Bloom report -- Siberians
- To: i*@onelist.com
- Subject: Bloom report -- Siberians
- From: M* H* <M*@worldnet.att.net>
- Date: Wed, 01 Jul 1998 02:49:10 -0600
From: Marte Halleck <MorJHalleck@worldnet.att.net>
For the first time ever, I've got masses of Siberians in flower! Now I
hope someone can tell me what I've got, or at least make an educated
guess. The starts came to me in '96 from a seed-trading friend in
Virginia, who told me only that they were "regular old Siberians" that
he'd had for years & badly needed to divide. They've grown vigorously &
the clumps have already become quite sizeable.
The blooms are a rich, dark purple. The "beard" area is white with a
smallish area of purple-on-white veining around it -- further into the
center of the flower, (the hafts?) the color of both "beard" &
background becomes yellow-gold. The falls hang essentially straight down
& the standards are open but still mostly upright -- both are narrow &
the flowers are not large but in proportion to the overall plants. The
bloomstalk measures approximately 15" from the ground to the top of the
flower. The leaves are thin ("grass-like"), medium green & about 12" to
14" in length. The clumps are growing in fairly wretched rocky soil (it
drains well!) in a sunny location that is quite dry (except when I
water) but that had heavy snow cover all winter long.
Could this be good old CAESAR (but not CAESAR'S BROTHER) -- it looks
quite like the photo of same in the Random House Book of Perennials. Or
perhaps it is the species, Iris siberica? Keep in mind that the short
growing season & cold nights year 'round here have a "stunting" effect
on many plants -- things that are supposed to grow, say, 4' tall are
more likely to top out at around 30" in my garden.
Whatever this plant is, I like it. It's graceful & pretty -- & the
flowers stood up remarkably well to a short but fierce hailstorm we
experienced Tuesday afternoon. Many of my bearded iris blooms were
shattered by the hail, sad to say.
TIA for all comments & help.
Marte in the mtns Zone 4/Sunset 1 Colorado
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