June 1, 2016 Bloom Update part 1

Still catching up.  The irises, especially TBs, exploded.

All of my favorite features in a great little bundle.  Barely TB at 32" it's lovely display of apricot with a blush at the mid rib of the standards. The flowers are compact.  Highly recommended!

'Blushing' (TB Paul Black 2011)

Here is the ubiquitous 'Batik.' It is sold by every retailer from Lowes to Schreiners.  Fun in any garden, very hardy and below 27" it's great for any garden.

'Batik' (BB Ensminger 1985)

Even Schreiner's messes up sometimes.  This was sold as 'Bubble Bubble' but it's not.  Nice big well growing iris.  I'd just like to know what it is.

NOT 'Bubble Bubble'

 An early Dykes Medal winner (1947), 'Chivalry' show the early stages of ruffles in introductions.

'Chivalry' TB Wills 1943

 'Colortart' has been in my garden for years.  Because it arrived before the great Borer War, it pops up in many places.  One of this year's goals is to herd them.

'Colortart' (TB Sterling Innerst 1983)

As most of Schreiber's introductions 'Drifting' is large and tall!  It would be great on the show bench if you can get it there.  I took one to the show.  There were 3 perfectly placed flowers, though the stem was a bit curved.  Unfortunately a fourth bud opened pushing the terminal bloom aside.

'Drifting' (TB Schreiner 2011)

 If you don't have this in your garden, get it!  It has that sterling silver color and space age horns.  The form and substance are both very nice.  There will be many at the GRIS Iris Sale!  I need to clan house on this beauty!

'Eagle Control' (TB George Sutton 1998)

 'Feast Of Kings' is a glorious royal purple ruffled to within an inch of its life. Stunning.

'Feast Of Kings' (TB Paul Black 2012)

 Delicate pink, beautifully ruffled and laced, this was a wonderful surprise from last year's GRIS sale.  Although it should be called 'Victoria's Secret' this is 'H.C.Stetson.'

'H.C.Stetson' (TB Rob Stetson 2003)

 Another lovely variation on white and purple...

'Handiwork' (TB Joseph Ghio 1982)

 A stalk from this newer purple plicata won me a blue ribbon in our iris show.  The plicata marking form a deep rim around a pure white ground.

'Ink Patterns' (TB Thomas Johnson 2007)

Amoena irises have white or near white standards and solid color falls.  This is one of many with the blue cast falls and creamy white standards.
 

'Mariposa Skies' (TB Richard Tasco 1996)

 Looking much like 'Thornbird' but without the horns, this golden yellow with greenish tinge.  The beards are rusty deep purple.

'Neanderthal' (TB Jack Worel 2003)

'Sheer Excitement' is a showy BB.   The photo below also seems to be a BB, but it lost its name.

'Sheer Excitement' (BB Tasco 2011)

Unknown

Still blooming!

'Victoria Falls' (TB Schreiner 1977)

 No garden can have too many Keith Keppel irises.

'Wild Wings' (TB Keith Keppel 1999)

Catching Up Day by Day: 5-31

The morning after my party I was exhilarated.  So much fun and the highlight of a wonderful season. The show was yet to come, but I have always preferred watching people enjoy these amazing flowers in their natural setting.  It also reminds me what great friends I have from so many places.

Primarily devoted to bearded iris, I also have beardless varieties and have added some every year.  Here is the Siberian, 'China Spring.' It's like a flight of butterflies has landed in a corner of the garden. Topping out at 40" this is an impressive sight.

'China Spring' (SIB Bauer & Coble 1999)

 This is the Dykes Medal winner for 2009 and it's easy to see why.  The incredible golden bronze self (standards and falls are the same color) is visible from space.  Well maybe not, but certainly it draws ones eye. 'Golden Panther' is perfect in form for those who like a horizontal fall.  It has taken a while to establish itself in my garden, but it loved this season, although like many TBs it did not bloom at its full height,

'Golden Panther' (TB Richard Tasco 2000)

 It was time for the MTBs to bloom. 'Icing' and 'Little White Tiger' are planted side by side and bloomed together this year.  Quite a display.

'Icing' (MTB Stephanie Markham 2011)

'Little White Tiger' (MTB Jean Witt 2013)

 Artistic Break!
I love documenting the bloom in my garden. I'use those straight up photos to keep track of what bloomed when and how well it bloomed.  But I also enjoy making an artistic statement.  This photo of 'Kevin's Theme' is more about lighting and framing.  The depth of field is shallow making the iris and buds sharp and the background blooms forming colorful wallpaper effect.

 Purchased at the GRIS Iris Sale last year, 'Potomac Fireworks' is a "space age" iris. The beards come to a point and lift off the falls.  This point is called a horn.  Yes, Virginia, a new rhizome can bloom the season after it is purchased.

'Potomac Fireworks' (TB Don Spoon 2002)

Here's a fun little guy. 'Wild' is a bright rust orange with complex monochromatic markings.  Another one that took a couple of years to establish itself here.  I saw a beautiful planting in Oregon at Mid-America and could not wait to try it in upstate NY.

'Wild' (BB Paul Black 2012)

Garden Fly Over

On Friday night my good friends the Seidman's stopped over.  Ed and Yuk and their daughter Anna (a former 3rd grade student of mine) could not make my party.  They came over for cook-out, catch up and a generally very pleasant evening.  Ed brought his new toy, a quadcopter with photo and video capabilities. Distracting the little leaguers a bit the Phantom 3 took a tour of Mendon and Ed recorded this great fly over of my irises.  Wow! I will also use stills to work on my garden maps.

Great to see Ed, Yuk and Anna!

One Man Show

'Action Packed' (TB Paul Black '11)

It was love at first sight.  This was a Mid-America introduction in 2011. I was so fascinated by what I was seeing that I had to have it.  It's not a particularly vigorous grower but it is unique.  There are so many variations on a theme in the iris world, but this is one of a kind.

Golden cream standards are deeply veined with wine.  They stand erect above an almost black-maroon standards. Beneath a showy beard, rays off pure white radiate.  Action Packed sets a tone of drama. Paul Black's genius in the garden is evident.

The Bigger Picture

As new irises have bloomed I have documented them and shared some of the best. The party and other guests have made for a wonderful and busy week, but I have fallen behind in posting. Seemed like a good day to share a few broader pictures of the gardens.

Folks are welcome to stop by and wander.

The Morning Before The Event

It was Sunday about noon.  I had already moved the party to Monday based on a forecast for rain and a deluge on Friday.  Home from church I walked into the bright, sunny garden.  My heart sank.  Did I do the right thing.  As it happens I did. By 5:00 PM it was raining and didn't stop.  Thunder rolled and lightening flash then the wind picked up and started blowing under the Gazebo driving my friend John and I inside with our Guinness.

I'm glad I captured a few new blooms on the Canon!  I am also glad that most of them withstood the rain.

'Ballet Performance' is a lilac-rose plicata with great form at substance. The stalk would be wonderful in a show.  The stalk is sturdy, nicely branched and with nicely placed buds.

'Ballet Performance' (TB Thomas Johnson '08)

 Not just another violet iris!  I close examination reveals the origin of the universe is beautifully displayed.

'Celestial Explosion' (TB Richard Tasco '04)

This is a wonderful blue-violet self.  Serious hybridizers keep meticulous records of the parentage of their introductions.  You'll see named introductions in her as well as letter and numeric codings for seedlings that were used in the process that were not registered by name:

'Tokatee Falls' x CC 121-1: (W 167-1: ('Stormy Night' x 'Royal Crusader') x 'Silverado')) X 'Crater Lake Blue'.

'Change In The Weather' (TB Schreiner 2013) 

 Seemingly a double entendre, 'Deep Currents' might also be 'Currants and Cream.'

'Deep Currents' (TB Thomas Johnson '09)

 Brad Kasperek is the undisputed king of the broken pattern iris.  Zebra Iris Gardens is where Brad and Kathie Kasperek hybridize and sell iris. Kasperek's irises dominate my "Bestiary" section.  The Iris are fascinating and many of the names hysterical. Witness 'Gnus Flash'!

'Gnus Flash' (TB Brad Kasperek '96)

Building a garden with every one of the American Dykes Medal winners is a goal.  Each year the best of the best iris receives this award.  It must first be introduced in the USA then given an honorable mention (HM), an award of merit (AM) then win the top award for its class (For a TB this is the Wister Medal). Winning the Dykes Medal is the dream of every hybridizer.  Here's an early winner, 'Great Lakes.'

'Great Lakes' (TB L. Cousins 1938)
American Dykes Medal 1942

Another zebra. I love the golden standards and bronze gold falls with the requisite streaks and splotches.

'Jackal Cackle' (TB Brad Kasperek 2002)

 Larry Lauer's dramatic bi-color displays ruffles and the fall color infused on the standard rib. The beards area golden yell tipped in purple. Very hardy in my garden!

'Jurassic Park' (TB Larry Lauer '95)

 'Kevin's Theme' by Frederick Kerr, has the same basic color scheme, and both are off-spring of 'Edith Wolford' but there is no confusing them. The standards have much more pastel blend on purple and creamy yellow.  The falls have deep yellow at the haft (shoulder) and a pronounced veining. I'd love to know the the origin this name and the if the Hybridizer pronounces his name like the actress Deborah Kerr (car).

'Kevin's Theme' (TB Frederick Kerr '93)

Here is my first miniature tall bearded (MTB).  'Little Paul' has the typical form of the historic tall bearded iris. The falls are teardrop shaped with little ruffling. It won the Williamson-White Award for the best MTB of 1989. As described above, this would have made it eligible for the Dykes medal.

'Little Paul' (MTB Kevin Fisher 1983)

The relative size of the MTB is shown here.

'Little Paul' and unknown TB

'Low Ho Silver' has a pale lavender/silver cast and tangerine to white beards.

'Low Ho Silver' (IB Monty Byers 1988)

A child of the ubiquitous border bearded 'Batik's is 'Out of Control'.  It is tall bearded, a bit more red dominated purple and with blue beards.

'Out Of Control' (TB William Maryott 1994)

Borglum's 'Seneca Snowdrift' is bred in this climate.  That's a good indicator that an iris will flourish here. It is an impressive well ruffled pure white.

'Seneca Snowdrift' (TB Dana Borglum 1995)

 Some ID work to be done.  Labeled 'Summer Olympics', it's not. But it is a spectacular brilliant yellow.  I'll figure it out!

NOT Summer Olympics

 In my "bestiary' is 'Tanzanian Tangerine.' Not really a zebra, it has broken a slightly speckled pattern standards, but the falls are sanded or washed with a deep wine on an orange base.

'Tanzanian Tangerine' (TB Brad Kasperek 1995)

Next post I hope to catch up with what's blooming today!