HIST: Re: Irisquestion from Sweden

From: <HIPSource@aol.com>

Maj, in Sweden wrote:
  
<< Hello over there!  I am an amateurgardener outside Stockholm, Sweden.>>

Hello, Maj! And welcome! We are delighted you have joined us to tell us about
your irises. All of us here love irises and gardens. We have had a few people
from your  part of the world visit from time to time and we have learned a lot
from them. I do not know if our friend Gunnar is with us at this time, but I
shall send him a note and ask him. He is in Sweden, too, but usually prefers
to work in his garden in the summer when he can. 

I enjoyed hearing about your little family iris, which sounds beautiful! If it
has been grown for 35 years by your family it is an historic iris. I am a
member of a group of people who study the older--historic-- irises. I thought
the story of how it was found growing on a stone wall was very interesting. It
must be very hardy, and also very tolerant of dryness, as you said. I've seen
pictures of irises being grown on walls in France but I have never tried to do
so myself.

<< It has creeping stems, about as thick as a littlefinger, and long roots
down 
 in the sand or gravel where it prefers to grow. ...The leaves come up flat
and tight together and have the shape of swords and are about 30 cm high.  The
flowerstalk is usually shorter than the leaves, 20 to 30 cm only.>>

So in your garden it is about 12 inches tall, and the flower stalk is about
8-12" tall and is usually shorter than the leaves.  

<< The flower is big and the colour is the most wonderful dark violet you can 
 imagine! Unfortunately, the beauty is shortlived, the flower lasts only one
day, rarely two, and a new bud opens next morning.... This summer has been
abnormally cold and wet with rain almost every day so I  began getting anxious
that my precious iris would rot away but to my  surprise it has continued to
pop up flowers, not as many as in june, only  one every third day or so but
still! Maybe I have misjudged its need of water.>>

It sounds like you may have a reblooming--remontant-- iris there, Maj. Some
bearded irises will bloom again later if they are very happy--and these enjoy
more water if they have excellent drainage. Does your iris have a little furry
beard at the top of the bottom petals like a little caterpiller?  If so, what
color is the caterpiller?  And how long is the bloom from top to bottom? Is it
fragrant? Do the leaves have purple at the bases? Does the flower stem branch
out like a tree? Is the branch low to the ground or high up? And do irises--or
other plants-- in your part of the world usually grow shorter than in other
areas?

There are many many irises and it is hard to distinguish them from verbal
descriptions alone. It is also hard to distinguish a lot of them from
photographs, although they can help. I have some ideas about your iris. I
assume it is a bearded iris since most beardless irises do not like dryness
and do not rebloom. Maybe it is I. aphylla, which is purple and will rebloom.
Maybe it is an older reblooming hybrid. Maybe it is something else again! Just
to satisfy my curiosity about something I want you to go to the webpage of
HIPS--the Historic Iris Preservation Society --and look at a picture there. It
will not be a picture of your iris, but it may possibly be a picture of one
which is very similar. Go to:http://www.worldiris.com/ and enter the right
hand side of the page to visit the HIPS site. Find the photograph link next to
the little camera . When you get there, scroll down and look at KOCHII and
tell us if  this is anything like what you grow. Here is the actual address of
the photo:
http://www.worldiris.com/public_html/Quick_Fixes/Q_Kochii.html

<< Nowadays you can find societies for almost anything on "The Net", so why
not 
 an Iris Society? And there it was! I could never have imagined there were so 
 many irises and irislovers in the world! My knowledge about these flowers 
 increased considerably in only a couple of hours! Thank you very much for 
 about 300 (the number is rapidly increasing)  interesting irisletters!>>

We are so happy you are with us! And I'm sending along a copy of your note and
this one to Mike Lowe who maintains those Webpages I just sent you to. He is
very knowledgeable and may have some thoughts to share if he has finished
rebuilding the floor on his porch yet. 

Anner Whitehead (Ms.)
Commercial Source Chairman
Historic Iris Preservation Society
HIPSource@aol.com

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