Wow, great thread; I love the very different gardens, yet all of them are inspiring!

gemini_sage said:Stunning plants Robin! I believe you identified those before and I didn't recognize the botanical name.

I thought you must have missed my previous comment and decided to add some photos given that you were the second person asking me about them.

Cynthia, unfortunately we don't have any hummingbirds in Australia but our red wattle birds love them.

UndertheSun said:Sherry, your garden and home setting are amazing!

Your little watchdog is priceless.

@Henhouse
Sherry you have done a mahhvelous job! A lot of work to keep that all maintained.

Just curious though, do you have any chickens?

Yes, this is an old thread, and I really enjoyed it. Everyone here has beautiful gardens and landscaped areas.

I live on 12 acres in the northern California Sierra foothills. I have problems with deer, as they have eaten a hole in my purse! I won't bore you with the details, but I do now have a fenced garden area where I have mixed beds which all have irises in them. White Flower Border, The Dark Side Garden, The Hot Bed, The Shady Garden Spot, and some areas with no names...and an L-shaped strawberry bed, and an asparagus bed.

Just this summer, I purchased quite a few irises and have placed them in a dedicated iris bed along with putting them in my raised garden beds which are mainly used for summer vegetables. Also a few large pots are added to those, of which I have only left 4 empty for next year's tomatoes. I really didn't need to grow so many varieties, but I enjoyed doing so.

So yes, there are gophers, the main reason for the raised beds. At least the deer and turkeys can't get in.

I am constantly learning about what plants deer will eat or damage. Still, there is a small amount of landscaped space as well. I do have a hard time keeping up with everything, but I don't see what can be eliminated. So there are plenty of weeds to keep me busy year round.

I am in the process of digging new iris beds, as I will need some room for seedlings, as I hope to start hybridizing this coming spring and summer.

two acres of Walla Walla silt loam (soil type - Haploxerolls) -- a type of soil found in the Columbia basin and the Palouse of SE Washington state. It grows good iris, fairly dense in structure, well drained, naturally alkaline in nature, and has a high mineral content, as well as higher phosphate and potassium levels and some residual organic material from eons of grassland occupation

Beautiful garden, Timothy.

TBMan said:two acres of Walla Walla silt loam (soil type - Haploxerolls) -- a type of soil found in the Columbia basin and the Palouse of SE Washington state. It grows good iris, fairly dense in structure, well drained, naturally alkaline in nature, and has a high mineral content, as well as higher phosphate and potassium levels and some residual organic material from eons of grassland occupation

Timothy ~ That is ideal! Beautiful!

I agree with the up-votes for "beautiful" - it's particularly nice to see grass pathways between the rows of irises.

I'm curious, though; is this your "pleasure" garden (the irises are for your own enjoyment or cutting), or is this a "business" garden (laid out in rows because you are selling)? (I'm guessing the latter, because of the lack of companion plants, but it is very pretty in comparison to some commercial gardens (not irises, but similar row layout) that I have seen.)

Timothy, absolutely beautiful!

Polymerous said:I agree with the up-votes for "beautiful" - it's particularly nice to see grass pathways between the rows of irises.

I'm curious, though; is this your "pleasure" garden (the irises are for your own enjoyment or cutting), or is this a "business" garden (laid out in rows because you are selling)? (I'm guessing the latter, because of the lack of companion plants, but it is very pretty in comparison to some commercial gardens (not irises, but similar row layout) that I have seen.)

This is the display garden == the commercial planting is on leased land a few miles away. It truly is an iris ghetto -- although I love planting iris amongst culturally compatible perennials, I just want to give my display gardens a clean, minimally cluttered environment for ease of culture and irrigation concerns. I deeply irrigate my rows once every 3-4 weeks even in the summer, and there's not many companion plants that would look their best with that type of watering regimen.

..... I blush to admit it, but in the first photo you can get an idea of how many pots I need to get planted yet.....

Your garden is absolutely gorgeous Tim

Ah! Thanks for the explanation, Tim!

wonderful, timothy. it must be a gorgeous sight in the spring.

Love the display garden! I'm coming down with a severe case of space-envy!

Those are some nice looking rows Timothy! I'm quite jealous of your soil description too. My soil description for my area....nasty red cay.

IrisLilli said:Love the display garden! I'm coming down with a severe case of space-envy!

Lilli ~ Even though I do not have space envy, I am with Rob about soil envy, as mine is hard clay as well. I know for sure that I couldn't possibly keep up that larger garden without help. All in all, it seems as though Timothy should have nothing but wonderful results with his many irises.

evelyninthegarden said:

........... All in all, it seems as though Timothy should have nothing but wonderful results with his many irises.

ah, I only wish that were true. Even tho the native soil profile supports good iris culture, it still needs to be amended with organic material, supplemental irrigation in the summer, and nutrients for best results here. The main enemies of iris here are botrytis/gophers and the sneaky back door arctic fronts that creep over the rockies and bone chill us without warning.

Part of my problem during the winter of 2016-17 was that we had a fairly mild fall, then followed by a sudden arctic plunge that dropped temps to zero and below with no snow cover. Those kind of temps we see only once every 20-30 years here. Plus we face daily winter challenges such as frequent wide variations in diurnal temp swings and occasional flooding in the fall and winter months causing fissures in the large rhizomes that we can grow here, thus leaving the gateway open for all kinds of rots, molds, and insect pests.

I assure you, iris can handily fail here without too much trouble. Take a look at my iris replacement list in my profile and you'll see -- lol Even tho it seems that conditions are near ideal in my locale, there are struggles that we have to overcome that are unique to our region

Timothy ~ It seems as though we all have our challenges, don't we? One never knows what Mother Nature is going to give us in the way of surprises! Still, it must be a bonus for you to have such good soil.

How far along are you with your planting from pots?

evelyninthegarden said:

How far along are you with your planting from pots?

approximately half way -- 230 to go out of 700+ pots