Re: varigated foliage
- To: i*@Rt66.com
- Subject: Re: varigated foliage
- From: L* P* <p*@peak.org>
- Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 20:54:19 -0800
At 08:04 PM 3/25/96 MST, you wrote:
>Could anyone offer some info on the following question?
>In my Master Gardening class I met a woman who is looking for median
>varigated foliage iris to grow as companion plantings to hosta and
>other shade tolerant plantings...she tried a TB variety that had
>varigated foliage and it never bloomed because of too much shade, this
>was quite all right with her as she wanted the foliage color not the
>flowers. Could anyone suggest a smaller median that would fill this
>bill? Thanks!
>
>Julie Irwin
>bajai@mtco.com
I do not know what zone you are in, but there is a pretty variegated tender
form of I. japonica called "Aphrodite" that will grow in light shade. Here
in zone 7, it does occasionally get a little "frostbite". The flower stalks
are a couple of feet tall, but the leaves stay lower. This plant has one
quirk: it is stoloniferous and little ones sometimes pop up quite a distance
away! Not a serious problem for me-I simply pot them up for our club plant
sales. The one problem that this iris does have here is- I almost hate to
say it- slugs seem to relish it!
If your friend is looking for the truly tiny things, there are many
variegated forms of dwarf mondo grass coming in from Japan. One of my
favorites, not variegated but very charming is "Gyoku Royu" and a Black
Mondo grass (Ophiopogon planescapus nigrescens) which does well in the shade
and looks really elegant. I hope this little digression is helpful, but of
course I would check out lots of iris catalogues. In the AIS Bulletin there
is a grower that advertises a specialty in variegated foliage called Zebra
Gardens.
Louise H. Parsons <parsont@peak.org>
1915 SE Stone St.
Corvallis, OR 97333 USA
USDA zone 7 , Emerald NARGS, AIS, SIGNA, SPCNI, transplanted Oregrowian
