Re: Rosemary's Introduction
- Subject: Re: Rosemary's Introduction
- From: t*@Rt66.com (Tom Tadfor Little)
- Date: Sat, 3 Feb 96 12:28:32 MST
>Tom asked us to post a brief introduction so that's what I'm doing!
Thanks, Rosemary. And welcome!
>I planted a new bed of bearded irises this past summer and had excellent
>growth from the flags before winter. I hope that our terribly harsh
>winter hasn't hurt them! The bearded irises I planted this year are all
>pastels - a pastel iris bed - which I'm looking forward to!
I also love the pastel shades. When I was younger, I loved the
brightest colors with the strongest contrasts and patterns - like
plicatas. But now that my garden is more than just an iris plantation,
I find the softer, purer shades do a lot for the overall beauty
of the garden.
I like 'Song of Norway' - it's a pale, serene blue. Tall plants,
very elegant. (Others on the list will no doubt explain that it's
been superseded by more recent introductions, but it's still pretty
and you can buy several rhizomes at once and still have money to
feed your family.) 'Edith Wolford' (which won the Dykes medal a couple
years back) is a lovely pastel bicolor: creamy yellow standards and
smooth blue-violet falls. 'Sky Hooks' is famous for its horns (small
protrusions at the tips of the beards), but it's a lovely garden
subject even without considering the novelty value. It's a muted
light yellow; the beards are blue.
>I want to try other types of irises, particularly the
>Japanese varieties. Is it true those can be grown in some shade? I'm
>interested in planting some Japanese irises on the northwest exposure of
>my house.
Some shade, yes; but your northwest exposure may be too much shade.
As Jim remarked on the Siberian thread, there seems to be a trend
to advertise some irises as shade-garden plants. To my knowledge,
all irises like as much sun as they can get, unless you live in a
desert!
The Japanese like a very acid soil, about pH 5.0. That makes
them a real challenge for us westerners. In Kentucky, it's certainly
"do-able" as they say. Use lots of organic matter and if you use
fertilizers, use something like azalea food. Soil sulphur when
preparing the bed is a good idea too.
>
>Looking forward to participating in the list!
>
Glad you could join us. I've appreciated your postings to
the GARDENS list.
Happy irising, Tom.
Tom Tadfor Little at Telperion Productions
Los Alamos, NM
telp@Rt66.com - - - also at tlittle@lanl.gov
--> on the web at http://www.rt66.com/~telp/
