Bearded Iris

Iris Identification

| Flower Roberts

I try really hard to keep good records of which plants are where in the garden.

Sometimes the flowers move on me and I have to figure out who moved where.

So we are piecing together the history of a mystery iris.

I thought I got it from my dad.

I thought it had one name, he gave me another from his records.

Neither name matches this beauty.

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Its features match an iris I got from Cooley’s Gardens decades ago.  I thought it had disappeared.

After much discussion and comparison to photos on the American Iris Society website.

I am declaring this beauty ‘Jelly Roll.’

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Welcome back Jelly Roll!

Flower

Taco Supreme

| Flower Roberts

Taco Supreme is an iris of mystery.

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The light plays tricks with the blooms all do long.

Its beige turns to peach

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and its burgundy turns to red…or is it purple?

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What a color-shifter it is!

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Is this a trick or a talent?

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Taco Supreme is a surprise.

Flower

‘Little Much’ Shows Up

| Flower Roberts

I was very excited to find ‘Little Much’ amongst the ‘Persian Berry’ patch this afternoon.

I try to separate out the slow-growers.

I thought I had lost this lovely lilac and white bearded iris.

What a nice discovery on an otherwise strange day.

I hope it is a sign not to lose hope.

I am struggling with my other blog and book.

I want to drop it all until the fall.

I am the FLOWER after all!

Flow movin’ slow.

Immortality

| Flower Roberts

This iris bloomed for the first time on Easter morning.

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It will continue to bloom periodically all summer and into the fall.

It is only about two feet high, so should be planted in the middle of a bed

instead of the usual back row of hybrid bearded  iris.

It is easy to grow, elegant and deer resistant.

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Bearded iris, Iris germanica ‘Immortality’.

Flower

If Iris were Dresses

| Flower Roberts

If Iris were dresses, I’d have quite a wardrobe.

There would never be worries about what to wear.

I’d wear Persian Berry to the ballet

and dream that I too am leaping and twirling.

Easter Sunday would call for the bright, sunny yellow of Banana Frappe’.

For a run south of the border, I’d don Thunder Echo

and dance the Tango and Rumba in practical shoes with ruby buckles.

A skyscraper evening with sparkling drinks would require Immortality with diamonds.

For a night on the town, I would slip on Little Much, full of ruffles and sparkles.

For a trip to the seashore the attire would be Shipshape,

with matching blue flip flops and a straw bag and hat.

An evening at the symphony deserves an attire of Night Affair with amethyst earrings.

But since iris are just flowers and I just the gardener,

I’ll slip on my apron with tools in its pocket and dream in my garden,

My garden of dreams.

FLOWER

 

 

Iris, Old and New

| Flower Roberts

April is the month of the bearded iris here in North Carolina.

I have one old type from my daddy’s mother’s garden.

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I moved many iris onto this bank last summer.  They have never been happier.

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The rest of my iris are hybrids.

They came from Cooley’s in Oregon over twenty years ago.

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Taco Supreme
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Shipshape
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Banana Frappe’
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Thunder Echo
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Persian Berry
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I got this from my daddy.   Hmmmm?  Depth of Field?

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This is just the first wave of iris.  There will be more in the coming weeks.

The next parade will be the peonies.  Here is the first bloom.

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Ants love the sap on the peony buds.

Ahhhhh spring at last!

FLOWER

Divide to Multiply

| Flower Roberts

It’s time to divide your bearded iris.

Thunder Echo
Thunder Echo

Look at each grouping. Did they bloom well in April?

Are the leaves small?  Are there white spots?  Brown streaks?  Holes?

Are the rhizomes skinny?  Holes in spots?  Packed together?

Clean iris are happy iris.

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I have not sprayed mine in a decade,

because I cut and clean them several times each year.

The rhizomes like to stay dry and bake in the sun.

This can’t happen if they are crowded.

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Clean it before you move any plant. That way you don’t move problems.

This is especially true if sharing plants with friends.

They will not appreciate your disease or tenacious weed.

HERE WE GO!

Lift the group you wish to move.  I use a combo of dig and pull.  Clean each one off.

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Let it stand out for a day or two in the shade to harden off the cuts.

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Cleaned and separated.
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Trash pile from cleaning.

IF you must do the move and replant in the same day,

you may want to dust breaks and cuts on the rhizome with sulfur powder.

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To replant, dig a large basin-type trench,

so that you can reach across it in the future to clean them.

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Amend soil as needed.

The spot you choose should be sunny and well-drained.

Spread out the roots as you cover them.

I usually bury the entire roots and rhizome and then tug the rhizome to the surface.

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Pretend it is floating on the soil like a little boat, half-submerged.

My Daddy likes to tease me by looking at my iris and asking,

“When are you going to plant those?”

Mud them in. (Flood with water.)

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I always say that transplanting a plant without “mudding it in”,

is like transplanting an organ without hooking up the arteries.

When you are done, go take a shower. You will need it…and maybe a nap, too.

FLOWER

 

 

Eye Spy Iris

| Flower Roberts

April is the month of the Bearded Iris in North Carolina.

Most of mine are showing off right now.

Enjoy the show.

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Banana Frappe’
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Depth of Field
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Immortality
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Ship Shape
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Night Affair
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Persian Berry
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Thunder Echo

I will be doing a post on how to divide and care for bearded iris after July 4th. Check back then if you are interested.

Follow the Flower!

Great Grandma Ida May and the Iris

| Flower Roberts

We had a row of bearded iris behind the vegetable garden.
They hadn’t bloomed in years.
They were crowded and full of weeds.
Nobody had time to tend them.
My sister and I were teenagers finding ourselves.
My mama was teaching junior high. Bless her.
My daddy was keeping the power on at work.
The iris never made it on the list of things to do.

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Then Great Grandma Ida May came for a visit.
She disappeared from the house.
We looked out the back windows.
There she was, bent over those iris in her little cotton dress.
Her locket was swinging from her neck as she stooped and straightened up.

She spent hours weeding and cleaning around those iris.
Giving them room to grow.

It puzzled my adolescent self why this old woman felt the need to stand out there in the hot sun bent over those iris.

The next spring they bloomed like never before.
They bloomed again the next year, and the next.

Now I have iris in my own garden.

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Persian Berry
Thunder Echo
Thunder Echo

I guess when I’m old,  my grandchildren will see me bent over them,
helping them to grow and bloom.
The iris I mean.

Follow the FLOWER.