Hi,
So I bought most of my irises last year from Schreiners. On their website if an iris is classified as EML (early, mid, late), it means it is a rebloomer. Specifically, that it is an early bloomer that may rebloom again in mid season and again in late season. Since then I have branched out and am looking to get some other irises, and I always look here on NGA to see photos, reviews and stats on any I'm interested in. I've noticed that some irises will say:
Mid
Mid late
Late

Or even:
Early
Early mid
Mid
Mid late
Late

Am I correct that this does NOT mean that the iris is a rebloomer, but actually that, especially in the latter example, you really have no idea when it's going to bloom? 😉
Thanks!

It means that they have a long season of bloom. Rebloomers usually state so in the description.

Hi Lucy: I have a question for you too. You Hybridize SDBs, correct? If so, could you share a bit of knowledge with me. I have read for TB seedlings that they should be 4 to 6" before you transplant them to the garden from their seedling container. But what about SDB seedlings, how big should they be be?

irisarian said:It means that they have a long season of bloom. Rebloomers usually state so in the description.

Okay. The examples above that I've seen do NOT state that they're rebloomers. In that case I'm not sure what you mean by long season of bloom. If they don't rebloom, does it mean the blooms on any one bloomstalk may open over a slow period rather than all at once? Forgive me, I'm new at this 🤪

I think you have misinterpreted the information on Schreiner's website. EML doesn't mean a plant is a rebloomer. It just means the plant blooms over a relatively long period in the spring. For example, an EML tall bearded iris in my garden would start blooming around the first week of May and still be in bloom towards the end of the month. To do that, a TB would need a high bud count, a slow sequence of bloom (very few flowers open at any given time), or a combination of the two.

KentPfeiffer said:I think you have misinterpreted the information on Schreiner's website. EML doesn't mean a plant is a rebloomer. It just means the plant blooms over a relatively long period in the spring. For example, an EML tall bearded iris in my garden would start blooming around the first week of May and still be in bloom towards the end of the month. To do that, a TB would need a high bud count, a slow sequence of bloom (very few flowers open at any given time), or a combination of the two.

Kent's explanation is the way I understood this as well, given the descriptions I read.
The TB might have lots of bud sockets, yet the flowers don't all happen at one time, they happen over a longer period of time than those that have several per stem that pop at once. So their bloom timeframe is prolonged in that way. That's how I read it.

I misinterpreted bloom season info LAST year, and bought some IB's for the what I thought was the same as TB season. So I make lots of mistakes.

Ah, now I get it! Here is what it says on Schreiners' site; I guess the first sentence is what confused me. Thanks for the clarification!

Some plants can have 3 plus buds per socket. Even SDBs are double or triple socked.

I get SDBs even 2 to 3 inches tall before replanting. It also depends how many are in a pot. If too crowded get them out at 2 inches.

Thank you Lucy

I'm glad I found this thread because now I know I was thinking the correct way about bloom times.