I've already posted these over in the Irises Cubit, so some of you will already have seen them. I want to encourage anyone who wants to try and has a pod develop on an iris to not cut it off, and when it turns brown and starts cracking open, collect the seeds, dry them out for a couple of days and then refrigerate them for a couple of months (I'm really not sure about the exact length of time, but this is what I did) and plant them to see what you get!
I had one little bee pod develop probably three years ago on one of the few SDB's that blooms for me every year, MAKING EYES by Barry Blyth, and I got 12 seeds from it that I planted in a 1 gal. pot and put outside on a table under my pergola and forgot about -- and a few months later I had five seedlings from it. I planted them in a little section of a raised flower bed and forgot about them again -- and last year two of them bloomed. I thought they were kinda cute but didn't do anything with them -- and then this year they both bloomed for the second year in a row -- WOW! So now I've taken some pictures of them and intend to move them each to a good spot where hopefully they will grow into nice little clumps for me. And here they are:
Seedling #1:
Seedling #2
I apologize that my pictures aren't that clear, but I only have a Nikon Coolpix and it's not great on focusing on really small flowers -- but it's great for TB's!
This gives you an idea of what you can get from one seed pod, and with SDB's the color combinations seem almost limitless! We've already started being treated to a great flower show of Paul's SDB seedlings, and I believe he has crossed all the different types of bearded irises (TB's, BB's, IB's and SDB's -- and maybe even some MTB's and MDB's too). So what a treat we're in store for!
It's so easy to do this, and if you try just one pod I think you'll end up quite pleased -- and maybe you'll even try planning a cross or two!
