to color and height, with the area near my red rose in front of the tuteur for the red irises, the corals, oranges, peaches and pinks next, then warm orchid and red-violets, to purples in the back, over across the blood grass to coppers, tans, yellows and whites, and finally in the far back a few blues.  I stretched plastic bird-netting over the soil and cut holes for the irises to foil the excavations of squirrels, raccoons, oppossoms and Pogo the One-Eyed Cat. There is one Arilbred iris I am obsessing over, and one IB, since I have never grown them successfully in the past, but otherwise I have high hopes for the show in the spring.  I may plant color-coordinated violas between the irises for the trek.  What do you think?  Bare dirt, or a few violas, violets, and gazanias for ground cover? 

I'll be sure to post photos of any surviving plants in bloom this Spring.  And be sure to take a look at the American Iris Society website, join your local society, and plan on going on a Spring Garden Trek!

A Long, Long Iris Trail a-Winding

December 1, 2014, 8:00 am

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By J. Griffin Crump

In my post of this past October 6 ("What Happens If You Cross These Two Irises?"), one of the featured irises was 'Entrancing', which is scheduled to be introduced in 2015.  Of course, its pedigree is much longer than just the parents, which were also shown. I thought that it might be interesting to trace it back as far as the record goes, along with some explanation of why certain things were done.

Like many of my seedlings and several of my introductions, the trail winds back through 'Wabash', the iris which first lit the spark that started my hybridizing.

'Wabash'

This beauty was developed and introduced in 1936 by Mary Williamson, who gardened and hybridized near the storied river of that name in the north central portion of my native state of Indiana.  'Wabash's own parentage was 'Dorothy Dietz' X 'Cantabile' (Latin for "praiseworthy").  In turn, 'Dorothy Dietz'' parentage was 'Wyoming' X 'Lent A. Williamson', and Cantabile resulted from 'Lent A. Williamson' X unknown.  Thus, there were two "doses" of 'Lent A. Williamson' in 'Wabash''s breeding. 'Lent A. Williamson' resulted from a cross of 'Amas' (introduced in 1885) X unknown.  Of all of these ancestors of 'Wabash', the only photographs I have been able to find have been of 'Lent A. Williamson'.  Unfortunately, two of those photographs  --  one in our own Iris Encyclopedia and the other contributed by our late friend Mike Lowe, of the Historical Iris Preservation Society, to another late friend, Clarence Mahan's "Irises and the Men and Women Who Created Them" are differently colored, but clearly are the same flower.  The difference in color of the background, as well, suggests that there was a difference in lighting or in the film, or both.  I include both of them here.  (Note the nick in the fall on the lower right in the second photo.)

Lent A. Williamson (Iris Encyclopedia)

Lent A. Williamson (Mike Lowe)

There are nine other photos of 'Lent A. Williamson' in the Iris Encyclopedia, all of which show the flower as blue-violet.

In 1992,  hoping to bring 'Wabash''s velvet falls into (then) more modern form, I crossed it, as pod parent, with a yellow bi-tone seedling of unknown heritage (though it may have been from the lines of Jean Stevens of New Zealand, some of which I had) which had broader falls.

Yellow bi-tone seedling

The cross produced Seedling 93L6, which reversed the color pattern of both parents, giving basically white falls and solid yellow standards, with a yellow ring on the broad, ruffled falls.  At this point, I felt I was making progress.

Seedling 93L6

I crossed 93L6, as the pod parent, with Barry Blyth's 'Chinese Treasure', hoping that it would interact with the 'Wabash' genes to restore the amoena (pure white standards) factor and velvet texture of the falls.  

Chinese Treasure

I was quite surprised by the resulting Seedling 952G8.  It was smallish, but the colors are rich.

Seedling 952G8

Meantime, still working with amoenas and dark velvet falls,  I had crossed the amoena 'Margarita' by the exotic bi-tone 'Momauguin' (which I had never been able to photograph well and no longer have).

'Margarita'

'Momauguin'

'Momauguin' certainly wasn't going to win any beauty contests, but I was intrigued by the crushed velvet texture of its falls.  I saw it growing in Charlie Nearpass's garden one spring, and he ripped it out of the ground and gave it to me.

The cross of 'Margarita' X 'Momauguin' produced six seedlings, of which only three survived, but the graceful form of their stalks added a new focus to my hybridizing efforts.  The best of the three was 93RR6.  In the following photo of a clump of this seedling,  there are three stalks shown.  The stalks on the left and right display the graceful S curve of the entire plant as well as the lower branch, probably indicating aphylla ancestry.  The S curve is present in the center stalk, of course, but is more difficult to trace in the picture.  The plant normally carried 9 buds.

Seedling 93RR6

I treasured 93RR6, but could never get a cross involving it.  Happily, there was its sibling 93RR2, smaller overall, but with the same seductive branching and velvety falls.  I crossed it, as the pod parent, with another smallish iris, 'Fringe of Gold'.

Seedling 93RR2

'Fringe of Gold'

These two produced Seedling 952H1 which, unfortunately, seems to have eluded the camera;  I crossed it, as the pod parent, with 952G8 (shown above), and that resulted in Seedling 20Q5, again somewhat on the small side, but keeping the desired branching.

Seedling 20Q5

I waited for a long time to find a suitable match for 20Q5, as noted in October's post. Eventually, after acquiring Sterling Innerst's 'Lynsy Alexandra', I found it to be so similar in shape and patterning that it invited the cross.

Lynsy Alexandra

 Among the several good seedlings resulting, I found Seedling 07S9  to be entrancing, so it will be introduced under that name in 2015.

'Entrancing'

 And the branching?  

'Entrancing'

So, in the pursuit of initial goals, we may find other avenues also worthy of exploration.  So much the better.

TALL BEARDED IRISES -- Revamping An Existing Bed For Maximum Impact

December 8, 2014, 12:00 am

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By Susanne Holland Spicker

Are you thinking of revamping an existing flower bed? If you're like me, and want to add some irises from your 'wish list', but don't know quite where to begin, here are a few tips that have helped me that may prove useful to you.

• Determine the square footage of your garden space. This is done by multiplying the garden width by its length. (A 10 X 10 foot area = 100 square feet). This bed is approximately 65 X 8 feet and has about 50 different iris cultivars. 
• I use irises as my dominant feature. I plan on about 2 feet between each cultivar. (This requires more frequent dividing, however).
• Choose a color scheme. Complimentary colors are opposite on the color wheel. This bed focuses on yellows and violets, opposites on the color wheel. 
• I make a collage of the irises I have, and the ones I want to add. I added 5 new ones this year and have them in the collage to see how they coordinate.
• Be aware of bloom times--using irises that bloom very early through very late will give maximum impact. 
• Use a wide variety of companion plants, staggering their bloom time, providing a variety of heights and textures. 
• Take pictures! Keep a garden journal, making changes if necessary.
• And most important,have fun!

Revamping a bed can be a challenge, but hopefully these tips can make it a pleasant and rewarding experience for you.

Do you use irises as the dominant  interest in your flower beds? If so, I would love to hear from you!

Tall Bearded Iris Color Terms

December 15, 2014, 4:30 am

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By Renee Fraser

For those of us still new to the world of irises, there is much vocabulary to master. The parts of the iris flower, the different species of irises, the parts of the plant itself, and of course, the specialized terms categorizing irises into color types. Here is a quick reference, with photographic examples, of some of the major color terms you will encounter while reading about your favorite flower.

SELF

The falls and the standards of a self are the same color. These irises really stand out in a garden setting and are wonderful companions to other plants.

'Adriatic Waves' with Allium.  Photo c. Brad Collins

'Beverly Sills' with Paludosum Daisies

'Fine Wine'

PLICATA

Plicatas have stippled, dotted or stitched edges on a white or yellow ground.  I love the white ones with the pretty picotee edging the best.   For more on plicatas, click here.

'Paprika Fonos'

'Rare Treat'

'Spice Lord' Photo c. Margie Valenzuela

AMOENA

Amoenas have colored falls and white standards.  The most famous is probably, and justifiably, 'Wabash', pictured below.  To see another post on amoenas, click here.

'Wabash' Photo c. Mike Unser

'Venetian Queen'

'Dreaming of Rio' Photo c. Betty Jacobs

VARIEGATA

An iris with red falls and yellow standards.  My very favorite photo of this color, below, shows the cultivar 'Supreme Sultan' with its earliest progenitor, the original iris variegata. Can you believe what modern hybridizing has accomplished?

'Supreme Sultan' compared to the original species variegata!  Photo c. Chuck Chapman

'Decadence'at Schreiner's Iris Gardens. Photo c. Betty Jacobs

'Rogue Trader'Photo c. Betty Jacobs

NEGLECTA

A blue or purple-blue bitone iris with lighter standards.  Click here for more photos of neglectas.

'World Premier' Photo c.TBGDN @All Things Plants

'Northwest Progress' with Julia Child rose

GLACIATA

An iris with no purple anthocyanin pigment.  These irises often seem to glow.  The colors remind me of that wonderful "polychrome" daylily color.

'Glacier Blush'Photo c. Blue J Iris

'Snow Lion'Photo c. Jan Lauritzen

'If Not For You' Photo c. Stout Gardens at Dancingtree

LUMINATA

Another glowing iris type, the luminata, is an iris with a white or yellow base washed over with color so that it appears to glow from within.  More luminatas can be found here.

'Pretty Pansy'

'Wise Woman' Photo c. Brad Collins

BITONE...

This is an iris which has standards and falls of the same color,  but the standards are a lighter shade than the falls.

'Bayberry Candle'

'Smoky Shadows' Photo c. Rick Tasco

AND 

REVERSE BITONE

A bitone, REVERSED!

'Missouri Mist'

BICOLOR

An iris of two colors.

'Adoree' Photo c. Betty Jacobs

'Smoke and Thunder' Photo c. Brad Collins

'Sweet Musette'

BROKEN COLOR

These flowers have splotches, blotches, and streaks in random patterns. 

'Maria Tormena'

'Batik' Photo c. Andi Rivarola

EMMA COOK PATTERN

A darker ring of color around the falls of the flower is referred to as the Emma Cook Pattern, which is named after this famous ground-breaking cultivar.

'Conjuration' Photo c. Dan Holt

'Alsea'Photo c. Brad Collins

'Rare Coin' Photo c. Brad Collins

Many new and exciting color combinations and patterns are emerging in the world of iris hybridizing, so many that it's hard to figure out if they fit into an existing category or if new ones should be created.  I am partial to amoenas. Which is your favorite?

TALL BEARDED IRIS, MY FAVORITE "BLACK" IRISES

December 22, 2014, 4:00 am

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BY DAWN MUMFORD

First of all the term "black' must be explained.  Black iris are those iris that are so color saturated that they appear nearly black to the naked eye.  If you are looking for a black iris that has no underlying color in it you will be disappointed.  Once you get sunlight on a so-called "black" you will see other colors within it.  Cameras often see colors that the naked eye didn't at first pick up.  There are blue-blacks, purple-blacks, and even red-blacks. 

This photograph was taken June 1st 2009  in our garden at peak bloom.

In the photograph above you will notice pockets of very dark color.  Those are my "blacks".  I think they add nice contrast to the surrounding iris.  You can create striking beds by planting black with white, black with red or orange, black with yellow and black with pink.  

'Here Comes the Night'   (Schreiner, 2009) 

This was probably my favorite black iris this year.  This iris wouldn't be nearly as interesting if it didn't have that striking beard. 

 A friend on Facebook asked me to describe the color of the beard.  The beard is dark purple where it touches the falls but quickly changes to almost white with a dusting of yellow gold on the tips of the beard. 

'Swazi Princess' (Schreiner, 1978)

These flowers are in our front landscape.  Note how 'Swazi Princess' makes the pinks look lighter and vice-versa.  Next to 'Swazi Princess' are pink lupines and the tall bearded iris'Beverly Sills'.  

'Coal Seams'  (Schreiner, 2013) 

This is the first year for this one to bloom in our garden so I don't know if it will always have all three blooms open on the same stem at the same time or not. This is a new addition to the "black" arena.  It is an all over black self with just a few light white stripes parallel to the beard. 

'Starring' (Ghio, 2000) 

Here is an example of very dark red/black in the falls of this iris.  This amoena,(white tinted standards with colored falls) really catches your eye. 

 This iris won the HM in 2002, the AM in 2004 and the WM in 2007.    

'Midnight Oil' (Keppel, 1997) 

This iris really looks very dark in the patch.  It has attractive grape colored beards.  It is a child of the Dykes Medal winner 'Before the Storm'. This one is fragrant too. Because of the substance, this iris seems to absorb the light instead of reflecting it.  That makes it appear darker. 

'Before The Storm'(Innerst, 1989)
This beauty is a child of 'Superstition' X 'Raven's Roost' .  I grow both of the parent plants and am not surprised that they made such an attractive child.  This iris won HM 1991, AM 1993, Wister Medal 1995  and the coveted Dykes Medal in 1996.  

'Hello Darkness' (Schreiner, 1992)

This one is another purple/black self. The beard is dark purple but the falls are much darker.  I love the form and substance.  When it was introduced in 1992 it was said to be the biggest black flower and the most black.  I think others have surpassed it in color since then. It won HM 1994, and Walther Cup in 1994, the  AM in 1996, the Wister Medal in 1998 and the Dykes Medal in 1999.   

'Study In Black'(Plough, 1967)

It is a deep red-black self with beard brown tipped blue violet.   This is one of the irises that is considered a historic.  "Historic" means it has been 30 years or longer since it was introduced.  

'Superstition' (Schreiner, 1977)
Another historic, this iris opens three flowers at a time.  It has a hint of maroon.  My camera lightened it up quite a bit. We bought a new much nicer camera this month and so next year I hope to get better resolution and truer colors.

'Night Ruler' (Schreiner, 1990)
This iris is a deep inky purple with a pervasive black sheen.  I love its form and ruffling.  This is an outstanding iris that will always have a place in our garden. 

 'All Night Long' (Duncan, 2005) 
  This iris is typical of the new improved blacks. This is a cross between 'Hollywood Nights'and'Black Tie Affair'.  The iris to the right is 'Sweet Serenade'.  

'Blackalicious' (Schreiner, 2006) 
'Before the Storm' is one of the parents.  Award of Merit in 2010.


All of you in the southern hemisphere can enjoy your flowers right now and smell their fragrance.  Here in the northern hemisphere, we can only enjoy ours by going back through pictures and remembering how stunning they were and what a wonderful hobby growing irises is. 

Do you have black iris in your garden?  What colors do you like to pair them with?  I would love to hear from you.  

For more black irises, visit Mike Unser's post on historic blacks here.

PCI Seed Germination Tricks

December 29, 2014, 4:30 am

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Kathleen Sayce

It's the wintery time of year in the northern hemisphere, when gardeners think about the coming growing season, and when iris seeds are distributed from seed exchanges. When PCI seeds are fresh, plant them immediately, and within weeks seedlings will appear. But who has fresh seeds? To send seeds to a seed exchange, they must be thoroughly dry, or they will mold in the seed packets. Alert readers will recall that I wrote about this last fall. Once PCI seeds are dry, they may have to be coaxed into germination. If those seeds are more than three years old, the coaxing might have to be pretty thorough.

PCI 'Mission Santa Cruz' is an older variety, and one I return to again and again for new seedlings.  The plants are sturdy in the coastal Pacific Northwest climate, and flower color is dark and near-red. Unfortunately, in 2014 I did not get any seed from this plant.

Some general seed starting tips:

First, PCI seeds don't like 'warm' conditions for germination. 'Warm' when compared to many cultivated perennials is 60 F and above––in a cool to warm greenhouse, for example. PCI seeds germinate best between 40-55 F; the actual temperature varies with the species. Tenax and innominata like cooler temperatures, munzii definitely prefers the warmer end. Most hybrids germinate towards the warmer end of the range, around 50 F, though it's always better to stay on the cool side with any PCI seed lot for which the genetic source is unknown.

Second, if the seeds are truly fresh, and were not completely dried, then plant them immediately in well drained potting soil. Soak the pot with several waterings, put them somewhere bright and cool, and stand back. They will be up within weeks.

Third, if the seeds are old, particularly more than three years old, it may help to presoak them in fresh water. Presoaking can be in a dish of water, a small plastic bag, or in a mesh bag hung in the water tank of your toilet. Keeping the seeds at 40-50 F while presoaking may also help; my soaking seeds are kept in an unheated shop that stays between 40-55 degrees all winter.


Fourth, scarify them, removing some of the seed coat by gently rubbing the seeds between two sheets of fine sandpaper or scrubbing them gently in a food mill. 

A food mill is a great tool to rough up seed coats. Put the seeds in, rotate the handle 10-20 times, and shake out the bits of seed coat that were scraped off.

I've tried one, two, three, up to thirty days of soaking, and also hung mesh bags of seeds in the water tank of the toilet. By weighing the seeds day by day as they soaked, I tracked the uptake of water, watched the seed coat loosen, and in some cases, saw the radicle (the proto-root) emerge.

Yes, those are emerging proto-roots and shoots on PC Iris seeds. They were scarified and soaked in water, and burst out of their seed coats, ready to grow.

I wrote about these methods for the SPCNI Almanacin Spring 2012, if you would like to read about the details of my tests. [This winter the SPCNI web manager will post back issues of the Almanacand Pacific Irison the SPCNI website (www.pacificcoastiris.org); past years' issues will be available to the public, including the first 40 years of the Almanac.]

Here's a new method to try––one I plan to test next year: Soak seeds in cold tea. [I decaffeinate tea at home by steeping loose tea leaves in boiling water, use a French coffee press (or a sieve), time the steep for 45 seconds, pour off the water (save it for seed soaking), add fresh hot water to steep for the cup of tea to drink.] When soaking Iris seeds, change the cold (not hot!) tea every day. For some kinds of irises, this acidic, tannin-rich water seems to help remove germination inhibitors. And it allows you to enjoy teas even when you can not tolerate caffeine––which happened to me last year very abruptly after a lifetime of drinking fully-loaded black teas.

Choices for potting PCI seeds are wide. Any container that can hold potting soil and drain off water will work. I've migrated to large rectangular styrofoam boxes (AKA fish boxes) over the past few years. I punch holes in the bottom, fill with a 1:1 mix of coarse pumice and potting soil, put the seeds on the top in rows, add labels, and a covering of chicken grit (usually granite). Then the planters go outside for the year––and no matter what the weather, they stay outside. I put them on the east side of my house where they get rain, wind, snow, a half day of sun, a rain of conifer needles, the occasional tree branch, and are close to a hose bib for summer watering. The seeds and subsequent seedlings spend a year in this container. This way, they have cool deep root runs, and are fine for their second winter. They are planted out the second spring, about 15 months after planting.

Styrofoam boxes have drain holes; there's a layer of chicken grit (in this case a reddish granite) over the top, and then wire mesh to keep the squirrels and jays from the seedlings––both of these 'varmints' like to eat sprouting Iris seeds.

I practiced fall planting of seedlings for years, until I lost ninety percent of them a couple of years running to mid fall snow and freezing weather. Now I wait for early spring, and plant out sturdy year old plants instead.

Waiting for spring:  the next crop of PC Iris seedlings are ready to plant. Sturdy, healthy, they will be fine for the rest of winter in these styrofoam boxes, with 9-inch deep root runs and good drainage.

My methods for seed germination are in place for the new year, including a test of a new method. What are you planning to do?  

Join the American Iris Society

January 2, 2015, 1:07 pm

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What Is A Rebloomer?

January 5, 2015, 4:30 am

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                                              by Betty Wilkerson

Zone 6

If you hang around iris groups, either in the flesh-and-blood world of local societies and rhizome sales in your local neighborhoods, or in the virtual world like the Reblooming Iris page on Facebook, you know that a common question is "how can I tell if an iris is technically a rebloomer?" Sometimes irises bloom in the summer, sometimes in the fall, but not the following spring, and so on, hence the question.

Some people are really fussy about their rebloomers and insist that they follow strict rules.  For those, we have the definition from The World of Irises written by members of The American Iris Society, edited by Bee Warburton with Melba Hamblen as Assistant Editor, and with help from Dr. Raymond Smith.  Dr. Smith wrote that "a rebloomer may be defined as any iris that produces an extra period of full bloom each year.  By full bloom is meant bloom of one or more increases from each rhizome that flowered during the immediately preceding regular period.  This definition excludes those sorts whose stalks emerge serially over an extended season, as well  as clones with only a fraction of the mature rhizomes blooming during one period and the remainder during the next, even though such sorts do provide color apart from regular seasons and are frequently mislabeled rebloomers" (Warburton: 137).

The AIS Judges Handbook is a bit more "loose." In summary, it states that rebloom should produce enough additional bloomstalks to double the total number of days of bloom produced annually (143).

1. Rebloomers (Cyclic Rebloomers), the standard for this group, are cultivars which complete two distinct cycles of bloom. After the spring flowering, there is a second nearly predictable period of bloom.

2. Multiple Blooming Irises send up bloomstalks repeatedly at any time throughout the growing season, spring to summer and fall.

3. Repeaters produce additional bloomstalks with unpredictable regularity immediately following or shortly thereafter the initial Spring bloom season. It is not uncommon for these varieties to extend the spring bloom season from four to eight weeks.

4. Sporadic Rebloomers are varieties which unpredictably produce bloomstalks at varying times during the growing season. Many occasional rebloomers perform well on the West coast and the Southern areas of the United States. While they are highly regarded there, they may not show reblooming tendencies in colder climates.

5. Secondary Stalk Rebloomers, although rare, occur when rhizomes send up secondary stalks in the same growing season.

I must admit, I have a loose definition: I like iris blooms so much that I welcome just about anything that puts up an extra bloom stalk.

My hybridizing lines were originally started with 'Feed Back', 'Immortality', 'Early of Essex' and a few others that rebloomed in fall.

'Immortality'  c. Terry Laurin

'Earl of Essex'  c. Lloyd Zurbrigg

'Feedback'

After about 20 years I decided to work for summer bloom, and to stop working with most of the fall cycle rebloomers, since the fall bloomers often freeze here.

'Another Bridge'

'Stargate'

If you have any subjects or questions on rebloomers you would like to see addressed, please email me at bridgeintime@aol.com.

Come to the Iris Convention!

January 19, 2015, 5:00 am

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By Mike Starrhill

With spring fast approaching, it is time to start making plans to attend the American Iris Society's spring 2015 Convention, "Iris in Wonderland." This year it is being held in beautiful Portland, Oregon, from May 18th to the 23rd. Iris friends old and new will be meeting up to tour gardens and see the very latest and greatest creations our hybridizers have to show off, as well as attending all the events, presentations and meetings for the various specialized societies. It is a wonderful time and we invite you to join us!

I was so delighted to attend the 2006 Portland Convention, "Reigning Iris." It was my first Convention and everyone was so friendly and made me feel right at home. It was so much fun to meet iris friends that I had only known from the internet, and let me tell you, the gardens and flowers are amazing. Here are some photos I took at the gardens that will again be showcased.

Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden, in Vancouver, WA: Spread over a lovely hillside, the rows and rows of flowers beckon visitors further and further into the distance. Terry and Barbara grow a wide variety of species and there is always something surprising to stumble upon. 

Visitors enjoy the blooms at Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden, AIS Convention 2006.

Mid-America Garden, in Brooks, OR, is the home of Paul Black and Thomas Johnson, two of America's top hybridizers. One of the highlights for me in this garden was seeing a preview of what's to come in their reselect seedling beds.

Display beds at Mid-America Garden, AIS Convention 2006.

Schreiner's Iris Gardens in Salem, OR, is a destination for gardeners of all stripes. While irises are the main attraction, their display gardens are filled with companion plants and are always a delight. It is sure to inspire you with plenty of ideas to take home to your garden.

Display garden at Schreiner's Iris Gardens, AIS Convention 2006.

And, again, seeing the rows and rows of reselected seedlings gives us a sneak peek into the future and the wonderful advances we'll see shaping iris fashion in years to come.

Seedling beds, Schreiner's Iris Gardens, AIS Convention 2006.

We'll also be visiting Mt. Pleasant Iris Farm, in Washougal, WA, home of Chad Harris and Dale Grams; Miller's Manor Gardens, home of Lynn and Roger Miller; and Wildwood Gardens, home of Tracy and Will Plotner.

I. pseudacorus variegata, photographed at Mt. Pleasant Iris Farm

After the main Convention, the Siberian & Species Convention will take place on the 24th and 25th. "Another Day in the Garden" will take visitors back to some of the previous gardens as well as the garden of Kevin Vaughn. In addition to the cornucopia of irises you'll enjoy, the sights and attractions of Portland are nearby, and you have all the stunning natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest within easy driving distance. From the mountains of the Cascades and the rainforests of the Olympics, breathtaking drives through the Columbia Gorge, and the incredible geology from the deserts to the volcanoes to our beautiful beaches, there is something for everyone to enjoy.

You can find all the details you'll need to plan your trip at theConvention's main website. See you there!

Flower arrangements at Cooley's Gardens, AIS Convention 2006.

Mid-America Gardens, iris fields. (click for larger view)

IRISES, the Bulletin of the AIS - Winter 2015 Edition

January 21, 2015, 6:38 am

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By Andi Rivarola

Hot off the presses, here's the Winter Edition of IRISES, the Bulletin of The American iris Society. On the cover a classic -- historic iris 'Snow Flurry,' by Clara Rees (1939). This and many other historic irises are now available for viewing via catalogs (dating back to 1920) posted online. Historic Bulletins and catalogs are available to emembers on the AIS website. (More information on the current issue of IRISES by Editor Kathleen Sonntag in her Editors Message.)

The Winter 2015 issue of the AIS Bulletin is now available for online viewing within the Emembers section of the AIS website.

Note: to access this area you must have a current AIS Emembership. AIS Emembership is separate from the normal AIS membership. Please see the Electronic Membership Information area of the AIS website for more details.

Welcome to the Winter 2015 edition of IRISES, the Bulletin of The American Iris Society. Hope you will enjoy several of the articles on this issue.

The always fascinating Symposium report lists irises chosen by popularity and reported by Riley Probst. The list always makes me think about what other iris lovers are enjoying around the country. Don't miss it.

You will recognize the names of those in the 2014 Honorary Awards Recipients list, which includes the recipients for the Hybridizer Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal Award, the Gold Medal, and the Warburton Medal. A fascinating list of individuals, on page 9.

Page 12 includes some important events throughout the AIS Sections world listed under Section Happenings. Find information about the Society for Louisiana Irises (SLI), Historic Iris Preservation Society (HIPS), the Spuria Iris Society, the Species Iris Group of North America (SIGNA), the Reblooming Iris Society, and the Society for Pacific Coast Native Irises (SPCNI).

Enjoy the adventures and some fantastic shots by the AIS President Jim Morris' trip to Australia and New Zealand on page 14.

On My Journey with Siberian Irises, hybridizer Zdenek Sidl from the Czech Republic reports about his experiences breeding these beauties, which grow naturally in his home country -- on page 16.

Find on pages 29-31, everything you may want to know about the upcoming Spring Convention to be held in the Greater Portland, Oregon area May 18-23; and the Siberian/Species Convention following on May 24-25 on page 18.

Hope you are as excited as I am about the 2020 AIS Centennial Celebration; I feel it's an incredible opportunity to expose the magnificence of our lovely irises, and the organization that helps disseminate its information to the rest of the world. You will find on page 25 what we're planning to do about a Centennial Iris, and a Centennial Logo.

There's much more of interest in the Winter 2015 edition of IRISES, this short review was only to give you a hint of the lovely issue, and to let you know that the printed edition is now in the hands of the Post Office for those of you non-emembers. We hope that you will receive it soon. 

Happy gardening. 

For those new to The American Iris Society, as a member you receive the printed quarterly edition of IRISES via mail, or if you are an e-member, then you will be able to read the entire publication online. The latter is a very convenient option for overseas iris enthusiasts. For more information, please go to our website's membership information section.  

THE BLUE IRIS GARDEN -- Planting A Monochromatic Tall Bearded Iris Bed

January 26, 2015, 2:00 am

≫ Next: The Earliest Irises: Welcoming Spring

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By Susanne Holland Spicker

'Bubbling Waves' (Ghio 2006)

One of the oldest gardens in my yard is a tall bearded monochromatic blue iris bed. The word Monochromatic is defined as any shade, tint, or tone of one color.  I've been putting blues together in this bed for many years. There are countless blue iris cultivars to choose from--ranging from the very light, silvery 'Silverado', to the blue-black of 'Hello Darkness', and every hue in between. I'm drawn to the calming and restful feeling that the cool blue color palette  provides. As an added note, cool colors also help make small gardens appear larger because they tend to recede in the distance. Just be careful to plant them in full sunlight, as they can disappear in the shadows.

To achieve a maximum focal impact, I've used a wide variety of selfs, plicatas, and neglectas*. Although many cultivars in the bed are older varieties, I have updated the bed through the years, adding new favorites. The 16' X 12' bed presently has 45 different cultivars. I added 3 new ones this year. To help with the decision, I make a collage to see how well  new irises coordinate with what I have. A pictorial 'wish list' folder on the computer helps to remind me of ones I want to add. This has been a valuable aid. I also make note of the cultivar's bloom season, extending the bloom time of the garden by using very-early to very-late blooming irises.

'Silverado'(Schreiner 1987)

'World Premier' (Schreiner 1998)

'Queen's Circle' (Kerr 2000)

'Ruffled Ballet' (Roderick 1975)

Some terms you may be interested in if you're not familiar with them:

• Tint - when white is added to the color. 
• Tone -  when gray is added.
• Shade -  when black is added.
• The bed incorporates all these in different Values. (The lightness or darkness of the color).

'Daughter Of Stars' (Spoon 2001)

'No Count Blues' (Schreiner 2009)

'Monday Morning Blues' (Van Liere 2012)

'Classic Look'(Schreiner 1992),'City Lights' (Dunn 1991)

'Proud Tradition'(Schreiner 1990)

'Gyro'(Aitkin 1989)

Harmony in the bed was relatively easy to achieve with this single color scheme. By adding some whites, and accenting with companion plants in pinks and roses, this blue monochromatic iris bed has proven to be a favorite. 

Do you have a monochromatic garden?  If so, I'd love to hear from you and what you've done. 

*  Self - An iris with standards and falls of the same color

   Plicata - Stippled, dotted or stitched color patterns on the falls over a lighter ground color

   Neglecta - A bi-tone iris in blue or purple shades    

The Earliest Irises: Welcoming Spring

February 2, 2015, 4:00 am

≫ Next: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'HISTORIC', 'HERITAGE', AND 'LEGACY' IRISES?

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by Tom Waters

reticulata iris 'Katharine Hodgkin'

While I enjoy the rest and simplicity that winter brings to the garden landscape, by January or February I find myself looking ahead eagerly to spring. Most gardeners think of irises as late spring flowers, bridging the time between spring bulbs and summer perennials. But there are many wonderful irises that bloom much earlier, and help the impatient iris lover through the long wait for bloom.

I garden in what is now zone 6 in northern New Mexico. (The older USDA map had us in zone 5). Here the last frost is usually in May. Tall bearded irises bloom in late May and early June. But my iris season begins in February, or sometimes even earlier!

Reticulata Irises

Iris danfordiae

The earliest of all irises in my climate are the reticulata irises (sometimes sold as “rock garden irises”). They often bloom right through the snow! These grow from bulbs, resembling crocus corms. They bloom along with the crocuses too, which is usually March here. However, I have a warm flower bed along the southeast side of the house, where spring bulbs bloom a month or more before those in the main garden. Here the reticulata irises are in full bloom in February; in some years they begin late in January.

reticulata irises blooming in the snow

These are small flowers, about the size of crocuses, though a bit taller. Most of the widely available ones are shades of blue, violet, or purple, often with a contrasting orange or yellow stripe on the falls. The earliest of all is the yellow Iris danfordiae. This little charmer has almost no standards, the shape of the bloom being formed by its wide falls and style crests. Its bright yellow color is accented by small leaf-green dots.

reticulata iris'Cantab'

The blue, violet and purple forms in commerce are mostly forms and hybrids of Iris reticulata and Iris histrioides. Some of my favorites are the light blue 'Cantab' and the dark blue 'Harmony'. There are also white ones, and a lovely pastel blend of sky blue, cream, and gray tones, 'Katharine Hodgkin'.

These wonderful irises are available inexpensively almost anywhere you can buy crocuses, daffodils, and tulips. In some gardens, they multiply from year to year. Elsewhere, they may dwindle away. (Planting deeply may help.) But they are inexpensively replaced and well worth it for the cheer they lend to the late winter garden. It’s surprising that they are not as widely grown as crocuses or snowdrops. They surely deserve to be!

Dwarf Bearded Irises

Iris pumila

Iris pumila

Among the more familiar bearded irises, the earliest to bloom are the miniature dwarf bearded (MDB). Although these grow from rhizomes like their tall bearded cousins, they are less than 20 cm (8 inches) In height! An established clump presents a carpet of color before the taller ones are even sending up their stalks. These are available in a wide range of colors, patterns, and flower shapes to suit every taste.

Iris pumila'Steppe'

In my garden, the bearded iris season begins with the species Iris pumila. This little gem is native to eastern Europe, from Austria to the Caucasus. Bloom usually begins here around the beginning of April, and carries on for a full month. The dainty, perky blooms come in violet, blue, yellow, cream, and white, often with a contrasting darker spot on the falls. They have hardly any stem at all, blooming right on the ground, with the tops of the blooms just a few inches above the soil. There are some named cultivars of the species, such as the well-known 'Little Drummer Boy', 'Suslik', and 'Hobbit', as well as more recent introductions such as 'Steppe', 'Royal Wonder', and 'Wild Whispers'. To find this delightful species, you will have to turn to specialist nurseries, either iris enthusiasts are rock-garden aficionados who seek out wild plants from around the world. Beware that there is an unfortunate practice in the nursery trade of labeling any small bearded iris as “Iris pumila”; if you see such a label at a local garden center or home improvement store, it is almost certainly not the real species.

Iris pumila'Royal Wonder'

Iris pumila comes from regions where it is cold in winter. It does fine in my garden, where winter temperatures down to around 0 F are normal, but growers in warmer-winter climates report that it does not persist well for them.

There are two similar species, Iris attica and Iris suaveolens, that come from the southern Balkans, Greece, and western Turkey. It seems these might do better in warmer gardens, but they are not widely grown. Again, you will need to seek them from specialists.

Iris suaveolens

MDB iris'Rosa Brooks'

Easier to find are the hybrid miniature dwarfs, derived from Iris pumila but with some tall bearded irises in their ancestry as well. These tend to be a bit larger than Iris pumila, and bloom later. Their time is late April into early May in my garden. Although not commonly found at garden centers, many commercial iris growers list some of them. These are available in all the colors seen in Iris pumila, as well as other colors from their tall bearded ancestry, such as pink, orange, plicata, and sometimes contrasting red or blue beards! They are quite adaptable to different climates, although most appreciate a winter chilling.

Some favorites of mine are'Alpine Lake' (white with a gentle blue spot), 'Icon' (bright orange with a darker spot) and 'Dollop of Cream' (ruffled creamy white).

MDB iris'Icon'

By the time the miniature dwarfs have finished, iris season is well underway, with medians and arilbreds beginning to bloom and the tall bearded not far behind.

MDB iris'Alpine Lake'

MDB iris'Dollop of Cream'

I do love the head start on spring these earliest irises provide, but I would grow them even if they bloomed later. Their charm and daintiness speaks to me, and I enjoy the variety and fun they add to an iris collection.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'HISTORIC', 'HERITAGE', AND 'LEGACY' IRISES?

February 9, 2015, 5:00 am

≫ Next: Part One: Remineralizing Soils––A Winter reading assignment for Pacific Coast Iris Growers

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by DAWN MUMFORD

Collage of historic irises from our garden 

I belong to several groups on Facebook visited by people who like to grow irises.  I have learned a lot from those groups and enjoy the lovely photographs that members post of their irises.  Questions are asked and there is usually someone out there with the correct answer.   One question that was posed and never fully answered to my satisfaction is our topic today:  

 What is the difference between 'Historic’ ‘Heritage’ and ‘Legacy’ Irises? 

The American Iris Society uses the term "Historic" to describe those irises that were introduced 30 or more years ago. Each year there are a whole lot more that fit into that category. Of the 3 terms listed in the question, The American Iris Society has only accepted and defined the term “Historic”. They have not adopted nor defined the term “Heritage" or "Legacy" Iris. So the terms "Heritage" and "Legacy" are terms used by other iris collectors. In other words if you ask 25 gardeners what "Heritage" and "Legacy" irises are, you might get 25 different answers. I asked a few iris lovers and officials to distinguish between "Historic,""Heritage," and "Legacy" and here is what they said.  

     

Anne Milner lives in the UK. She has a wonderful web site at http://www.blissiris.co.uk/ This is what she had to say:

”I’m afraid I have never heard of ‘Legacy’ irises... though I know that officially ‘Historic’ irises are those over 30 years old – too short a time in my opinion. I’m also not clear about ‘Heritage’ irises. I grow 'Arthur Bliss’ irises which are now nearly 100 years old – definitely ‘Historic’. Very few are available commercially, though I would supply what I can to people in Europe. As you may be aware, cross-Atlantic trade is extremely difficult. "

It appears that the terms "Heritage" and "Legacy" are not in wide use in the UK, from what I have been able to gather.

'Bruno' (Bliss, 1922)

Flowers are large and well proportioned.  

 'Majestic'  (Bliss, 1923)

Enormous flowers.  Very fine form and extra substance.  

My next response came from Laetitia Munro, a committee chairman for HIPS.  HIPS stands for the Historic Iris Preservation Society, so Laetitia is an authority on correct terminology on old irises.  She reports that

"As for the terms you describe,only one term you mention, 'historic', is the one that is officially defined and accepted by HIPS, which would deal with THE official descriptions of older iris. The terms 'legacy' and 'heritage' do not have specific official meanings as far as the Historical Iris Preservation Society goes, although for sure they are meant to describe older iris.
As people have grown increasingly dissatisfied with the use of the term 'historic' for EVERY iris that is over 30 years old the terms traditional and heritage have been bandied about as ways to describe iris that look different from the very old iris, and move the dates of Historic Iris back to pre 50's, or even earlier. However this is just talk at the moment, and because a majority of the Board cannot agree, no decisions have been made. Right now, faced with more pressing issues, there is nothing that the Board of Directors is considering at the moment, and there is no sub-committee to make change recommendations. We will continue to use the term 'historic' to describe iris 30+ years old.  If you read anything on the HIPS website you will see that these other two terms are not used in an official capacity in any formal documents.

If I were to give you my unofficial interpretation,  'traditional' iris might be considered one that is of the newest wave of 'historics', such as American Beauty, Apple Blossom Pink, Twice Blessed.  Heritage iris might be of the next older group such as iris from the 50's, 40's such as Chivalry, Black and Gold, Cahokia and the like."

'American Beauty'  (Shoop, 1985)
photo courtesy of Bluejiris

'Chivalry' (Wills, 1943) 
Photo courtesy of Bluebird Haven Iris 

"My main 'beef' about the 'historic' designation is that an historic iris from 1980 looks very much like a modern iris from the years post 2000, while those that are older than 1950 do have distinctive form indicative of the earlier times."

The next opinion is from Robert Karr from Newport Naturals Iris, who gives a little history on the issue:

"HIPS tried a few years ago to redefine what 'Historic' meant.  After a lot of discussion, we decided to just leave the definition the same:  any iris introduced into commerce thirty years ago.  We did not try to come up with new classifications such as 'Heritage' or 'Legacy'. Linda and I do not care for such terms, but prefer “Historic”.  It is my impression that the majority of the members of HIPS who took part in the discussion prefer to keep the term “Historic”, and not attempt to use any other terms. What is the difference between “Heritage”, “Historic", and “Legacy” is a subject that would conjure up hundreds of opinions.  I am not sure that it is a viable subject for discussion anymore."

Mike Unser is well respected for his knowledge of historics.  He was the webmaster for HIPS for a number of years, an accomplished photographer, and a writer for this blog. He chimed in with

"Here's my two cents on these terms and how they apply to old irises.
'Historic' is an official designation by the AIS that includes any iris over 30 years old. It is the basis for the Historic Iris Preservation Society, which was founded with the intention of stopping the loss of important old irises and keeping them going for future generations to enjoy.
'Heritage' is defined as 'something that comes or belongs to one by reason of birth; an inherited lot or portion.' I have only seen this used in the iris context by groups or individuals as pertains to varieties of national importance. Such as Terry Johnson's blog Heritage Irises which usually focuses on the work of New Zealand breeders, such as Jean Stevens. He writes of others but I think the NZs are the focus.

'Legacy' has, as one definition, 'anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor.' I would only apply this term to collection of irises that fit a theme, like Anne Bliss' collection of the Arthur Bliss varieties, or the Sarah Cook collection of the Morris varieties. Or an individuals collection of varieties their grandmother grew."  

Mike provided me with 3 beautiful photographs of 'Historics' that he feels should be more widely known and grown.

'Nomohr' (Gibson, 1955) 

(Snow Flurry X Elmohr), HM 1956.
Photo courtesy of Mike Unser.  'Flashing Gem'is on the left and Mike believes that 'Native Chief' is on the right. 

'Mary Barnett' (Cumbler, 1926)
Photo courtesy of Mike Unser

'Maroon Damask'  (Kleinsorge,1945) 
Photo courtesy of Mike Unser
The yellow behind 'Maroon Damask' is'Goldbeater' the bright pink one is a noid that is going around as'Ranger.'

I asked Mike where he got all his Historic irises and he said that early on he did a lot of ordering from Superstition, Argyle Acres, a little from Winterberry, and from well-known irisarian Wanda Rezac.  The vast majority came from other collectors and are pretty rare. 'Maroon Damask' came from Winterberry. The other two may become available from The Pickle Barrel House sale or the HIPS sale where he passed them on for propagation and distribution. 

Conclusion
'Historic' is the correct term with an accepted definition. Although many of us may use the terms 'Heritage' and 'Legacy' to mean older irises, there is no official meaning for the terms.

What do you think?  Do we need more descriptive words to denote age or not?  Perhaps just having the year they were introduced is enough?

I would love to hear from you. 

I have loved irises since I was a young mother.  Here I am in a photo from 1974 with my son Zane who is now 41 years old.  I don't know the name of the iris, which was passed down to me from my mother-in-law. I didn't know that I would later feel the names were so important, and today, it drives me crazy that I don't know the name of this iris! Do you have any guesses what it is?  

My heartfelt gratitude to Anne Milner, Laetitia Munro, Robert Karr and Mike Unser.  Thanks so much for your contributions. 

Part One: Remineralizing Soils––A Winter reading assignment for Pacific Coast Iris Growers

February 16, 2015, 6:00 am

≫ Next: Part Two: Remineralizing soils and the PCI response in my Garden

≪ Previous: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'HISTORIC', 'HERITAGE', AND 'LEGACY' IRISES?

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Kathleen Sayce, January 31, 2015

Originally published in Pacific Iris, Spring 2013, and updated Winter 2015

In 2010 I began to learn about providing better nutrition to soils so that plants will grow in optimal conditions. Healthy plants not only overcome herbivory, disease, drought and other adverse conditions to flourish, they grow larger, flower more and set more seeds. These plants have higher levels of secondary plant compounds, sugars, and other metabolites. Optimal nutrition for healthy soils to produce healthy plants is not a matter of applying N-P-K fertilizers; instead the focus is on balancing minerals and adding carbon compounds.

Systematically testing soils is the first step; the second step is adding those minerals that are low or absent from your soil. Adding additional organic matter, or carbon, in the form of compost, fungi-inoculated wood chips and biochar is another good step for some soils, particularly temperate forest soils. Plus patience, and resampling soils every year as you change the mineral composition. I was excited to see how my plants would respond, even though I grow few food plants (some herbs, a few parsley plants––all plants that deer usually avoid).

In my garden, historically I used compost and biochar every time I planted a new iris. Every two or three years, a new layer of compost was added over each garden area. I've also used wood chips, preferably red alder chips, aged for a year so that fungi have inoculated them before they go into the garden beds. I've done this for more than 20 years, and until 2010, I thought I was doing pretty well. That year I began reading about minerals, soil carbon, and soil health.

First, I read the latest book from Steve Solomon on vegetable gardening, The Intelligent Gardener. Steve lives and gardens in Tasmania; in a former life he lived in Oregon, where he started Territorial Seeds, a vegetable seed company for the Pacific Northwest. He and his family lived on what he could grow in the garden for several years. He composted, irrigated, added manures, and generally followed traditional organic farming guidelines. It took him decades to learn about how to make high quality composts, and even longer to learn about soil minerals and soil health. Now in his 70s, Steve's latest book is a tour de force for gardeners, distilling a lifetime of gardening knowledge for all of us. Whether you garden for pleasure, or food, or both, read this book.

Second, I read Michael Astera's book on soil nutrition and cation-base exchanges, The Ideal Soil: A handbook for the new agriculture. IMO, a gardener with high school chemistry will understand both Solomon's and Astera's books. 

For a third read on this subject, there is Jeff Lowenfel's Teaming with Minerals, a companion to Teaming with Microbes. Read both of them too.

Jeff Lowenfel's books on soil health are great reading for gardeners.

Living in a high rainfall area, it makes sense to me that water soluble nutrients are low in my soil; the opportunities for them to mobilize are too good. Yet compost and well-inoculated wood chips are not be putting back everything that my soil needs in the way of minerals. In fact, water soluble nutrients probably wave at plant roots as they wash past during the wet season. Hi! Good-bye! And they are gone.

In 2012 I took a bold step forward, and sampled my soil. The samples were sent to a soil testing lab. A bold step for me, that is; thousands of farmers and gardeners do this every year. The report came back, full of numbers, a few were high, most were low. The conclusion was that my soil had three minerals in sufficient or excessive amounts (Iron, Zinc and Magnesium). All other elements werenonexistent or at very low levels.

The facts:  too much Mg, Fe and Zn, not enough Ca, and some minerals were incredibly low.

I measured the area of all my garden beds, and took the soil sample results plus the area measurement to a local soil consultant to have a custom blend of minerals formulated for my garden. The soil consultant avoided Calcium compounds that might change the pH of my naturally acidic soil or add more Magnesium. 

My soil consultant did the calculations by hand, but there are websites where you can plug in your numbers and have the needed amounts of minerals calculated for you. For example, http://growabundant.com has an online calculator.

We settled on a formulation that would build up minerals over several years, not trying to bring this garden to an optimal mineral level in one year, but rather to bring it up more gently over three to five years. It was a cautious first step, in hindsight. I went home with three bags, to apply in midwinter, late winter and early spring.

To learn what happened, see Part Two later this week.

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Part Two: Remineralizing soils and the PCI response in my Garden

February 19, 2015, 5:00 am

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≪ Previous: Part One: Remineralizing Soils––A Winter reading assignment for Pacific Coast Iris Growers

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Kathleen Sayce

Yes, as a result of my soil experiments there were more flowers than ever in my garden in 2013. But it's the number of Pacific Coast Iris (PCI) pods that was astounding. In prior years I'd seen around 50-70 seed pods in total. I know this because I use organza mesh bags on ripening pods to keep them from tossing seeds all over the garden, and I could count the bags as they went out. I'd purchased 400 bags and used 70 in 2012, on every pod I could find. And this had seemed typical at the time, based on prior years' seed sets.

Tools of the seed collecting trade:  mesh bags, paper bags, and somewhere in the bottom of the basket, a writing implement and clippers.

By 2013 I used every mesh bag, some of them several times, shifting from early ripening pods to later ripening pods. A friend found a few more bags at a yard sale and gave them to me; I used them as well. I cut pods off many plants, needing at most 15 pods of each variety for the SPCNI seed exchange, and threw away at least 100 pods. So in one twelve-month period, my irises went from producing around 70 pods, to producing around 500 pods. The onlything that changed was the soil's mineral nutrition.

Some of the extra pods.  Look closely at the top of the image to see seeds spilling out in the lawn. Just a few of the many pods I tossed in 2014, from the plants that set seeds.

There was also a major weather difference that reduced the seed set for many PCI. Many of my well established plants are hybrids that flower in May and early June. A typical year has PCI in flower from April until late June or early July. We had a late wet spring in 2013. I did not get any seeds from the early flowering PCI. The later flowering species and species crosses that bloomed in mid June were more successful, as they flowered in drier weather, and bumblebees could actually get to their flowers. So this astounding pod production was despite very poor early-season weather for seed setting.

One hybrid I very much wanted seed from, 'Finger Pointing', did not set any seed at all!

PCI 'Finger Pointing' managed to hit the wrong weather to set seed in 2014.

In 2014, I resampled the soil, had another mix of minerals formulated based on the new soil test, put these out in winter––this time we did it all in one application, and then I again waited for spring. I also added compost to most beds, and continued to plant new plants with a mix of compost and biochar. My hope is that these high-test carbon compounds will help with mineral retention in coming years. Ongoing soil tests will tell me how successful this is.

Again the weather did not cooperate. In spring 2014, my area had an early, very warm hot spell that lasted several weeks, with temperatures in the low 90s to low 100s––for the South Coast of Washington, it was hot. In response, irises that normally flower over three to four months all flowered in less than six weeks. The bumblebees were badly overworked! Early flowering (April to early May) PCI responded with heavy seed sets and a short intense flowering period. This unseasonal heat was followed by cool rainy weather in late May into June, so late flowering PCI did not set as much seed, the reverse of the prior year, though the tenax x innominata plants again set many extra pods. I once again used all my mesh bags, and again cut off more than 100 extra flower spikes with more than 200 pods to reduce final seed volumes on those plants that did set seed.

PCI 'Mission Santa Cruz' is an old, tried and still true iris for gardens. Even this one failed to set any seed in 2014.

Observant readers will note that I have not written about Nitrogen or N-P-K formulas. I did not add N or N-P-K in 2013 or 2014. A properly mineralized soil does not need much N. When healthy, the soil contains microorganisms that fix N and make it available to plants. There's another very important reason to not add N: Nitrogen fertilizers stimulate microbes to metabolize carbon compounds in the soil. My soil is acidic sand; I do not want to lose any carbon if I can find a way avoid it. Also, post World War II, the use of N fertilizers has wreaked havoc with historic soil carbon levels around the world. So I save money by not using standard N-P-K mixes, and instead spend it on custom blends.

If you read about historic versus current levels of minerals in vegetables, it's staggering to learn that mineral levels in food plants have dropped by 3-10X from those of a century ago. This bears directly on food health for all of us, as well as flowering and seed setting capacity for those plants we eat, not to mention those we grow for pleasure. It seems clear that improving minerals in soils leads to improved seed sets (see Jeff Lowenfel's Teaming with Minerals).

Other gardeners have commented on my use of inoculated wood chips. Most native plants in the West, especially in forest and woodland conditions, grow with soil fungi. In my garden,it is a measure of success to have mushrooms growing among ornamental plants. When I dig up iris plants, I see abundant feeder roots interacting with aged wood chips and soil fungi. In Fall 2013, chanterelle fungi were fruiting on a garden path next to several iris plants; this path is layered with several years worth of wood chips. Success!

In Winter 2015 I'm about to sample my soil again, and take the results to my local soil consultant. I can't wait to see how my PCI respond this spring. No guesses on the weather, though. In the past two years, I've seen both early and late flowering plants shut out by weather from successful seed sets. What I do know is that those PCI that manage to set seed are likely to set a lot of it!

Some of My Best Rebloom Parents in Zone 6

February 23, 2015, 6:00 am

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by Betty Wilkerson

'Earl of Essex' has been used by many people and it has produced many rebloomers, but I'm not sure it has received all the praise it deserves. It is one of my favorite parents due to the fall form, which is round, and its willingness to pass on its rebloom genes.  On the negative side it is a cycle rebloomer, it is short, and it is a plicata.  Those are drawbacks because I work with summer rebloomers, prefer tall seedlings, and dislike the messy hafts that come along when crossing plicatas and selfs.  I've been told that the messy hafts come along with the plicata breeding since they have not been removed from the plicata gene set, and although these genes are not specifically a part of the plicata gene, they ride along with it.  

'Earl of Essex' (Zurbrigg 1979)

Common sense tells me that the shorter plant should be used as the pollen parent with the taller plant being the pod parent, but this is not possible when you don't grow both plants. Sometimes we get pollen from other growers, you see.  A friend donated pollen from'Hot Streak' (Ghio 1999) and I crossed it to'Earl of Essex', and 'Radiant Bliss' was the result.  I'm extremely glad I didn't follow common sense!

'Radiant Bliss' (Wilkerson 2004)

Once I moved to Mitchell Weaver Road, and established a short row of 'Radiant Bliss', I looked for a rebloom partner.  'Summer Radiance' stood tall and proud just a few plants over.  Both plants are tall, so it wouldn't matter which was taller, but 'Summer Radiance' rarely sets pods so I used it as pollen parent.

'Summer Radiance' (Wilkerson 1996)

There were several seedlings from the cross that rebloomed, and although some were red, the best one I named'Summer Honey.' In 2011 it managed to bloom from spring through fall freeze.  It was a nice, relatively moderate summer, and I did water every ten days or so when there was no rain.  I received a letter with pictures of it reblooming in Oregon in 2014.  It was gorgeous.

'Summer Honey' (Wilkerson 2013)

Below is a picture of the stalks that were cut down in the fall freeze of 2011. Five stalks growing from one rhizome.

'Summer Honey' stalks (fall)

'Radiant Bliss'was crossed onto 'Innocent Star,' resulting in five rebloomers. 'All Revved Up' is one of these rebloomers.  It passes rebloom on to many of it children.

'All Revved Up' (Wilkerson 2006)

'Rebound' (Wilkerson 96) was used on 'Innocent Star' and produced'Echo Location' and four other rebloomers.  Below is a picture, showing the netting beside the beard, that I understand indicates it is a plicata.  'All Revved Up' and 'Echo Location' share 75% of their genes.

'Echo Location' (Wilkerson 2007)

'Echo Location' (netting is proof of plicata genes)

'Echo Location' was crossed onto 'Again and Again.' There were three rebloomers, but 2130-01Re is the only seedling I kept from this cross.  It's not as pretty as I thought it was in maiden bloom.  It was a solid purple self in maiden bloom, but this is what it looks like now.

'Again and Again' (Innerst 1999)

2130-01Re (Wilkerson seedling)

I've crossed 'Over and Over' onto this seedling.  Many have been planted and some may bloom this spring.  Stay tuned for an update on the seedlings.

SIGNA Newsletter -- Winter 2014 Issue

February 25, 2015, 6:00 am

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≪ Previous: Some of My Best Rebloom Parents in Zone 6

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By Andi Rivarola

The new Winter 2014 edition of SIGNA (the Species Iris Group of North America) is out, and here's an introduction and short recap. 

As we say in SIGNA, invite a friend to check what SIGNA is all about and/or to join the society. They won't regret it and neither would you. To join please visit our webpage, here.

In this issue, a fantastic article and introduction of two irises you may not have heard about: iris boissieri and iris serotina. Both are part of the iris Subgenus Xiphium that occur in the wild from the northwest of Morocco in North Africa, to as far east as the heel of Italy and also West into Spain and Portugal. 

From Russia, Nina Alexeeva introduces us to a new iris from the Kuril Islands, Iris lokiae. Find this exciting article in the section Irises from Russia.

You will also find wonderful list (including pictures) of recent introductions of SPEC and SPEC-X irises. A couple of white irises that caught my attention, and yes you may call me a white iris fool. 'Sushi'( by Jill Copeland, R. 2013)  an I. pseudacorus X Ensata cross; and 'Precious Pearl' a crestata iris (by Barbara & David Schmieder, R. 2012); added them to my must-get list for next year.

I read with great delight the information on the article, History of the Iridarium, In Celebration of the 300th Anniversary of the Botanical Garden of Peter the Great in St. Petersburg, by
N. B. Аlexeeva, Curator. What an fantastic, detailed, historical account of this important organization. Loved this article and it made me aware of the amazing dedication and work that people do for the love of iris around the world.

There are so many more wonderful topics covered on this issue of the SIGNA Newsletter, we hope that you will consider becoming a member so you can read it in its entirety.

And, now for some more exciting news: The SIGNA Seed Exchange is now available. What is the Seed Exchange? For me, it's a wonderful way to grow species and other iris types in seed form to grow in my garden that otherwise I may not be able to obtain. The SIGNA Seed Exchange is a major benefit to SIGNA members. It is also the main fund raiser for SIGNA. The proceeds go toward the publication of the SIGNA Bulletin and help to sponsor collecting trips, special publications, and research grants. Although it is only available to SIGNA members, you may become a member when you order seeds. More information, here.

Don't forget to check our species iris database available to everyone on our website: http://signa.org/

Do you grow species irises, and what types do well in your area?

Garden Visit: Pacific Coast Iris at Leonine Iris Gardens, Pt.1

March 2, 2015, 7:00 am

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By Mike Starrhill

Last spring I was lucky enough to have the time and opportunity to visit Leonine Iris in Skyway, WA, where I saw an amazing array of Pacific Coast Irises (PCI). Bob Seaman has created a beautiful garden on this small city lot and has specialized in PCIs since 2009. He has over 240 varieties, as well as a smattering of bearded irises and misc. other species, tucked into every corner, making excellent use of the small space. We were lucky to be there on a beautiful day when the sun was shining and the flowers - and visitors - were soaking it up. The following are some of my favorite blooms that I saw that day. We'll start today with some cool tones. Check back over the next few days to see more. Hope you enjoy them.

 

Garden Visit: Pacific Coast Iris at Leonine Iris Gardens, Pt.2

March 3, 2015, 7:00 am

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By Mike Starrhill

Here are more photos from my visit Leonine Iris in Skyway, WA, where I saw an amazing array of Pacific Coast Irises (PCI). Bob Seaman has created a beautiful garden on this small city lot and has specialized in PCIs since 2009. He has over 240 varieties, as well as a smattering of bearded irises and misc. other species, tucked into every corner, making excellent use of the small space. We were lucky to be there on a beautiful day when the sun was shining and the flowers - and visitors - were soaking it up. The following are some of my favorite blooms that I saw that day. Today I highlight some bright, hot color tones. Check back tomorrow to see more. Hope you enjoy them.