I got to check-off another species from my bucket list: Iris
virginica. Sure, I've grown it in my garden for more than a decade, but
now I've finally seen in growing naturally in the wild, in my home state
of Ohio.
A botanist friend for the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources recommended
some places to visit and here are some pics from the first location in
Mercer County, Ohio (west central part of the state). It's an oxbow
lake in some woods, but in the bright sunny locations huge patches of
Iris virginica persist. It was incredibly swampy & mosquitoes were
intolerable, but I couldn't have been happier. It was a gorgeous day,
75 degrees, and the irises were in peak bloom.
I also found Iris brevicaulis growing inland, uphill, in deeper shade.
They weren't in bloom yet, but I'm 100% certain it's brevicaulis and not
virginica. The arching foliage, the habitat, etc., were just dead
giveaways. The botanist friend was excited by my news as that species
was not previously known there. And I found numerous abundant
populations (in numbers rivaling the virginica, but none in bloom).
This was my 2nd time to find Iris brevicaulis in the wild in Ohio.
I was surprised that virginica was always growing underwater. I was
also surprised by the lack of color variation in the hundreds
(thousands?) of flowers I saw. I was also surprised that there were no
seed pods left from the last season. The stalks easily persist in my
garden for 12 months. Growing in shallow water probably makes the
stalks decay & seeds float away. :-(
Dennis in Cincinnati
