Re: Japanese Irises in Pots

This is to Clarence:  Thank you so much for this information.  So far, I
have no Japanese Iris - but am wondering if Siberians will take the same
treatment?  I bought the Siberians I have in pots - and they were pot
bound, so I replanted last fall.  THEN after the season ended, I found
another pot I had forgotten.  Today, they are about 3 inches tall and
"full-up" in the pots.  I was amazed at their growth.  I would like to
re-pot into other pots after they bloom.  (I imagine that is the time to
move them here in Washington State - Western half.  )  Then - in the
pots, I can move them around where the sun is warmer and/or they will
lend a nice contrast to other flowers in my garden.

Any comments, gang?

Nicki
On Fri, 28 Feb 1997 12:47:04 -0700 (MST) CEMahan@aol.com writes:
>In a message dated 97-02-28 12:29:47 EST, you write:
>
><< In his book on Japanese Iris, Currier McEwen explains how in former 
>times
> in parts of Japan iris were grown in pots in order that they might be
> brought indoors at bloom time so one could contemplate the beauty of 
>the
> flower as it opened, but that as the pace of modern life has 
>quickened,
> this is seldom practiced any more.
> 
> Jeff Walters in northern Utah (Zone 4) >>
>
>I agree that what Currier wrote in THE JAPANESE IRIS could be 
>interpreted in
>the manner Jeff has done above, and to this extent the book is a bit
>misleading.  Actually, and Currier says this in the book also, 
>Japanese
>irises are grown in pots far more extensively in Japan than in the 
>U.S.  When
>Currier quotes Hirao as saying "that only about 10 percent were grown 
>that
>way" in 1964, he is referring to the "bringing them indoors for 
>viewing"
>aspect I believe.   
>
>Actually, Japanese irises are grown in Japan in pots far more than 
>they are
>grown in the open ground.  This is for several reasons.  One, the soil 
>in
>pots is easily replaced, and Japanese gardens are too small for moving 
>the
>irises to new locations every 3 or 4 years.  Two, it is easy to put 
>the
>irises in pots into a spectacular landscape "picture" when they are in 
>pots
>and in bloom.  Three, more irises can be grown in pots than in the 
>open
>ground in very small gardens---then the pots can be stacked on shelves 
>when
>not in bloom.  Four, it is traditional.  
>
>If any of you have been to Meiji Shrine Gardens in Tokyo when the 
>acres of
>Japanese irises are in bloom, you have seen vast numbers of irises in 
>bloom
>seeming growing out of the water in the "lake"---actually the "lake" 
>is
>formed by flooding two small streams at bloom time---it is very 
>shallow.
> Then the Japanese irises are placed in the water in large pots.  When 
>bloom
>is finished the dams are removed from the streams, the lake goes away, 
>and
>the hundreds of pots of Japanese irises are removed to a nursery.  But 
>for
>several weeks in June it is one of the most gorgeous displays 
>imaginable.
> Clarence Mahan in VA
>
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