<<The section Limniris also include a wide range of 'beardless' irises including 16 distinct series. One of these is the series Chinenses which had been poorly represented in cultivation until the past few years. The most common species is the very small, I. minutoaurea, but it is now possible to purchase I. koreana, I. odaesanensis, I rossii and others. Also in cultivation but not yet commercial is the smaller still I henryi and the larger I. speculatrix. I was told quite succinctly by at least two people, that Iris rossii is not in cultivation in the US and that it's very difficult to grow. Is there really a commercial source of Iris rossii here in the US? Please tell me there is. The fine photo of I. rossii in your book Iris of China by James Waddick and Zhao Yu-tang (which I should've mentioned in my previous message, a "must have" for anyone interested in Iris), reveals that it's a highly desirable species.>> Mark et al., Iris rossii is indeed in cultivation in the USA, albeit barely. Barry Yinger (Asiatica) has imported plants from Japan and I picked up a couple when I visited him last week. Potted up last fall, they were the only two showing growth among a number of pots, confirming, I think, its difficulty of cultivation. They are very slow into growth and will clearly need a lot of TLC to get them established. I. rossii has been listed by at least one other nursery in the USA but these are actually I. ruthenica. I also grow I. koreana and I. odaesanensis and have recently propagated about 30 of each, by division. They will be available later. They are vigorous and robust species, clumping up quickly by making mats of lots of small and tightly congested fans. I am pretty strong but it took all of my 200+ pounds on a sharp spade to get through the mat of I. koreana ! When the fans are separated they come out with disconcertingly little root but the I. odaesanensis divisions established immediately. In contrast, I. koreana divisions appeared to brown off rapidly, a few only left with any green on the central blade. However, a dibble at the weekend showed they are making new growth buds below ground so it looks like they will be fine. Like many plants, taking care of business downstairs precedes any attempt to make new top growth following disturbance. Both of these species need to clump up before really flowering well, this was the first year that I. odaesanensis flowered well, I koreana was spectacular. The latter has also set seed. Like many of the plants from Darrell, they are both wonderful introductions - I hope i. henryi does as well. I have two clones of I. speculatrix, but neither have flowered yet. I realize most of this is probably off-topic-ish for PBS so will stop now - but anyone with a suitable site must grow these iris ! In the next week or so I'll be updating my web site with over 500 new pictures, including images of the above species. J. Dr John T Lonsdale 407 Edgewood Drive, Exton, Pennsylvania 19341, USA Phone: 610 594 9232 Fax: 801 327 1266 Visit "Edgewood" - The Lonsdale Garden at http://www.edgewoodgardens.net/ Zone 6b