Tall Bearded space-age Iris 'TRIPLE WHAMMY'

As space age irises go, Ben Hager's selection 'Triple Whammy' has all the bells,whistles and bold purple horns. Large flowers with the colouration similar to 'Sky Hooks', bloom stalks that grow much taller for me than its registered 40 inches so may need to be grown in a sheltered spot or keep those friendly bamboo stakes at the ready around bloom time, it also comes with very vigorous growth and lush, healthy foliage. 'Triple Whammy' would be an interesting pollen parent selection for anyone starting a breeding programme with...

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Historic Iris germanica 'CRIMSON KING'

Photo taken a couple of days ago, an historic rebloomer from the 1800's that was involved in much of the success the Sass Brothers had with their intermediate reblooming programme in the 1920's and 1930's. Now it's an iris that I can not be 100% sure that the name is correct or that the Iris should be attributed to Peter Barr, yes the above photo is the iris 'Crimson King' considered to be Peter Barr's most well known iris, but there seems to be more than just a little confusion with 'Crimson King's' nomenclature that...

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Tall Bearded Iris 'OKARITA'

 Bred by the late Revie Harvey of Havelock North, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, a stalwart of the New Zealand Iris Society and a breeder of some very fine irises of which 'Okarita' was one of her best Tall Bearded garden varieties. It was  awarded the Begg Shield for the most outstanding New Zealand bred iris seen at a convention garden in Nelson, 1992. 'Okarita' is a strong grower with good plant health, very tall bloom-stalks that have a slight tendency to get a bit zigzaggy, and the height can sometimes be a problem around...

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White Irises and Trade Me

For years I have been hesitant to write about 'White Irises' as there is the a common problem that comes with posting about any white and also other colours of iris on the blog, and as today's above post is about 'Okarita A New Zealand Bred White Iris' I will use this variety for my hypothetical scenario; White irises with a lost label are very common and just about every nincompoop trader that owns a look-a-like white iris in New Zealand with a lost label or no identity could now label it as '''Okarita,"a New Zealand bred white iris' because believe it or not their in-depth research has reached the dizzy heights of  analytical...

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Barry Blyth's 2011 Blue Plicata Iris Seedlings

T154-3: X S262-B: T154-3: X S262-B: T154-3 X S262-C S262-C  X T154-3 These are the seedling photo's that Barry Blyth sent me to show the results of his rekindled interest in blue plicata breeding lines. Amazzzing!!!! My personal favourite would be the seedling V250-2. Please keep it in mind that the above irises are a selection of his seedlings from the 2011 flowering season at Tempo Two and some of the above may never make the final selection to be named. V249-3, V249-5, V 250-2, and V351-1 are a cross...

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Tall Bearded iris 'SMOKE RINGS'

'Smoke Rings' is a great parent, fertile both ways, involved in the parentage of over 60 registered irises, hybridised by one of thee great pioneers of modern day plicata breeding Jim Gibson. Very good plant health, coupled with vigorous growth and increase, and this is the most likely reason it was sent to me as a bonus plant many years ago (more plants than you know what to do with). Large blooms with subtle tones, decent stalks and bud count and comes with a stand out fragrance.The colour tones have always reminded me of some...

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Tall Bearded Plicata Iris 'SAPHARINE'

When it comes to blue and white plicata's I am firmly in the "Enough already" department, but I have to concede that every now and then along comes an iris that can make me reshape my point of view and the iris 'Sapharine' is for me one of the great and complete modern blue plicata's. Not sold commercially anywhere that I am aware of and a google search comes up with mainly references to quotes and a google listing for that Iris Wiki thing. I'm sure I'm not the only person growing it in fact I hope I'm not. I have grown this Iris...

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How to Grow Iris, Coaxing sulky Irises

From time to time this year I will add gardening advice that I have tried, some from various publications and others from gardeners like myself. This is one I have used over a period of several years with great success, but I leave them alone for 8 weeks or so. Coaxing sulky Irises  by Gwendolyn Anley. The Iris Yearbook 1942 Some Irises have the name for being "bad doers," but I have yet to find one which does not respond to the following treatment. A bin of peat stands in the open in the shade of the potting shed. Healthy...

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