RE: small SIB seedling

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Sean,

Do you mean hybridizers selected and crossed seedlings of sibirica and
sanguinea over many years to bring out more and more yellow from hafts
into the petals for example; that I. sibirica and I. sanguinea weren't
crossed with a yellow iris of another species to get yellow into their
seedlings?

I'm liking the smaller flowered Siberian irises more and more. They form
tighter clumps than the tetraploids. After 8 years without cultivation
in my old garden, they are the only irises that have formed large clumps
and are spreading by many dozens of volunteer seedlings. The volunteer
seedlings seem to be able to make tight clumps from the start and keep
grasses out on their own.

The very small flowered SIBs could probably be used like the smallest
bearded irises as table irises.

Here's a photo of the clump for the small yellow SIB. It is at the end
of flowering 5 days ago. Grasses, goldenrod, etc. have taken over the
garden in the last 8 years. I had to step on nearby grass to get it down
and out of way enough to see the bottom of the clump. A second photo
shows the flower with extra falls and standards; it was a larger than
the other flowers (at the top center of clump photo).

Thanks for your response.

Dan Mason zone 3, NW ON, Canada

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On 7/4/2015 8:26 AM, Sean Zera z*@umich.edu [iris-species] wrote:
> The ancestry would be *sibirica* and *sanguinea*. Yellow forms don't
> occur in these species naturally, and are the result of years of work
> on the part of hybridizers. Only the 28-chromosome siberians (those
> two and *typhifolia*) and their hybrids are likely to be hardy in
> your zone; the 40-chromosome species (*bulleyana*, *delavayi*,
> *chrysographes*, *clarkei*, *forrestii*, *wilsonii*) are probably
> Zone 5 at best.
>
> That is a nice flower. I really like the tall, small flowered
> siberians. Do you have a picture of the whole clump?
>
> Sean Z Zone 6a SE Michigan