Snork said:WoW That was a beautiful rhizome AndreaD! I sure hope it recovers for you!

I have found that often the large rhizomes that I have purchased from out west have a difficult time adjusting to cold Pennsylvania weather. If they manage to become established, they do well. If not they turn to mush.

I was really shocked at the difference between last year's bloom and this year's. I live in the west, so I can't blame climate differences. I really need to review my cultivation practices!

We have had three days of heat and extreme weather. The weeds are loving it! Garden is about all finished blooming. Only a few left to pop!

There have been flash floods, tree damage, power outages, large hail and even two small tornadoes reported in the vicinity. On my little farm, we have only lost one tree in the lower horse pasture, so I consider us lucky!

Today's group is mostly older and red!

A happy early bloomer...

Plum Pretty Whiskers Spoon 2003



Grows well here and is just a happy spot in the garden!

An oldie -

Cracklin' Burgundy Schreiner 1981



Just a nice solid wine red. I have two big patches of this!

An even oldier...

Sultan's Palace Schreiner 1977



This can look very different depending on the lighting.

Something different

Continuity Innerst 1994

Growing well for a second year plant! Pretty much a taller version of Codicil.



Austrian Garnets Maryott 1991

Smaller iris, but big on color!



Copatonic Blyth 1995

Love the colors in this, but then, it is a Blyth!



This put on an impressive show this year...

Fortunate Son Schreiner 2006

This lives in a shaded area so the pictures do not show the color the best. It is a wonderful mix of red and blue!

Lovely photos, Pam. I hope your weather improves!

[quote="AndreaD"]Lovely photos, Pam. I hope your weather improves![/quotes
I agree, just beautiful.

@andread
was it placement in your garden, or nutrition? my master gardener friend in the bay area swears by a small addition of humic acid to help the plants absorb the goodies a plant is fed. a little goes a long way. have you tried it?


love the reds pam, and 'continuity'

Daphne I think many of the issues are weather related. Freezing and thawing repeatedly along with heavy rain that has washed the poor things out by the roots. And being planted on a hill doesn't help .

That said, definitely some areas of the garden have better soil and light conditions. And some are overcrowded. I am in the process of shoring up eroded areas and replenishing the soil - one plot at a time.....should be done by the time I reach 100!

Have not tried the humic acid. Will certainly look into it! Thanks for the suggestion!

Pam, has your property been cleared of stone, & made into a wall? Maybe you can attempt to terrace some of it, so it doesn't wash away as much, from heavy rains. Or, at least end up at the bottom of the stepped like, terrace. I'm sure it would be hard work, though.
Most of the leaves in the Tidewater area may get raked & bagged, after autumn clean up. For pick up to be recycled, by waste management & then mixed with other recycled composted waste , bagged & sold. But some are quick, to get the clear bags of Oak leaves at curbside & let them decompose, & then add to the garden. Otherwise, it is a truck load, of hardwood or pine bark, to mulch the beds. But that may be quite some task too, putting it down & removing in spring, to help avoid heaving, in winter.
Unless, you can age some well, for a fairly long while,, from the horses..

Daphne, I had never heard of humid acid until you mentioned it. I'll research it. Thanks for the information!

Love the blooms, the cat, the horses...and the butts.

No comment!

ShawnSteve said:Pam, has your property been cleared of stone, & made into a wall? Maybe you can attempt to terrace some of it, so it doesn't wash away as much, from heavy rains. Or, at least end up at the bottom of the stepped like, terrace. I'm sure it would be hard work, though.
.

Thanks for the suggestion....and I mean no offense....but

The serious answer to your question is yes. The area where I live is old German farmsteads. VERY rocky ground. Most of the older buildings- houses, barns, churches were all built from the local stone. My house is one of them. Most of the old farm fields are fenced with rock walls. If you drive around my neighborhood there are many large Rock Gardens in peoples yards or in some instances yards in peoples' rock gardens. It is a beautiful area, and comes with its specific rocky difficulties.

We started our hillside garden just on the slope about twenty years ago. Over time it has naturally become terraced, and we do use the native rocks and broken fence rails to reinforce the terrace edges. As you mentioned, it is a lot of work. Since it is mainly a hobby garden, and I am older than dirt, only sections at a time get rebuilt.

I use the horse manure sparingly - it tends to be a little "hot". About every other year, I top dress everything with leftover mulch. The tidewater mulch sounds like it would be really nice for gardens.

Pam where I grew up we had rocks like you do. I remember the back breaking job of picking rocks off the fields and having huge rock piles. Where I live now there are no rocks at all, just sandy loam soil. Wonderful for growing crops. I have dragged home a few stones for accents, but around here a big stone sells for about $50. How crazy.

Tom and Pam, yes I think Pennsylania and the Piedmont area of Maryland are basically what's left of glacial moraines. In other words, rocks upon rocks. So having grown up here I was used to prying rocks out of the ground for gardens. My parents had a huge rock pile in the lower yard from when my mother first dug her gardens.

But their parents had come from Kansas. One of my uncles had a farm that was smack dab on what used to be the Santa Fe trail. His living room contained frame after frame of artifacts unearthed as he plowed his fields: arrow heads, spear heads, tomahawks, old muskets, etc, etc. It was quite a museum. Anyway, one day when we were visiting, I asked him, You're up on your plow and you hear a "thunk." How do you know it just isn't a rock?"

"A rock?" He said. "Kansas doesn't have rocks! The top soil here is 20 feet deep! So if hear a thunk, it MUST be an artifact, and I climb down from the tractor to find it!"

Well if the postage wasn't so high I could easily support my iris addiction by selling big rocks!

When I went out to do evening barn check last night, there was a young white rat with bright pink eyes sitting on a tack box in the feed room. Didn't appear to be afraid of me or make any attempt to scurry away. It hid behind the tack trunk when I walked up to it. We have mice and barn cats , but have never had rats, especially white ones. I do hope this isn't a pet that a neighborhood kid has abandoned. That has happened before....

So I set a Have A Heart trap in the feed room and will just wait and see..

In the meantime - back to irising!

Today some newer stuff that I was happy to see.

Rum and Coke Painter 2011

This is a first year plant and bloom! Really like the rim!



Glamazon Blyth 2007

An NGA trade. Jen
This has been in for a couple of years. Just now starting to really take off!
A huge bloom with great color and ruffles.



Solar Burst Sutton 2016

Another first year, first bloom plant. This one is really bright!



Champagne and Strawberries Blyth 2007

Third year for this plant. It bloomed last year, but did much better this year!



Toronto Johnson 2011
This has been in the garden for five rears. It has grown and increased slowly and only blooms occasionally. But when it does it is amazing!



Superhero Ghio 2012

This one is from Rob's garden. It has taken a couple of years to bloom, but was definitely worth the wait!



And last for now...
Trumped Burseen 2008
Another first year, first bloom plant. Love the colors! Not the name...

Champagne & Strawberries and Toronto!

Love the horse pictures too - even the butt one!

I love every single one of those last group (and not the name - which thankfully is NOT what it was named for!). Toronto has such rich color.

Thankfully!

I've been trying to decide whether or not to get Toronto for a while now... It sure is pretty, but then most irises are...

Lilli I will play my role as enabler and say YES DO IT!! It has such rich color and great substance! Now if it would only bloom every year for me....