I don't remember. All I can tell you is it's been growing outside for about 7 years. It's in various locations in my garden, but all of them are within a few feet of the house... so there's definitely some added protection due to that. The biggest & happiest clump is within about 18" of the west side of my house. Still, it's surprisingly resilient to be able to grow and bloom outdoors in mid-winter here, when conditions are favorable. Otherwise it waits to bloom with the reticulatas through March and April. Dennis in Cincinnati On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 3:31 PM, Tony Avent <tony@plantdelights.com> wrote: > Dennis: > > Interesting and exciting to see that your Iris unguicularis v. cretensis is > hardy in Zone 6, but am curious if you have actually had any Zone 6 > temperatures in that time without snow cover? -5F? -10F? > Thanks. > > Tony Avent > Plant Delights Nursery @ > Juniper Level Botanic Garden > 9241 Sauls Road > Raleigh, North Carolina 27603 USA > Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F > Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F > USDA Hardiness Zone 7b > email tony@plantdelights.com > website http://www.plantdelights.com/ > phone 919 772-4794 > fax 919 772-4752 > "I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least > three > times" - Avent > > -----Original Message----- > From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] > On Behalf Of Dennis Kramb > Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 9:01 AM > To: Pacific Bulb Society > Subject: Re: [pbs] Iris cretensis > > Thanks to Bill Shear I learned that my Iris cretensis is hardy in zone 6. > I've been growing it outdoors ever since! (About 7 years now.) It has > bloomed on Christmas Day and New Years Day during favorable warm spells in > some years. I love it! > > Dennis in Cincinnati > > > On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 12:47 AM, James Waddick <jwaddick@kc.rr.com> > wrote: > > > Friends, > > > > No mention has been made of Iris cretensis. This is closer to I > > unguiculares, but has very fine foliage. Both species occur in some of > > the same locations such as Crete. So if anyone is travelling there > > (Tom !) it might be very interesting to look out for possible natural > > hybrids. I. lazica has a disjunct distribution from I unguiculares. > > > > I don't grow this, but it is said to be as hardy/tender as > > unguiculares. > > > > Best Jim W. > > -- > > 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 + > > > > _______________________________________________ > > pbs mailing list > > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >