Re: African Iris and other flowers
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: African Iris and other flowers
- From: P* R* <x*@xtra.co.nz>
- Date: Thu, 6 Mar 1997 02:44:21 -0700 (MST)
Bill Sullivan wrote:
>Have now
> >definitely identified the flower as "dietes vegata" and have two growing in
> >my beds. Would like any more information members have on this flower.
If you rewrite 'dietes' as 'Dietes' it becomes evident that this is a
generic name and Dietes vegeta is not an iris but being a member of the
Iridaceous family might best be described roughly as a cousin.
Clive Innes in his The World of Iridaceae lists only five species but
dozens of synonyms. Three species have white flowers with touches of blue
or mauve and two species have pale yellow flowers with touches of brown.
Innes advises a minimum temperature of 12'C. He also prefers the specific
name of 'iridioides' to 'vegeta'.
The above book is rather expensive but I would class it as essential
holding for any reasonable 'club' library.
Someone has asked recently about Iris setosa. For a beginner I suggest
thinking about a siberian iris without standards as a rough
approximation. the standards are there of course but are reduced to tiny
tufts. In New Zealand, without the American extremes of climate, I regard
setosa as an essential garden plant especially if selected with an eye to
good colour. "Park Farm" hybrids are particularly fine, easy to grow and
bloom quickly from seed. Some years ago I brought seed back from the UK
and had flowers within nine months.
Another thread has touched upon the appearance of regeliabreds. For what
it is worth my all-time attractive bearded iris is Buddy Mitchell
(Nourse, R. 1958). Methyl-violet self, orange beard. (I. hoogiana x
Lullaby) X (I. hoogiana x Lullaby), introduced by Tell, 1957. It is
tailored perfection!
--
Paul Richardson, Upper Hutt, New Zealand
pippi@xtra.co.nz
