Liz ~ It is so hot and dry during our summers here. We have little to no rain, so the gardens dry out a bit, no matter how much I water. Eventually I will put in a watering system once all the beds are completed. In the mean time, I drag a hose around and put it on a "slow soak".

SulliO said:

Richard, do you pot all your first year Iris before translating them out second year? This is my first year planting iris when my rather large order comes in and as our beds are going to be in progress until Spring 2022 most likely so this idea appeals to me. Do you do decorative pots or growing containers?

I get ahead of myself when it comes to ordering plants but not quite having their home ready and find myself doing seasonal shuffles as our beds come together.

Potting them seems easier, as others have said, for root growth, etc... I haven't figured out my bed situation just yet. I potted up my 2018 in the plain black pots of various sizes and then this fall most of those got larger decorative pots. I potted some of my 2019 purchases in wood barrels. I planted 4 to 5 per barrel. I'm going to see how those do. I may reduce each barrel to one or two varieties later.

This is what my menagerie looked like this past spring:




and this is what it looks like now:

Dachsylady86 said:Did you see Paul Black's Coloricious? It reminds me of Burst of Energy also.

http://www.beardedirisflowers....

I didn't notice it what well when I was going through the website for my purchases. I will definitely try to get it when the overstock sale happens this summer!!!!

I was planning to do that too Richard I only ordered what I absolutely couldn't live without and figured I would get any other ones I wanted to add later if they do the sale again. Last year not all the intros were available during that time.

Cindy: That's All Folks looks awful tempting

Bill: Good to see you back!!!! I have had my eyes on several you ordered. Really great selection!

All: I put my rhizomes in the ground in July and they do fine but I guess size matters because I lost 2 seedlings, I really wanted to see, by moving them into one of my best beds, but during the high heat Summer. I am making sure now they are larger before moving them to a bed.

Thanks for all the info on how you guys care for your new plants, it's very helpful.

I'll have to do some thinking, I'm starting about 150 dahlias early so I will have those planting containers available in summer to hold the iris and then see how my bed designs progress. I taught myself how to install irrigation last season and will have to consider the unique needs of iris in comparison to my other plants but I'm having so much fun drawing and daydreaming!

PS Mid America got me so I'm confessing that about 115 iris is are joining me this summer-shh don't tell my husband

Sounds like a plan

Dirt, I'm now browsing the rose forum and I took a rigorous inventory of all my peony, roses, dahlia and now iris. The trouble with being a florist is that I seem to be programmed to buy huge quantities of plants from the start! One hundred cut roses isn't quite the same as 50 rose plants

Sulli ~ Are you going to have an extensive cut flower area/garden for a variety of your favorite flowers?

Ha yes! Growing and managing your floral arrangements in the garden on a massive scale is an alternate level of plant tetris. Good fun though and I'm sure you will create some magical combinations

evelyninthegarden said:Sulli ~ Are you going to have an extensive cut flower area/garden for a variety of your favorite flowers?

tbd still, I have only been gardening for 2 years though obviously I have some experience with colors and styles of design. I'm actually trying to find my own style and have spent two seasons playing with color and combinations but we hare having extensive tree removal in the next few weeks which will give me new areas of sun and we're starting over with smaller trees and anchor shrubs. We bought our property from a family who lived here for 49 years but their elderly matriarch didn't keep up with her husbands gardens so they sat for 20+ years neglected. I've found great soil under the years of ivy and weeds though so i'm optimistic and the planting I've done has really thrived despite me moving it all the time or so it feels like

I have to find a balance of the naturalistic Oudolf style my husband favors and my desire to grow every possible flower just in case I want to make an arrangement. I feel like my garden will be pretty awesome in another 2-4 years but my goal would be to have it so wildly abundant that if I go cutting you'd hardly notice! I've grown a fair amount of annuals from seed each year to get to know the varieties and determine what I really want to keep growing in the future and those allow me to cut when I get the urge.

Is your garden space large, SulliO?

Sort of Jan, it's large for being in a city like Philadelphia. We bought a 1920s stone colonial on just under .40 acres/double lot parcel but the house is crammed into one corner/side of the lot so we have just about .25 acre of open space on a corner so it's enough space to create large gardens with many options for garden rooms, a greenhouse, a man cave shed for husband and a good bit of lawn.

All previous beds are crammed along the fence line quite tightly so its a blank canvas under ancient english ivy and overgrown Yews. The house was in really rough shape when we got it so the first 6 years were focused on the interior renovations and while we have a talented hardscaping contractor who redid our walkway with bluestone I want to do most of the design and work myself.

I'm trying to find before photos and some in progress but I seem to take mostly details of flowers..I'll work on more overview shots before the real work begins this season.

Sounds like an exciting project, SulliO ! I like stone houses. Looking forward to pictures.

Welcome, Sulli! Looking forward to your garden pictures (and hoping you don't burn out on all the work).

Fwiw, our main garden pathway and pool deck is in full range Connecticut bluestone, and we like it.

For those on the fence, THAT'S ALL FOLKS is a stunning iris when in bloom. It commands your attention.

Re all the talk of BOTTLE ROCKET... I gave mine away the first year it bloomed. I can see the novelty, but it just didn't turn me on.

Thus far, successfully resisting new orders. (It's actually not all that hard, given all the 1 gal pots with overgrown irises in them, crying out to me for attention whenever I come within sight. )

Marilyn, there's a fat bud on Beautiful Edgings! Isn't it early for that? I'm still new to day lilies...but I've added quite a few since I've discovered they do so well here.

SulliO said:Sort of Jan, it's large for being in a city like Philadelphia. We bought a 1920s stone colonial on just under .40 acres/double lot parcel but the house is crammed into one corner/side of the lot so we have just about .25 acre of open space on a corner so it's enough space to create large gardens with many options for garden rooms, a greenhouse, a man cave shed for husband and a good bit of lawn.

All previous beds are crammed along the fence line quite tightly so its a blank canvas under ancient english ivy and overgrown Yews. The house was in really rough shape when we got it so the first 6 years were focused on the interior renovations and while we have a talented hardscaping contractor who redid our walkway with bluestone I want to do most of the design and work myself.

I'm trying to find before photos and some in progress but I seem to take mostly details of flowers..I'll work on more overview shots before the real work begins this season.

We have a similar situation--a double lot on a corner with the house squished back and to the side--so its been a large canvas. The thing had been abandoned for years and really the house should have been condemned, but, its some bit of odd historical architecture worth saving I guess. We haven't saved it yet, got a stable roof on it and a bunch of half-done projects is all
But, the formerly blank canvas, filled with difficult perennial weeds, is now full of other stuff and there is no room at the inn. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on perspective, I couldn't escape the MAG offerings and put just a mere 16 items in my cart that I have no idea where they are going to squeeze into
Perhaps when the snow melts I'll have some winter casualties and/or I'll make some tough decisions and cull

Definitely take some 'before' pics--I didn't because it was so dang depressing I didn't ever want to see it again. Now, of course, I could really feel victorious if I had

janwax said:Marilyn, there's a fat bud on Beautiful Edgings! Isn't it early for that? I'm still new to day lilies...but I've added quite a few since I've discovered they do so well here.

BE will sometimes rebloom in the winter, as will some other evergreen or semi-evergreen daylilies. Once the nighttime temps are down to/below 50, though, the blooms tend to have difficulty opening (excepting maybe the spiders, UFs, others that have some natural recurve to the forum, and the CMOs (Cold Morning Openers)), and the outer surface pigments also tend not to form. (At least, that has been my experience.) So if you are looking for cold season bloom, best to get a daylily with one of those forms/or that is a CMO that can somewhat handle the cold (there's some point at/below which ALL daylilies will pack it in and not open well) and that is near-white in color to begin with.

Thanks for the information, Marilyn!

SulliO said:PS Mid America got me so I'm confessing that about 115 iris is are joining me this summer-shh don't tell my husband

Sulli ~ Which ones did you order? (We won't tell him! )