Sunday, April 05, 2009

Small Iris In Springtime



Iris reticulata (top) is one of the little charmers of our early spring garden. I've now added Iris Katherine Hodgkin (bottom), which is a cross of Iris histroides x winogradowii; the former species is light blue and the latter yellow, and Katherine Hodgkin's flowers are a marriage of both its parents, being uniquely gray-blue with yellow blotching.
It is a little sturdier flower than Iris reticulata and is said to therefore stay in flower longer. With 4 inches of snow forecast for tonight, we shall see.

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Comments:
I love these little guys. The little yellow ones are also good. I do not find them to come up year after year. Partially for that reason I don't plant too many. Those that remain just pop up around the yard, mostly as single flowers.
I think that the Katherine Hodgkin ones may be the exception.
 
Wow these are gorgeous! I planted some reticulatas in the fall and they bloomed nicely but it felt like they were gone in seconds! how i miss them so...
 
Philip... I think good drainage is a big thing; mine persist very well in raised rock gardens.

Emerson... yah; I'm hoping K.H. lasts a lot longer. It's been blooming a week already and still looks perfect (but we've been very cold).
don
 
Don,
Are these just blooming now for you? The few we have remaining were done a couple of weeks ago ... I love 'em but they are so ephemeral. I'm going to plant more in the fall in areas with better drainage because all the ones we had in the woodland area disappeared over the years. I think I'll mix some in with my species tulips ... I think they might look good together.
 
I'm ordering both of those in a co op right now for fall planting. goody!
 
IVG... these are planted in kind of a cold spot.

flowergirl1... be sure you plant in a spot with very good draining soil and some sun.

don
 
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