Yesterday, three I. Ensata seedlings were blooming for the first time. This
is the latest that Ensatas have bloomed here. Everything is late here
because of a cold spring and early summer.
These seedlings volunteered nearby where 2 Japanese irises that Ian Efford
had sent me 9 or 10 years ago had been growing. Two or three years ago I dug
some of the crowded stunted volunteer seedlings several years after they
came up and gave several tiny handfuls of them their own spaces. The parents
were a red species Ensata and a white Higo Ensata. I still have the red
Ensata, but the white Higo hybrid has died out.
The Higo parent was all white with white standards. Hopefully this white
seedling will have gained some hardiness from the red species parent.
Dan Mason zone 3, NW Ontario, Canada
