Re: Iris Garden Manitoba Style
iris-photos@yahoogroups.com
  • Subject: Re: Iris Garden Manitoba Style
  • From: &* J* <b*@hotmail.com>
  • Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:13:40 -0500
 

ï

I meant to say it's supposed to be purple or lavender, oops, not yellow, and mine has PBF in faint stripes at the very bottom. And the end of the bed it's in isn't very wet, actually, just sometimes. It has really spread a lot since I got it. At any rate, Bob, you are right on, as here is what I found online when I first got it from Jimmie Clark (Missouri) in 2002:
 
"Iris songarica is distributed in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhistan, Soviet Union, Mongolia, and northern China."

"One of the problems with Iris is that certain species are constantly mislabeled. One of these is Iris lactea. It has been going around under the name Iris songarica for several years now. Unless someone has gotten seeds of songarica that they are growing collected from the wild it is unlikely that anyone besides Jim Waddick would have songarica in cultivation. Lactea is a variable species. There are some indications that it may actually be a composite of two very similar species but there is nor enough evidence as yet to support this claim. Nonetheless there are forms that perform in certain areas much better than others. The Denver Botanic Gardens grows one that Panayoti kelaidis swears smells like lighter fluid. To my nose it smells like hyacinths and I believe it is Farrersâ âHyacinthiana.â This is attractive because unlike many of the others the flowers emerge before the leaves have elongated and it provides a mound of blossoms. Unfortunately it is extremely hard to transplant.

Some seedlings have shown a tendency to rebloom. But if you see a plant labeled songarica, it is very likely it is really lactea." -- Robert Pries, 3-12-04, PBS mailing list (Pacific Bulb Society).

I got seeds from it one year. They look like tiny round yellow popcorn kernels. The pod was long and narrow. I sent some seed and plants to Christy Hensler in August of 2004.

Cheers, Barb in SW MO, enjoying the bloom!

----- Original Message -----
From: r*@embarqmail.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 3:28 PM
Subject: Re: [iris-photos] Iris Garden Manitoba Style

 

El and Barb: i am confused as to who has what but both sets of pictures are not Songarica. Songarica have very narrow leaves much more so than either plant the flowers are very spider like with very narrow petals and it grows in deserts a bog would kill it. Now for the good news The white is most likely Iris lactea and good white forms with any substance at all are rare. The purple looks like a very charming MTB and if you grew this from seed it looks like a winner. I how I provided a rainbow to the rain on the parade.  Oh and I love the garden shots. Bob 
----- Original Message -----
From: "El Hutchison" <eleanore@mts.net>
To: iris-photos@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 1:52:59 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Re: [iris-photos] Iris Garden Manitoba Style

 

ï

Boy, I sure hope mine is I songarica.  When it first bloomed here in 2008, after waiting 7, yes 7, years for it to bloom, I couldn't find any pictures on the internet to compare it to.  
 
It's described as having straplike foliage up to 32" (80 cm). Flowers -lavender-blue to violet.
 
Do you have a picture of yours, Barb?
 
El, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Z3
----- Original Message -----
From: b*@hotmail.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 12:29 PM
Subject: Re: [iris-photos] Iris Garden Manitoba Style

ï
Ooh, neato!  Hey, I have Songarica in a wet spot in one of my beds, and it's blooming this week. Mine is white and such a tiny cutie, but I've heard it's 'supposed' to be yellow. What color is yours, and do you have a pic?
 
Barb in SWMO where the weather is warming up again

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