Re: CULT: questions on potting iris

From: Chris Darlington <chris.darlington@sympatico.ca>

Chris , I followed your instructions carefully and the irises are doing
well after only two weeks. I used half sand , half black garden soil and
a table spoon full of bone meal per four inch pot. The pale yellow TB's
have already produced five one inch fans each ,  the dark blue are just
a little behind but the white TB's  are  still strangely dormant.  I'm
somehow positive that some of them will bloom , the way the snow is
melting over here , they'll have a two month head start on the other
irises in my tiny garden.  Thanks for the advice.

I enjoyed your " too many irises " mail , I'm sure it made many people
think twice about all of the iris they stock pile , I can't imagine many
of their gardens look like much more than an iris farm . I'm in it for
different reasons now after reading all of the "confessions" thread.  I
intend to enjoy what I have , all blooming for the first time .  Should
be fantastic.

Chris Darlington
A future hybridizer 

Chris Hollinshead wrote:
> 
> From: "Chris Hollinshead" <cris@netcom.ca>
> 
> > From: Chris Darlington <chris.darlington@sympatico.ca>
> > Anyway , sorry for all of that , I'd like to ask a few basic questions:
> >
> > 1)It's still winter here is Quebec, zone 5b , I bought TB rhizomes last
> > weekend and wonder if I could get them started in pots indoors and
> > transfer them outdoors when it warms considerably.  Any chance of them
> > blooming the first year if they're blooming size rhizomes ?
> 
> Yes, get them started in the pots right now. Then plant them out in the
> garden later (about the end of April for where you live). I have 15 iris
> that I have started over the winter and they all have gotten a nice head
> start on the seasons growth that they otherwise would not . I think you will
> not likely have too much bloom from these iris this year. Any you do have
> will probably not be typical of the potential. (for example: shorter stalks,
> blooms may be distorted) You will get good increase from these iris during
> this year and bloom next year in 2000 will be excellent!
> 
> Briefly, what you right now need is:
> pots - for TBs use 6 inch (15cm) I use clay pots.
> growing medium - use seed starting soil mix which will help stimulate and
> promote root growth
> cut all the existing roots off flush with the bottom of the rhizome. ...just
> trust me on this one!
> plant the rhizomes into the pots, pushing them into the top of the soil and
> leaving the tops exposed. Water very couple of days when soil mix becomes
> dry. Keep them in a bright sunny spot.
> Soon ...approx two or three weeks you will have new roots coming out the
> bottom of the pots and new growth including 4 -5 new increases coming on
> every plant.
> 
> The potting of iris has very recently been discussed on this list so if you
> check the archives for Jan and Feb 1999 you will find some interesting info.
> Also you can read about this on our Canadian Iris Society website. A direct
> URL to the potting iris article is:
> http://tor-pw1.netcom.ca/~cris/CIS/pots.html
> 
> > 3)Are there any  Canadian online catalogues with photos besides
> > Mcmillen's that I could order from?  Canada seems to be weak in the area
> > and ordering from the states can be mighty expensive .
> 
> Not on-line ones but I can send you privately a listing of Canadian iris
> sources. You may wish to join the Canadian Iris Society too... the info is
> all at the website. The URL address is listed below.
> 
> Christopher Hollinshead
> Mississauga, Ontario  Canada  zone6b
> AIS(Region 16), CIS, SSI
> Director-Canadian Iris Society
> Newsletter Editor-Canadian Iris Society
> E-mail:  cris@netcom.ca <c*@netcom.ca>
> CIS website:  http://www.netcom.ca/~cris/CIS.html
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> If you like orange and blue, then you will love our new web site!
> http://www.onelist.com
> Onelist: Fostering connections and information exchange

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Did you know that we have over 85,000 e-mail communities at Onelist?
http://www.onelist.com
Come visit our new web site and explore a new interest
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index