I was so confused about irises...
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I was so confused about irises... - 5/29/2009 7:21:44 AM
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VoodooDancer
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Joined: 1/19/2009
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I read a popular book about gardening, and the author avowed that she despises irises! I was surprised, to say the least – the irises are a very large, very showy, very varied group, how could anyone despise all those different plants?
Last year I dug up and divided two “iris pizzas”. The previous owners of my house did no work on their garden or the house itself, and so there were German (“bearded” irises) and Siberian irises that had been languishing in about an inch of dirt on top of that horrible black landscaping fabric, and they had spread out so that the rhizomes looked like a pizza, I could scrape it right up off the fabric with a spatula, really.
So I divided and I planted out, and I ordered more German irises in different colors – the ones I already had were a beautiful purple, and I ordered yellow, blue, and pink, and planted them too.
This year not all the replanted rhizomes bloomed, but some did, and the new yellow German iris is soooooo very beautiful that I sit on my front lawn and gaze at it as traffic passes! “Yellow” doesn’t do it justice, the right word is “golden”. It has a soft pinkish blush, and a white line down the middle of each fall. It’s iridescent. It’s beautiful.
I think moles or voles or something ate the pink one, it’s gone. The blue ones haven’t bloomed yet.
The Siberian irises were in the same condition, though their rhizomes looked different from the tuberous-looking German irises. The Siberian iris rhizomes are tough and hairy and fibrous. I divided them out and I can see that they are going to bloom, it’s just not time yet.
Then to my utter confusion, I went to the garden center and saw little bulbs, like tulip bulbs, and these also were “irises”. I planted half a dozen, they have come up but have not yet bloomed either.
Then I couldn’t figure out the difference between “Dutch” and “German” irises. It just got more and more confusing, and finally… well, when all else fails read the manual, right? So I went to Wikipedia, and found a well-organized article that dispelled all my confusion. In fact, I didn’t feel bad about being confused anymore, when the first sentence informed me that, “Iris is a genus of between 200–300 species of flowering plants…”
So here is what I have figured out so far:
German iris
Subgenus Iris
Bearded rhizomatous iris
Iris germanica
Siberian iris
Subgenus Limniris
Beardless rhizomatous iris
Iris siberica
Dutch iris
Subgenus Xiphium
Smooth-bulbed bulbous iris
Iris xiphium
Reticulate iris
Subgenus Hermodactloides
Reticulate-bulbed bulbous irises
Iris reticulata
No wonder I was confused! So now when I go to the garden store, I can ask, "do these bulbous irises belong to the subgenus Hermodactloides, or are they of the subgenus Xiphium?" Take that!
< Message edited by VoodooDancer -- 5/29/2009 10:23:00 AM >
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RE: I was so confused about irises... - 5/29/2009 6:34:09 PM
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Midwest gardener
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Joined: 2/4/2009
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Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with the beloved irises!
The photos are beautiful and clarified the differences for me too. I have purple and a few giant yellow bearded irises, deep purple Siberian irises and some light lavender mini-irises (there is probably a botanical name for those too). They bloom early shortly after the daffodils, so they are a spring delight.
Besides their beauty I love the fact that they multiply so readily and we have been able to share many of these with friends. In fact I got both the bearded irises and Siberian irises from friends and the minis I bought at a farmers market at 10 cents a piece. That's almost a gift!
Enjoy your iris garden. Aren't you amazed at the great variety and colors pictured so beautifully in catalogs!
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RE: I was so confused about irises... - 5/29/2009 7:56:51 PM
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gardengirl
Posts: 583
Joined: 9/20/2007
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Lovely pics, thanks for sharing them. I enjoy my iris as well. Some years they don't last very long, but they are lovely to look at while they're in bloom. I have German iris, siberian iris, tiny little iris cristata, and spuria iris. Most books say they aren't hardy here, so please shhh, don't tell them.
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gardengirl zone 4 MN
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RE: I was so confused about irises... - 5/30/2009 3:41:24 AM
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Timothygrass
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What great information! Thanks!
< Message edited by Timothygrass -- 5/30/2009 6:42:11 AM >
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RE: I was so confused about irises... - 6/1/2009 3:49:45 PM
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TSQ
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VoodooDancer:
With your interest in Iris you may find a love of what I consider to be the aristocrat of the group - the Japanese Iris ( Iris ensata )
A website with picture examples:
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2635105790048346219whUitv
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TSQ - Utah, Zone 5
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RE: I was so confused about irises... - 6/24/2009 5:37:42 PM
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csinger6249
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And let's not overlook the Iris spuria with its handsome 3-4' foliage....outstanding in a perennial border! With just a little irrigation, the foliage looks good for several months. In my dry border it dies out soon after bloom, about the time of the bearded iris.
Another favorite of mine is Iris unguicularis, which blooms in the winter, even when it's snowing at my 2600' elevation in the Sierra foothills near Lake Tahoe. The flowers peek above the crown of the arching evergreen foliage. I found this one in an old Victorian garden in Grass Valley CA.
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RE: I was so confused about irises... - 7/12/2009 7:40:03 PM
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lynn.kim
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Joined: 6/18/2008
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I am a fan of the Bearded Iris and have also read articles discouraging irises in the garden. Speaking from my experiences with the bearded ones, they have pros and cons - they are beautiful, stately, colorful and hardy. They can be a little trashy once the blooms fade and they can take over a bed if you are not careful. The irises need to be divided to keep the blooms big and plentiful, about every three years, and that takes a little work to lift, trim and replant. You will also have many more rhizones than when you first started. The one thing I do know, they will survive with little or no care.
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RE: I was so confused about irises... - 9/16/2009 6:49:08 PM
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lynn.kim
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I think I read the same gardening book. I really liked the book and the advice I received, and I found her stance on Irises harsh.
I understand why the gardener doesn't like Irises (especially the Bearded Iris) - they are a little trashy once the plant finishes blooming, this then leads to bugs and/or disease, the Iris rhizomes can take over a garden spot, and they are time intensive as they do like to be moved every three years or so and their blooming is not a constant all summer; however, Irises have some great qualities especially if you are a novice gardener or have an extreme climate.
As you stated, Irises come in the most delicious colors - in every color palette and color combination imaginable. My favorite is a beautiful purple and white variety. As you also pointed out, Irises can grow just about anywhere with little care and they are quite hearty if given even a little care. Finally, if you take care of them, they keep on giving - six rhizomes can fill up several grocery bags a few years later.
I live on the windswept Texas Panhandle and it takes a bold plant to survive a warm, mild temperature to a freezing temperature change - not only over a period of days or weeks, but sometimes in the same day! The sun is constant and the wind is relentless at times. Weather like that will take the very life from a plant - sometimes within a day! My Irises rise up each year and bring beauty, if even for a short time.
So, I weighed the pros and cons and feel Irises have a place in my yard - I will be smarter as to where I plant them. By the way, I love the picture of the Reticulate Iris in the pot of gravel. That may be the very way to give the Iris their "place in the sun". My Mom always called them "Flags" because of how the colorful petals would wave in the breeze.
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RE: I was so confused about irises... - 10/5/2009 9:20:01 PM
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prairie flower
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I happen to like irises -- such a varied group. And what's to dislike about a plant (German iris) that does well in the icky, clay soils of eastern Kansas? Besides, many perennials do better when divided every few years, and these iris are EASY to dig since the rhizome sits half above the surface anyway. Not like some perennials I know which nearly need an axe to divide. Thanks to Voodoo Dancer for the lesson in Iris-ology.
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Prairie Flower
KS Zone 5
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