Re: Juno Irises

At 04:52 PM 4/22/96 MDT, Ian wrote:
>Now that the furore over the pronunciation of Iris pseudacorus has died
>down, perhaps someone can tell me how to pronounce Iris zaprjagajewii?  ;-)


The rule about respecting native tongues would apply here and there are many
in Central Asia!  I wish I knew someone from the Pamirs to ask!  The only
source I have is lots of folk music-not much help here!

>Seriously, I would be interested to hear of other peoples' experiences in
>growing Juno (or should I say Scorpiris) Irises.

I had and bloomed I. bucharica for a number of years, but either cold or too
much wet killed it two years ago and I am starting over with seed.  They are
very slow at first, then get to a point and "take off", as is true with so
many alpines and plants of specialized environs. Any cramping of the roots
is disastrous. Since they need a deep root run, this time I have selected
some old tile pipes to try growing them in, so that I can drill holes in the
root zone area of the pipe to immediately let off excess water, but keep a
cooling reservoir below. I think I will also provide winter cover, but it
will be overhead only. I do not have an alpine house, except for a small
area on my back porch and a covered patio.  We do sometimes go below -8C
here, but rarely. 

A month ago I saw a nice pot of I. planifolia at a rock garden show, but
believe that it came from an alpine house. 

I. verna (not a Juno, ?monotype) is blooming now, but the slugs are after
it. The one clump that is under the drip area of a cedar is not as
slug-eaten.  The slugs don't bother to crawl over the dry tow to nibble on a
tiny Iris, but I have never been able to get it to set seed. I cristata (not
a Juno, but very nice for a rockery) does not set seed either, although it
does creep about in the damp shade of a hawthorn tree in a very rich soil.
Mine may be a clone called "Abbey's Violet" and this would explain why I
never get seed. 

I also am interested in trying more of the species and love to experiment
with ways to help them prosper.  Do any of you know of some good sources for
seed, especially the little gems such as the I. nicolai Ian mentions ? It is
illustrated in Koehlein's book *Iris* and looks wonderful. Some of the small
Arils pictured in that work are especially tempting.

Does the British Iris Society have a seed list?  How about the Aril Society
International, do they have a seed list?

In the wild, do you suppose that beetles or something chew the arils away
from the seeds to help that "tricky group" to germinate? 

 





Louise H. Parsons  <parsont@peak.org>
1915 SE Stone St.
Corvallis, OR 97333  USA
USDA zone 7 , Emerald NARGS, AIS, SIGNA, SPCNI, transplanted Oregrowian
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