Iris--TOW
Rodger Whitlock (Sun, 14 Mar 2004 15:47:16 PST)
On 10 Mar 04 at 18:26, Jane McGary wrote:
Rodger Whitlock wrote,
I. lazica is a good doer: I have enormous clumps that were planted
out 15 years ago and have done well even in conditions of not-very-
good winter drainage. Unfortunately, it is an unkempt plant not
suitable for the more carefully groomed gardens. Moreover, the
rather washy flowers appear at a time when much else is flowering; I
cannot place it in the front rank of iris species.
I must have a different form, or it is responding differently to the
colder weather here than in the Victoria area. It is a pretty tidy
evergreen with little dieback, forming a compact clump, and the
flowers on mine, which I bought many years ago from Avon Bulbs in
England, are a fairly bright violet. They are, however, well down in
the foliage, and show up well only when a lot of them are open and
not devoured by slugs.
I am amused to read that you got yours from the same place I got
mine! But the flowers on mine would be better described as "washy
mauve", and the clumps are anything but compact. They remind me of
teenagers with long semi-ungroomed hair -- a little bratty, but
beloved by those close to them. The unkemptness is a byproduct of the
evergreenness; perhaps they would look better if given a haircut once
a year. Not much dieback, but enough to make it out of place in a
garden more groomed than mine.
Mine agree with yours in having the flowers down in the foliage.
I do (or did) have a seedling I. lazica with a good dark purple
flower. I'll have to toddle out today and see if it's still among
the living.
--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate
on beautiful Vancouver Island