I'm starting this thread for us to share our 2020 Japanese irises (hanashobu). They're still going strong for me. This is my second year growing them and I'm quite smitten!
DEWA BANRI. Even more floriferous this year. An absolute beast in the garden!
BEWITCHING TWILIGHT. This is so tall that my best view is from an upstairs window. I kind of wish it was a bit shorter, so I can see it better. Gorgeous flower though, and a great performer.
RASPBERRY GLOW. This is my favorite. Beautiful. Not too tall. Very floriferous. Like Bewitching Twilight, it handles rain like a champ. I would love recommendations for more JIs like this.
LAKE EFFECT. A stunner. Unfortunately, the flower doesn't hold up well to rain, so I've had to bring it inside. I don't mind giving this one (and only one!) the special treatment.
A nice group pic. Bewitching Twilight is so tall that it's out of frame. Lake Effect is probably so short because I didn't move it into a container until the spring.
SOME GENERAL NOTES
Not pictured here is Blushing Snowmaiden, which is so susceptible to rain that I've having a hard time getting a single intact bloom. The petals stick together and wouldn't open. I'm not a huge fan of the color, so its days are numbered.
Last year I grew Japanese irises in the ground and they really struggled. (Probably because everything struggled in our horrible weather last year.) Except for Dewa Banri, I grow them in pots now, which I sit in shallow tubs of water. They seem far happier that way. I'm looking to get maybe two or three more different cultivars. The flowers are so enchanting that I'm willing to go the extra mile. If only I lived on the bank of a stream or creek. How nice would it be to have a mass planting of hanashobu!
