HIST: Unknown Historic or What?
- To: <iris-talk@onelist.com>
- Subject: HIST: Unknown Historic or What?
- From: J* a* C* W*
- Date: Sun, 6 Jun 1999 18:31:38 -0600
From: "Jeff and Carolyn Walters" <jcwalters@bridgernet.com>
Hello, Talk-ers!
I have a mystery iris on my hands. Two years ago I transplanted two
rhizomes of what I believed was DRESDEN FRILLS (Rudolph, '69) from a
location where it was getting overgrown by an aggressive peony to one of my
dedicated iris beds. Neither rhizome bloomed last year, but both are
blooming this year, and they are like nothing I have grown or seen in bloom
here before (I have lived at this location for 21 years).
Blooming on sturdy, ramrod straight 40" stalks with two to three branches
plus spur are medium yellow (canary) flowers of slightly larger than IB
size. The flower color is uniform, except that it lightens gradually toward
the center of the falls to a 1/4" indistinct white zone at the tip of the
rather bushy, light orange beards. The gold-veined haft marks are
inconspicuous. The freshly opened flowers have domed, overlapping
standards and rather strappy (long, narrow) falls that stand out
horizontally from the standards to the end of the beards and then droop at
a 90-degree angle. At this stage the flower dimensions are 4" (vertical) by
3 and 1/2" (horizontal). As the flowers mature the form changes with the
standards opening up until they are arched and touching and the falls
lifting up until they are perfectly horizontal just before the flower folds
up. At this stage the flower dimensions are 3" by 6". The standards hold
their color as the flower ages, but the falls bleach out to almost pure
white. The plants seem to be healthy and vigorous - there are 9 stalks and
no signs of leaf spot, rot, or freeze damage - all of which have been only
too common here this year. The foliage is gray-green with no pbf.
Could this be a Historic iris that has been lurking here for over twenty
years (the spot where I dug it up was 10-12 feet from where the only iris
that (to my knowledge) was present here when I moved in was growing (I.
germanica)) or is it a chance seedling?
Any suggestions?
Jeff Walters in northern Utah (USDA Zone 4/5, Sunset Zone 2)
jcwalters@bridgernet.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ONElist: where real people with real interests get connected.
http://www.onelist.com
Join a new list today!
