Advanced bloom in greenhouse iris

The part of the I. Ensata clump I grew in a 3 gal. pot in the greenhouse
produced 2 flowers. The first flower opened June 16. I made 3 crosses to
I. Versicolor flowers that were just about to open. The second Ensata flower
was deformed perhaps by insect damage. I opened it a couple days ago but
there appeared to be no pollen.

The parts of the I. Ensata clump that I transplanted into the garden the
same day I brought the potted division into the greenhouse almost 2 months
ago are just beginning to send up scapes.

So the couple months in the greenhouse did seem to advance I. Ensata bloom
by a couple weeks, and bring it more into season with I. Versicolor. The
bloom season of I. Ensata must not be determined by length of daylight
hours, but by warmth of days.

I was a little disappointed with only getting one good flower for pollen.
Maybe I should have potted up a larger division to grow more crowded in the
pot.  I'm watering the Versi irises I crossed to give them a good chance to
develop seedpods.

I don't know if it was worth the trouble or not. It would probably be easier
to collect pollen and freeze it a year ahead, but we live off grid and have
no freezer or fridge.

Dan Mason    zone 3, NW ON, Canada 



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