Hello all, we are expecting our first frost of the season tonight.
Today was spent frantically moving tender plants into either the
greenhouse or the basement.
I took a break and looked around the garden. I found three clumps of
I. lactea flowering, the tallest stem was shorter then the flower.
They would have been easy to miss. These big old clumps have thrown a
few flowers every fall for the last five years. Sometimes they even
set seed but rarely ripen it before winter arrives.
Another surprise was I. henryi, there was a bloom a week ago and
another one today. It would have been easy to miss but it is in a bed
that actually gets weeded regularly.
Tho not an iris they are in the family, crocus have done well this
fall. C. banaticus, the iris flowered crocus was splendid. I wish I
could get the white form established as the typical self sows happily
here. Along with many other common fall crocus, saffron began blooming
a couple days ago. It's been too wet to harvest any yet but I have
hope for drier weather soon.
Jim
Jim Murrain
8871 NW Brostrom Rd
Kansas City, MO 64152-2711
USA
Zone 5b
