OH, forgot to label it, that's Breakers, with Baptisia in the background.

Ah -- Breakers. How beautiful. I was given a rhizome last year, but it didn't bloom this year. Perhaps in the spring -- hope so -- it's gorgeous!

Tom,
I didn't know you had historics too! Yes, i do like that purple bi-tone... very nice indeed.

#7 is 'Gingersnap'

I've got Wm Setchell, but no bloom this past spring. I have high expectations for next spring with all the didn't bloom this year.

Still looking through my pictures.. Just found this one with 'Masada', Achillea 'Moonshine' and a blue NOID...some Poppies and pink Alstromeria


Here I've tried to give a little hello to the variegated foliage with 'Frances Kent'

Sherry, I just have one historic bed, and a few other historics that are scattered around as well. I have a huge clump of that historic purple NOID, so if you want some next year, let me know. It came from one of my friend's grand parents.
Mary Ann, Breakers took a couple years to settle in for me too, but has been blooming ever sence. It's supposed to be a re-bloomer, but it never has tried here.
I have a quite a few peonies, but they don't seem to bloom at the same time as my irises. I have added about 10 more this year, so maybe some of them will bloom with them.

Just re-reading some of yesterday's posts -- I didn't feel well yesterday and didn't spend much time on the computer.

Linnea -- I'm fascinated that you just toss seeds out. I don't have much luck with seeds, even when I plant them carefully. Do you have a high rate of success?

Tom -- thanks for the info on Breakers. I thought maybe it didn't care for life in the temp bed. Maybe it doesn't anyway. I've been doing a little bit of work in that bed -- cleaning up and trimming leaves, etc. -- and am amazed at some of the Irises there. I consider it a real sub-standard planting location with minimal sun resulting in overly moist soil conditions -- and this has cost me several losses. And as quickly as I can, I am moving Irises out of there and planting them elsewhere. Some have gone to the redone sections in Iris Lane, some to the new sections in the fencebed. I'm trying to move the ones that are struggling first -- and also trying to create space between the Irises that seem happy -- so that they stay happy until I have a place to replant them. In working around those Irises yesterday, I was astounded to see some of them with enormous increases on them! Much larger than the increases on most of my other Irises. So -- I guess if they're happy, they're VERY happy. Go figure, eh?

Seed tossing works if the seeds are fresh and it is the right time of year and probably if it neither rains too much or too little. Once upon a time, I tossed one of those big cans of wildflower mixture at 2 storage facilities I used to manage. The cans are seeds with vermiculite. One could make their own.

The first year, lots greens and annuals came up. After that, self seeding annuals and perennials returned. At one site, I had tons of pink lupines, but not much else came back. At the sunny, dry site; gallardia, coreopsis, Batchelor Buttons, Sweet William and monardia came back forever. Dropped seeds from a purchased platycodon produced non-hybrid purple/blue flowering babies.

I think a package of flower seeds sprinkled on the ground and then topped off with 1/4 inch of soil would work better. This past year, I was using up old seeds in ripped open packages and jars, some going back to the 90's. Most of them were defunct.

Mary Ann, hope whatever had you feeling poorly yesterday doesn't come back.

Thanks Deb -- I'm feeling better today, but not shiny. Musta caught whatever Rob had.................

Thanks for the additional info, Linnea. Glad someone has success with that sort of thing!!

Would that be a "computer" virus ?.......anyway, glad you're on the mend !

I like alliums with irises


This is 'Purple Sensation' and Thornbird. The Allium does not seem to impact the iris growth and dies down during the summer. They are planted on a slope and the bloom stalks on the irises grow much higher than pictured.

That's just beautiful Bonnie. How I love Thornbird!! And the Allium are gorgeous -- I've never grown them, don't know if they'd grow here. Do you order bulbs? If so, from whom and when? I'm thinking I could tuck a couple here and there among the Irises and give them a try. ???

Oh groannnnnn Arlyn!! And thanks.

I woke up to a nightmare this morning. There was a big crew of laborers planting all my Iris and other potted plants in nice straight rows out in the pasture without apparent regard to anything.. I flew barefoot out the door in my oversized tye-die sleep shirt to put a stop to the madness.. Nobody spoke English... I'm yelling "stop!" and no one is paying any attention to me. I finally found someone who did speak English, who lead me to the foreman. I noticed that one of the beds had peony flowers stuck in the row in gradated colors that were quite pleasing and told him so, but I have no peonies, didn't order any, and there were probably 50 of them. I was adding the cost of all this up in my head and ramping myself up for a screaming hissy-fit when I woke up.
I looked out the window and there's no one out in the garden except the birds and the cat keeping a close eye on them.

We have our club meeting tonight and Joe Ghio is bringing his PCI's as door prizes

I think it's your potted irises sending you a message that they want their feet in a permament place. I wish Pacific Coast irises would be hardy here.

I second that Tom! PCI's are so pretty. Lucky you Sherry!

Mary Ann, they work great with irises as they like a lot of sun too. I mainly buy 'Purple Sensation' because they come back year after year. I have tried the smaller ones and they are lovely but seem to diminish over time. I will probably keep trying to grow them anyway. lol I get the bulbs from different sources every year. This year I got a package of five bulbs from Jungs Seed Company and then picked up a package of nine from Lowe's. Same size bulbs, same color but Lowe's a lot cheaper. These are pretty reliable when bought from big box stores if they are packaged where you can see the bulbs. They are not like daffys or tulips and so grow true. I am planting some red tulips this fall too because I love red tulips - the little ones that keep their traditional tulip shape. I cant find the kind that are hardy here so I will just grow what I can find until they diminish and then I will plant a few more. lol

Hoping Mary Ann is feeling better today.
Sherry - you are so lucky! If I could get away, I'd sneak into your meeting just
to hear Joe Ghio speak!!
Bonnie - I've just planted some alliums at the back of the iris beds. I like their
roundiness! Nice picture of yours.

I had some good intentions for my iris beds.But, because I wanted them ALL, I could only afford to
buy one of each - in most cases. But I did try to group them according to color - except when
I bought more and couldn't fit them into the correct color group because there wasn't any room!
I did manage to make an entirely blue section - with about 10 different blue varieties. And I also put the
dwarfs down front. I'm an iris beginner!
It will be a big surprise for me this spring!

I cant wait to see the pictures Jan! And Sherry I wish we could all join you for tonight's meeting.

Never quite heard of that plant nightmare. Dwarfs come in blue as well. I grow the MDB 'blue doll' as well as some blue SDBs.

Blue Doll is lovely!

What is the name of the club in your area Sherry? I'd love to keep an eye on the programs and come visit sometime. If I had known in advance I could have made it there tonight...in fact, if I left right now I could probably make it! But alas I have been working outside and am dirty and sweaty...definitely not fit for a road trip to meet new iris people!

I'm glad you are feeling a little better Mary Ann and hope you are even better tomorrow.

I've been wanting to try Alliums again...even though my climate zone is a little too hot. Maybe if Purple Sensation is hardy I could give it a try. I love the look of Giant Alliums, with or without irises!!