Re: I. japonica / Irid photos

 

I've got 'Skirt Chaser' and 'Porcelain Maiden'. The plants I'm trying in the house are in a large, east-facing window so they get a few hours of direct sun in the morning and a lot of bright indirect light otherwise. The air temp is 62°F, but I've got a reptile heating pad under the pots. They're growing in the same bark mix they arrived in from Plant Delights. They were outside in their original shipping pots all summer and were growing rapidly in late summer in full sun, watered regularly.

I was able to divide each plant in thirds, so they're also planted in various places outside. I successfully overwintered 'Skirt Chaser' on an east-facing wall outside under leaf mulch last winter, which was mild but with no snow cover. It subsequently died in the spring; I must have uncovered it too early as otherwise it hadn't even suffered any leaf damage by March.

Sean Z
Zone 6a
SE Michigan


On Mon, Mar 3, 2014 at 9:30 AM, Ken R. Walkup <k*@cornell.edu> wrote:
 

Hi all,
I have a division of what I think is japonica.  I got it at least four years ago from Stan Tyson of mobot.  He thought it was confusa, which I also have.  The Tyson clone seems to be a bigger plant, with glossy foliage instead of glaucus. The foliage seems more arching, too.  It bloomed the first year I had it, flowers are white, and I thought they looked a little different somehow than my confusa. I've never gotten it to bloom again.  The one thing I can say for sure about culture is that it hated being in a sunny window. 
The confusa is going to have a modest bloom, two stalks I think.  The bloomIng fans will die afterward and it'll probably be two years until new fans are mature enough to bloom again.  I don't feel like I am really giving either of these plants what they like best and would love to know how to care for them better.  When the bloom comes, it sure is welcome , usually at the tail end of winter.
Ken



Sent from my IBM Selectric

On Mar 3, 2014, at 8:47 AM, "Rodney Barton" <r*@yahoo.com> wrote:

 

I haven't actually found the trick. This bloom is actually very early. This was a new plant this fall, so I can't say the cause. It hasn't done a lot of growing as of yet other than putting up a stalk. My other japonica which I believe is "Ledger's variety" has done best in a shallow, wide pot. It stays out in the summer in the shade and in the green room in winter. Except for one season bloom has been pretty sparse. I also have 'Nada' but it has never bloomed.

R


From: Sean Zera <z*@umich.edu>
To: i*@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, March 2, 2014 9:16 PM
Subject: Re: [iris-species] I. japonica / Irid photos

 
It looks strikingly like a cristata flower. Anyone have tips for growing japonica as a houseplant? Two clones that I potted up in the fall have only just come into growth after some dieback in late fall (possibly from too little water?). What's their growth cycle supposed to be like? Small offsets just below the surface, produced abundantly in the fall, are green but not showing any growth, while the fans that are not flowering size are growing rapidly. The largest fan, which I took to be blooming size, shows no sign of new leaf growth.

Sean Z
Zone 6a
SE Michigan
(where the japonica divisions I planted outside in the fall are buried under half a meter of snow)



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