WAS:Notholirion & Iris; NOW: Just Iris
James Waddick (Sat, 07 Jun 2008 08:29:09 PDT)

Iain wrote:

IRIS. ...two here have cheered me up no .., the first is Iris
milesii and the second is Iris typhifolia but missing out Iris
lutescens would be a mistake although it is now 'going over' a bit.
The next big job, Iris maackii will be in a couple of weeks so
plenty to look forward to.

Dear Iain and all,
Iris milesii is a sadly overlooked relative of the far more
common I. tectorum. I. milesii has been called the 'red' iris
although it is far from true to color, it is reminiscent of a crested
iris in flower and a bearded iris in growth form. A bit tender here,
I have grown it off and on from seed, but it fails in a hard winter.
Defintely recommended.

I. typhifolia and I. maackii have an odd somewhat similar
history. Both grow in extreme NW China around the Amur and Ussuri
River swamps on the Russian border. Both were described a long time
ago (the former in the 1920s, the later around 1880) but both were
introduced to cultivation (partly by me) around my first trip to
China (1989) and discussed in detail in my book on the Iris of China

Iris typhifoia was greeted with some skepticism partly
because the two other species of (garden*) Siberian Iris are so well
known and at first growing looked nothing very special. Its
uniqueness soon became apparent. The gently twisted Cattail (Typha)
like foliage and clear blue-violet flowers easily 6 weeks ahead of
all others in bloom. Today (partly due to my distribution of seeds
and seedlings) the species is firmly in cultivation and many hybrids
with other species have extended the bloom season of Siberian Irises
in a major way. Today it is fully accepted and considered a prime
garden plant.

I maackii remains problematical as Iain suggested. The
original collection consisted of seed pods only, later id'ed as I
laevigata. But no other yellow iris is considered native
there...unless the later plants were wild I. pseudacorus perhaps a
local form. In cultivation it behaves like I pseudacorus and
hybridizes readily. Considering the weedy attributes of I.
pseudacorus, I maacki has not been so readily accepted as a garden
iris. It is for the iris fan and a great object of study.

And speaking of iris, I don't think we have discussed the 'so
called' English iris here in quite a while. The species I latifolia
is NOT native to England, but the French/Spanish Pyrenees. It is
bulbous and two color forms are in bloom right now in my garden: 'Mt.
Blanc' a pure white and 'King of the Blues' a deep velvety
blue-purple with a great bright yellow signal on the falls. They are
very similar to Dutch Iris, but more reliable and hardy (we HAVE
discussed the difficulty of Dutch Iris as garden plants). The flowers
of English Iris are larger and with good substance. There are many
named cvs, but few regularly available. None are yellow (unlike Dutch
Iris). The older name I xiphiodes, is sometime erroneously used for
the species

I have grown these before and recall loosing them in either
an especially cold winter or very dry summer (they hate both).
Growing to about 2 ft tall, they are suitable to middle of any
perennial beds and their clear bright colors are excellent. Usually
fairly inexpensive as fall bulbs, give them a try.

And further, the nearly bulbous spurias are in bloom as Jim
McK mentioned. The rhizomes can be short and nearly woody, but can
also be treated like a bulbs (almost) when dormant. They run a range
of colors from white to yellow, blue, blue, purple and reddish brown
and every combination. I especially like the pure clear colors that
stand out in the garden. Once established they are long (VERY LONG)
lived and carefree. If they have a fault it is their potentially
large size in both height and spread. Foliage and stems can top 3 ft
and really old clumps can spread 20 feet across (but glorious in
bloom). Some newer cvs are not as floriferous as they should be, but
newer colors and form are excellent.

Most people think of Iris as spring flowers, but growing a
range of types you can have flowers over a very long period and we
aren't nearly over the Iris season which easily extend to July and
August before the reblooming types start up again.

I seem to have gotten carried away...again. Try more species
if you have the room. Enjoy

Best Jim W.

* as opposed to the 40 chromosome of Sino-Siberian irises.

--
Dr. James W. Waddick
8871 NW Brostrom Rd.
Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711
USA
Ph. 816-746-1949
Zone 5 Record low -23F
Summer 100F +