Here is a view of some of my Japanese irises from my patio. There isn't much lawn in my backyard...

Who needs to mow, anyway.

Isn't it funny how so many of us like the three falls JIs best.

I like really clean lines and simple forms on most everything.
DL's ,JI;s and Iris with overlapping frilly edges are just a distraction.
Its the difference between Audrey Hepburne and Jackie O's wardrobe and Debbie Reybolds and Minie Pearl.

A couple more have opened today:

Dramatic Pattern:



Hatsu Kagami:

I like them both, but really like Dramatic Pattern.

In the garden Dramatic Pattern looks a lot like Japanese Pinwheel but it has larger petals and fades in color from the edges to the center.

I've been collecting pollen and doing daubing...

A couple more JIs opened today.

Lady in Pink:



Bewitching Twilight:

Lovely!!

Beautiful gardens and JI Connie. Love Lady in Pink as well. Are both Dramatic Pattern and Japanese Pinwheel in the background? Several bloom stalks here so the earlies should show up soon.

Great photo of Lady In Pink!

Evan, in the background of the Lady in Pink photo, the two on the left are Dramatic Pattern and the one to the right is Japanese Pinwheel.

I just came in from taking more photos but have to go back out to work up an area for vegetables. If I am on my computer too much I am burning up daylight! I'll edit the new photos later and post them then .

Thanks Connie, nice to see them side by side. If JP doesn't bloom this year I may leave my garden knife out for it to commit seppuku.

I'm baaaack! With a couple more JIs.

This is dainty Margo no Sakura, somewhat small flowered IMO.



Here is my first bloom on Angelic Choir, a bonus I got from Aitkens. It took an extra year to bloom:



I thought I would show Lady in Pink, two day old bloom is almost white:



Days 2-3 are amazing for Dramatic Pattern. I am certain this is where it comes by its name. These should still look dark purple red with the color lighter towards the edges. My camera never gets it right :



Compare to day 1 here: http://garden.org/thread/view_...

Love them all! I wish more people would try the Japanese iris. So many think they are hard to grow.

I did not grow them well at first and lost many. It has been a learning curve. The best advice I learned came from Dee and that was to mulch with composted steer manure every year. They really go crazy then. Spraying for thrips also improved my success.

There are factors that can make it difficult to grow JIs. The pH of the soil is one as they require an acidic soil. Also, the pH of the water. My city adds sodium hydroxide to the water supply to adjust the pH to 8.5 making it alkaline. My established JIs seem to handle it OK but I think that is because the carbon dioxide in the air neutralizes it fairly quickly. But for my seedlings I use either bottled water or I let water sit out for a couple of days before using it. That also gets rid of the free chlorine.

Seaways Outset, a Very Early bloomer opened today. I missed the flared form seen in some photos. Last year Silverband (E-M) opened on 6/10 but looks to be several days away from blooming this year. I planted this last spring and it hasn't increased. I'm wondering if the slightly yellowed foliage is a sign of a problem.

I can't tell you if it's a slow grower or not, as I don't have the iris, but the foliage looks OK to me. Foliage varies on JIs from dark to lime green, same on sibs, but their foliage can get a bluish cast too.

Can you give it a soak with Miracid for about 3 weeks in a row, once to twice a week?

OK will do Polly. I'm still too tentative with the fert. on these guys. I laid down Hollytone and Milorganite (rabbits) before mulching and applied the Miracid only once about a month ago.

One of the things I did this spring with new JI and sibs was water them well everyday, rain or shine, for 3 weeks. All are doing well. Last year I lost a few, I think from under-watering. Once the JI are established they seem much like any other moisture loving plant to me.

What is the best way to distinguish thrip damage?

Thrip damage: you will see red (looks a lot like rust) streaks and spots on the lower part of the leaves, around the folds, etc. I don't see it on your full photo of Seaways Outset.

Thanks Connie, I'll keep an eye out for that. So Allium are happy in a JI bed, good to know. One of the big mistakes I made was how I inter-planted Lilies with the beardless Iris. Everybody seems happy but I didn't consider beardless Iris registered heights vs. the foliage height. Hopefully as the Iris mature the foliage will grow a bit taller.