Fw: Oncocyclus iris, was 1936 usda zones, US

Jim McKenney jamesamckenney@verizon.net
Mon, 08 May 2017 14:41:08 PDT


Oncos and regelias in summer-wet Maryland zone 7: Iris kirkwoodiae (note spelling) and I. iberica elegantissima, both received in summer 2015, bloomed last year and this year (I. kirkwoodiae  and maybe this year (I. iberica elegantissima, on the way). You can see them http://…
Note the difference in the ways Iris kirkwoodiae is spelled in the text above and in the link to the blog page: evidently the preferred spelling now is Iris kirkwoodiae, but it was originally published as I. kirkwoodii. Why the change? Because it was named for a woman, not a man. I only found out about this last year. 
What works for me is to plant them in a slightly raised bed, surround the bed with a frame to keep out water running across the ground outside the frame, and to keep them covered with a glass door from late April until sometime in late winter. The glass is removed sometime in maybe March and left off until sometime in April: in other words, the plants are covered ten months of the year. It might be better to remove the glass earlier - I'm still learning. The foliage remains in good condition until the glass cover is removed; then foliage problems are likely to occur while the existing foliage dies down for the year. 
For years now I have been advising those who want to try these plants to seek out the readily available and modestly priced hybrid 'Dardanus'. 'Dardanus' is the result of a cross between a regelia iris and an oncocyclus iris. In other words, it's derived from members of  two groups of irises widely considered most difficult to grow. Yet given careful treatment, it's tractable. Once you've mastered 'Dardanus', i.e. once you have figures out what one has to do in your climate to keep it going, you can then move on to the oncocyclus species (and the main problem there will be finding sources). 
Or practice with the aril bred hybrids.
Jim McKenneyMontgomery County, Maryland, USDA zone 7, where it has probably rained every other day since the glass cover went on. 




   
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