Iris japonica culture; Iris confusa
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Iris japonica culture; Iris confusa
- From: H* <G*@GSC.GTE.Com>
- Date: Thu, 13 Mar 1997 12:07:33 -0700 (MST)
> Elena Laborde wrote:
> I just found ... a beautiful plant of I. japonica, ... any practical
> suggestions on its culture...?
>
Elena,
Iris japonica is one of the tender evansias - the foliage normally
does not die back to the ground in the winter as it does for the
tender evansias. My most successful location (in Fremont,
California, approximately 40 miles north of you) for growing
this plant was the west-by-southwest side of a large apple
tree. This means the plant received (the apple tree was removed
about 2 years ago because it was harboring termites) full sun all winter, =
was shaded during the morning during the summer and
received sloping sun from mid-afternoon until dusk in the middle
of the summer. Probably, it can stand somewhat more light than
this, provided you are on the coast side of the foothills (with a
Santa Cruz signature I assume you are). My clump bloomed
acceptably each spring, but was slower to increase than many
evansias I have grown, so it may grow more robustly if given
more light.
The soil is "woodsy" and just the acid side (6.8) of neutral pH.
The soil is heavy black adobe that has had
generous amounts of organic matter (thoroughly decayed mill
trailings, compost, etc.) and regular applications of agricultural
gypsum each year for many years. The soil is kept cool and moist
by frequent watering. Don't ever let the soil bake dry around one
of the evansias.
The other must for culture in our area is regular baiting or hand
picking of slugs and snails. The French brown snails in particular
will march all the way across the garden, ignoring other delicacies
along the way, to shred an evansia Iris.
Also, if you can find it, add Iris confusa to your collection. The
individual blooms are smaller, but the stalks more branched and
more heavily budded. On established clumps it is not uncommon
to have stalks with a total bud count over fifty - the end of each
branch can have from 1 to six buds with 3 or 4 being typical. In a
friend's garden in Milpitas, one side of the walk is a soft cloud of
I. confusa blooms right now - I expect the display to last for
another couple of weeks.
___Gigi
gigi.hall@gsc.gte.com (updated E-mail address)
Fremont, California. USDA zone 8; Sunset WGB zone 15.
