Oregon: First to Schreiner

My iris visit to Oregon started at Schreiner's.  Near the parking lot was bed of seedlings.  This was the first to catch my eye.  YY197-D with yellow standards and mahogany falls has a nice growing habit and good substance.

The opportunity to see seedlings in the garden is a great joy!  Will they be introduced?  If so, when and what will there names be?

Dangerous Mood, Dangerous Buying Choices

'Dangerous Mood' is an impressive bi-tone.  The dark, almost black falls support a light blue cloud of standards.  Several year ago I picked up packaged rhizomes (2) at Home Depot.  You can never count on what you'll get from these shriveled rhizomes.  To be fair you can never be absolutely sure what you'll get from many growers.  So when they finally bloomed I ended up with an amoena.  Which one?  Maybe you can help! Here they are together, 'Dangerous Mood' on the right:

I have both because I ordered 'Dangerous Mood' directly from Schreiner's last year.  Below is a clear picture of the bloom.  In my garden its peak bloom this year was June 7 through 11.

The official info:

'Dangerous Mood' (Schreiner, R. 2004). Seedling JJ 109-1. TB, 36" (91 cm), Early thru mid bloom season. Standards and style arms light blue (RHS 97C), falls black (202A); beards dark purple, hairs tipped yellow. 'Dark Passion' X EE 141-2: ('Northwest Progress' x 'Hello Darkness'). Schreiner 2004.

Featured Iris: Outer Edge

Purchased in 2012 'Outer Edge' grew well last year, but did not bloom.  Lots of increase paid off this year!

Evening light pulls out the rose in what appears as a deep violet. This 2011 Intro by Paul Black is 23" IB.  Mid-America describes this cultivar:

Upright grape juice purple standards reveal red plum styles. Very round, palest pink white falls have dark red purple hafts changing to grape juice purple plicata bands. Short purple veins and sanding flank mid burnt orange beards ending in violet.

Here a clump of year two after planting a single rhizomes, shows 'Outer Edge' as great garden plant.  Some fine show stalks are in there.  It started blooming May 17 this year, peaked May 24 and bloomed until May 28.

photos (c) 2014 Neil Houghton.  Please use freely with attribution.

March 15: Yesterday's Best Iris Shots

'Boom Boom Bunny' (Lynda Miller, Registered 1994). 

 

 

 

 

Boom Boom Bunny is identified as pink on the AIS Wiki.  In my garden it is beige.  Quite lovely, but three observers agree, not pink.

'Clear Blue Shy' SDB (T.Johnson '12)

Lovely blue.  Definitely blue.

'Inner Peace' (A. & D. Willott, R. 1990) SDB, 14" (35 cm), E.

 Even more blue.  The clear light blue is complimented by a beard of matching color. 

'Jennyanydots' SDB (Black 2011) Early-Midseason 15” (38cm)

 Paul Black's most recent addition to the Jellicle cat collection.

'Lemon Pop' (Larry Lauer, 1990) IB, 16 inches (41 cm), Early

 Favorite of the day.  Great substance and form.

'Ray of Light' SDB(T.Johnson, 2005)

 Stunning and splashy!

 

 

 

Unknown White

The first of the 'reblooming whites' has arrived.  The is the "not Immortality" because of the yellow hafts and the slightly smaller size of the flower.  It is also more in the IB size range.

An IRIS, At Last

It may be another month and a half before the big boys bloom but the iris reticulata lets me know the season has begun.

 

This little gem only stands 3" tall and is mistaken for a crocus at distance. A bulb, not a rhizome, like its cousins, it is great for naturalizing, that is to plant in you yard.  By the time the grass needs mowing it will have bloomed and be gone. Don't mow too close though. The leaves need to store enegry in bulb for next year's bloom.

You can see below that the deer leave iris (and daffodils) alone.  They have feasted on the tulip next door even though the area was sprayed with "Liquid Fence." Tulip bulbs should be in the deer food aisle.

 

 

These are the first bloom pictures with Canon T5i.  The pictures above show good use of depth of field.  With a wide aperture, the plane of focus is shallow.  The iris is in focus but the leaves only a few inches beyond are blurred.  The texture is appealing and even though the leaves and branch are recognizable, they do not distract from the subject.  In the first picture the "rule of thirds" is employed to break away from a center placed object and add interest. More contrast between the shade of iris and the leaves at top would have made it better,

Below however depth of field absolutely spoils the picture.  If I tell you that I had to put the camera on the ground it will explain why this happened. I did manage to show the size of the iris but even the rule of thirds won't save this one. The twig is in beautiful focus, but it is the last thing I want you look at.  If the iris, or even the hand were in focus it would have worked better. 

Before the Almost Frost 5-12-13

 

On Sunday morning, before I had to drive to Albany, I took to the garden to dig plant and record the state of things.  A frost was threatening for that night and the next.  Happily we bottom out at 33º and all is well.

This is a panoramic shot of most of my iris beds:

Note the in the front center SDB 'Jennyandots' had just opened and nearby were others that were about to bloom (Bed D-3) and directly behind that one of what I believe to be 'Immortality,' an early white TB  is open.

'Jennyanydots' is toward the top limits of of standard dwarf bearded in height (15"). This bloom and more budding is from a new rhizome form Mid-America planted last year.  This 2011 introduction by Paul Black is delightful.

Another Mid-America SDB is is Thomas Johnson's 'Star of India.'  The aptly named 2011 introduction is substantially shorter, less than 10".

About Time! Mid-America Part 1: A,B,C

On May 20th I visited Salem, Oregon, the Mothership of Iris Growing.  I really have not taken the time to report back on specific visits... So it's about time.

I wandered through Mid-America with iPad in hand, snapping photos of blooms that struck me.  First let me say that I was bit skeptical. The catalog looks stunning, but would the cultivars live up to professional photos?  Answer:  YES!  I can't wait to order from this wonderful place... It was peak TB season so there are few, if any medians,  For more detail and prices click here to visit the Mid-America website.

In order here is part 1:

All My Dreams

Always Lovely.. what a gorgeous clump!

Aztec Art

B.... something.  Ooops!

Better Than Butter... can I play favorites?

Better Than Butter.  I know. I couldn't walk away!

A seedling... Black 09b  Don't you hate to wait?

Brilliance

Brilliant Disguise

Cheap   it's not that cheap, but I love the iris and the name!

Circle of Light ... unique is overused, but it is!

Class Clown ... see, I told you I'm not a pro photographer.

Crimson Cloud

Tomorrow I'll pick up with "F"... sorry no Ds to Es for fans of those letters.

A Trip to Trail's End

It was a wonderful day.  Only seeing photos of umbrellas reminded me that the weather was less than perfect. 

The Schellinger's, Betty and Jim asked me to join them on a trip to Canada to visit the Granatiers, Ann and Bob, and their iris sanctuary.  Maggie and Casey were the official greeters:

Beautifully landscaped grounds display irises on a comfortable stroll.

This is Bob's new cultivar developed especially for the Glenn Morris Horticultural Society

Many thanks to Jim and Betty for the invite, to Ann and Bob for the hospitality and a special thanks to Bob for a lovely "house plant."  More on my visit with the Schnellingers next!

The First Bearded Iris of The Season!

Snowy River is a MDB (miniature dwarf bearded) iris.  MDB is the smallest classification, and the smaller they are, the earlier they bloom!  Less than 5" tall and 2" across, this pure white beauty was a gift from a fellow GRIS (Greater Rochester Iris Society) member last fall.

In a month the tall bearded irises will be in bloom!