Thanks all for all the "green" suggestions!!! They are all now on my 2017 Wishlist. Well save Snowtree which I planted this summer. I had seen but not considered Killarney Green but your pictures show very interesting markings ... On to the list

Lucy: You mentioned Arils. I just recently discovered them and they are definitely winning a place in my heart. I received De Nile as a gift several years ago from Zebra Iris and it was Love Love Love! I was looking at it several days ago though and it looks a little unhealthy. I may take a rhizome and move to a different part of the yard cause I don't want to lose it.
Anyways. I have 3 new Aribreds in the ground this year: Sand Dancer, Oyez and Genetic Artist. Anxious to see them.

VERY nicely done, Elsa! As Arilbreds like it dry, you've probably got that

I started my iris collection with arilbreds because they had color combos other classes didn't have yet. Also they aren't widely grown here and I like plants others don't have in their gardens. But they are a challenge to grow here due to rain and excessive humidity. The last 3-4 years have been very tough and the replacement list is getting longer. I need to rework the raised bed where I have them growing.

Genetic Artist (from 2011; on the replacement list)


Oyez has been on my wish list for years, and Sand Dancer is on it too. The OGB and OGB- do fairly well here. RB's are almost impossible to grow for me.

Ed: Can you share what OGB and RB mean? These are new terms to me. I am not yet sure what is going on with De Nile yet but thanks for the dryness comment because I need to consider that with regard to where I move the Rhizome to. I had a hard hail in Early Sunmer and it was very hit and miss with regard to the amount of damage done per Iris. Now I am wondering if this one was hit hard. Next time we have hail I am going to journal those plants that have heavy damage.

[quote="Polymerous"]Your garden is lovely, Sherry.

I love Heuchera, but the rabbits have eaten most of them here. The two cultivars that they have left alone, 'Lime Rickey' and 'Key Lime Pie', both have chartreuse foliage that fries in the sun, and thus are unsuitable as companions.

Sorry about the rabbits... I just noticed one in the garden a day or so ago... I'd been celebrating them being gone for a few years, and thanking the bobcat or whatever was responsible for their demise.. Now they're back! Ugh!!

OGB is bred from the oncocyclus strain of arils, RB are from the regalia strain. The best source for information is www.arilsociety.org

They have a checklist with lots of pictures, registration data, etc. And they have a plant sale with lots of hard to find arilbred iris. I was a member for several years but dropped it when the job started eating most of my free time.

Ed, it's those darn jobs! But they make us $$ for plants, so I guess I shouldn't be so resentful at times!

Sorry to hear that you've had a rabbity visitation, Sherry. Does your dog like to hunt rabbits?

Interesting to hear what you grow for companion plants, Poly and Sherry!

My climate is quite a bit colder and also more wet, I suspect, but I too use roses, blue Fescue (Elijah Blue) and Heuchera. I've also found that Pincushion Scabiosa and Phlox subulata tend to form relatively well-behaved mounts which does not encroach on the irises (provided you plant them with enough space between them to start with of course - I'm learning that... I hope! ) Alliums also work well for me, because they look good and don't take up much room. I use Astrantias and Aquilegias too and they work really well, as long as you get those seeds before they drop! I have also just made a new mixed border with Tree Peonies, Peonies, Aquilegias, Dryas and a few irises (No new beds without irises! ), but have yet to find out if that will work or not.

Companion plants?????

do WEEDS count?

Tooooo funny! Greg.

if they look great with irises and behave themselves??

NO and NO

Afraid you cannot pass them off as 'companion plants' then, Greg! A'weeding you must go!

Often the weeds I'm removing from the iris clumps are indeed companion plants, but for some reason that doesn't irritate me as much as the unintentional plants. I figure I'll be pulling something out of there anyway, and having too many flowers just feels like a good problem to have

I'd take one of those good problems, Neal! Right now, I'm pulling out crabgrass, and that's definitely NO good!

Oyez can be a tricky plant, so don't let it discourage you. Superstition gardens aril 'Free as the Wind' did well here the first year.

I used to have some Scabiosa here, Lilli, until the rabbits moved in... I can see that it would go nicely with the irises! I've also tried Columbine here (Aquilegia), but again, rabbits...

Pretty much everything grown in this garden is subject to critter attack. First it was gophers and deer. Now it's gophers and rabbits. (But at least, with the deer fenced out, I can grow more roses and not lose the blooms on my daylilies and Pelargoniums.)

@plymerous - I'm with you on the rabbits - I think I've spent more on sprays and scatters and repellents this year than I have on rhizomes!

Ed/Lucy: Thanks for the info and link. Of all things, what was the one new Iris planted this year I have stepped on...Oyez. And it doesn't look so great so if I do have issues it is probably going to be hard to tell if it is environment or my clumsiness But we'll see what happens.