Re: CULT:favorites
From: Kenneth Walker <kenww@pacbell.net>
Well, I'm finally getting around to submit a list of a few of my favorite
iris. I'm listing
both iris I particulary like and those the grow particularly well.
TB:
Glad Rags is my very favorite. While it doesn't multiply as quickly as
some iris, it has
gorgeous 'variegata' blooms with deep rich yellow and red..
Skating Party grows and blooms well. While the bossoms are 'a bit
overdone' in my opinion
they are impressive!
Lambada grows and blooms well and I like the orange bossoms.
Black Fantasy is the deepest colored tall beared I grow and I like deep
colors!
SDB:
Unfortunately I've lost the name of the one that does exceptionally
well for me.
Aril Bred:
Esther the Queen does very well for me and has nice full, parcularly
colored flowers
that I find appealling.
White Arts is my second favorite of all the iris I grow. Because it is
a hybrid regelia,
it does not have the 'onco look'. Instead the flowers have simple,
beautifully artistic
lines.
Arabian Midnight is not a great grower and took 2 1/2 years to bloom,
but the rounded
deep purple flowers were worth the wait!
Passing Fancy is the oposite of Arabian Midnight. The brownish-purple
flowers don't excite
me much dispite their luminescence but it is a great performer.
Desert Moonlight has really nice 'onco type' flowers and is a good
performer.
PCN
Some of the best are either unnamed I. douglasiana or PCNs I have lost
the names of.
Both Sierra Amarillo and Soquel Cove have been doing well for several
years in near full
sun with summer drought.
Siberian
My favorite is a small simple siberian with a wild species look.
I. sanguinia 'Kamayama' does well for me.
Spuria
Most of the summer dormant kinds seem to do well for me once they are
established.
Fountain Flow is the best grower. I moved it after 3 years and came up
with 9 divisions with
at total of 29 fans. I gave away all but a small division because
I wanted the space for
another spuria.
Finally Free is a very pretty yellow that grows and blooms well.
Destination has deeper orange-yellow blooms that I like, but is only a
moderate producer.
Zulu Chief has dark brownish red blooms that I really like!
Unfortunately it is a rather weak
performer for me.
I grow many of my mosture-loving iris in barrels to keep them out of our
adobe clay soil.
I. fulva 'Red Dazzler' is one of my favorites.
I. lavigata 'Variegata' has nice variegated foliage and has nice
blooms.
I. Virginica grows very well.
Other iris:
I. cristata is cute! I've been growing it in a planter for a couple of
years and hope I can keep
it going inspite of our dry summers.
Iris bucharica is a juno that does exceptionally well here.
Ken Walker
kenww@pacbell.net
Concord, CA USDA zone 9, Sunset zone 14
