PCI: growing conditions

> My reason for joining this group was to find out more about Pacific Coast
> iris, which grow in shady conditions, in case you wanted to try them.
They
> supposedly flower in shade and seem to like partially moist conditions.
I grow these in southern Victoria, Australia, where they seem to like the rich, slightly acidic soil. Our summer here is just a little cooler, and less dry than further north.
Mine grow mostly in semi shade, with a mulching of pine needles, and in the shade of radiata pine trees hanging over the neighbors fence.
Experience has taught me not to water these in the hottest part of the day, and in summer they will cope quite well with very little water. I would not class them as moisture loving plants in the same way as Siberian iris, but a friable, slightly moist, well drained soil seems to please them.
In humid conditions they are prone to rot, and a whole clump can turn brown and die very quickly.
They don't like lime, nor do they like fertilisers high in nitrogen. I feed mine with 'azalea and camelia' food that I buy commercially.
They are very touchy about being shifted, aspecially if they are your favourite plants. Murphies law says that if you have a favourite PCI it will die in the next season or immediately after shifting, so i try not to play favourites. The one you least like will shift happily, and spread it's seed throughout the garden.
I have read that they tend to set seed and naturalise, but here I find there is little seed set unless I deliberately pollenate them by hand. This is useful for a breeding program. Most of the 60 or so pods set this year are deliberate and labelled crosses, with parents identifiable by a seedling number and a photo in my photo album. I am looking forward to seeing what these crosses produce over the next few years.
Some of my last years selected seed will be available from the SIGNA seed list this year, and is also available from the British Iris Society seed list.

Cheers, Jan

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