I am an amateur when it comes to growing Iris. But I'd like to try one bearded Iris. Years ago I saw Batik in bloom and have never forgotten it. Can you tell me what to look for in an Iris and how Batik stacks up?.......Maryl

Batik pattern is known as a broken color which not 2 flowers alike. One has to like it & it should be a centerpiece of a design. It is short in height--registered as a border iris, no more than 27 inches in height, but may get above the registered height.

Thank You for the reply. The color on Batik just wow'd me. I don't know what makes a good Iris from a not so good Iris (in other words what do the pros look for), but 27 inches with our Oklahoma spring winds sounds practical if nothing else........Maryl

A good iris is one that you like! A better iris is one that you like that thrives and blooms regularly.
Batik does both for me!

Thanks Pam for the encouragement. So nice to hear it does well for you. Batik was so different and the color so vibrant that it really got my attention. I will try and find a vendor next spring and give it a whirl. I know I'm probably pushing it, but is it fragrant per chance?......Maryl

You would be wise to find a vendor this year, so that you can see it bloom in your garden next spring..............

I can't smell much of anything in Batik. I just enjoy the flowers.

Thanks Celia. Fragrance would be nice, but since the only Iris I grow is I. Pallida Variegata I'm used to little to none. A friend of mine grows an old unnamed Heirloom Iris that smells like grape soda, an Iris fragrance I remember fondly from my youth. Maybe one day I will find a place for one...........Mary Ann: You sure it's not too late to plant a bare root anything? We are coming up on high 90's temps any week now in Oklahoma...........Maryl

I used to live in OK for a short time, NOTHING would make me go back
anyway, I grow some of the grape scented iris and it is very hardy and will thrive even in poorer soils and such, you should try it, it will probably do okay for you.
Also you can buy little metal stakes at walmart or lowes that you just push into the soil and tie your iris stalk to, they are inexpensive. I just pull them up at the end of bloom season and store them for the next year.
There was another member on here asking about a variegated iris yesterday I think. maybe she has something you would want from her and could trade?
Instead of the tall bearded iris you may look into intermediate heights-border iris or miniatures. There are really nice iris that don't get super tall like the iris most people think of.

Maryl, I think you could plant irises well into October in your area. They do well when transplanted during their summer dormant stage.

Frilly Lilly: LOL on coming back to OK. Was it the tornados, the triple digit summer heat, the winter ice storms or now the earthquakes that got to you? I have a passion for many types of ornamentals so have lots of stakes around. Hopefully Batik will have a stem strong enough that I won't have to stake it. My I. Pallida is self sustaining, so I naively assumed that all Iris were. Apparently not so......Tom: I see that the local Iris society has a sale in September, so that may be a good time to plant in our area.....Does anyone have a reliable source for Batik? I know not to buy from places like Meadow Gardens or Brecks, but if you know of somewhere else, let me know.................Maryl

Maryl.

Years ago we had an iris friend from our club move to Oklahoma. She came back for a visit and said she held her rhizomes until September to plant. But I suppose you could pot up the rhizome and hold it in a semi shady area until then to plant out in the sun. Batik isn't very tall; I doubt you'd need to stake it. I can see holding tall bearded iris rhizomes for a month or two but the littler ones might completely dry out.

Blue J Iris has it as do a couple of others. Blue J has it for $3.50.

Maryl said:Frilly Lilly: LOL on coming back to OK. Was it the tornados, the triple digit summer heat, the winter ice storms or now the earthquakes that got to you? I have a passion for many types of ornamentals so have lots of stakes around. Hopefully Batik will have a stem strong enough that I won't have to stake it. My I. Pallida is self sustaining, so I naively assumed that all Iris were. Apparently not so......Tom: I see that the local Iris society has a sale in September, so that may be a good time to plant in our area.....Does anyone have a reliable source for Batik? I know not to buy from places like Meadow Gardens or Brecks, but if you know of somewhere else, let me know.................Maryl

lack of water, people in the area said drilling a well was russian roulette (not to mention really expensive) and it hardly rained a drop the whole time I lived there. We were in Lawton. I up one day and decided no amount of money was worth living there if I couldn't grow daylilies and so I packed up and said hon, jump in if you're coming w me, cause I leavin'! The job now makes way less money, and we live in an old run down house that needs a lot of work, but my flowers are bloomin'

Frilly: I understand. Oklahoma just came off a livestock killing 4 year drought. I live around Tulsa and while it was pretty bad, not as bad as further west. LOL on picking up and moving in order to have your flowers. Now that's a serious gardener.......Charlotte: Thanks for the information. I think I will go to the Iris sale in September to see if they have Batik. I could kick myself for not buying it already planted in a pot at Ace Hardware when I saw it 2 years ago. I'm used to planting daylilies/roses bare root, but not Iris and they look strange by comparison........Thanks Celia for the source information. The cost of shipping always is the kicker on alot of these mail order plants, but that's a good lead.......Maryl

When I was younger I used to go to Sperry, OK near Owaso and North of Tulsa every summer to work on a friends ranch. Loved it down there, and would have moved in a moment, but I was a teacher then, and teachers down there earned less then I was satisfied living on, so I stayed up here in the Cold North!