Re: Bloom Update from Oz

Greetings from the Land of Oz,
 
What a great couple of days Bernard and I have had!  The weather has been mild and sunny and the LA's have really started to bloom.  Many varieties have performed better this season than ever before.  We are putting that down to the large amounts of rain received in Winter.  Many 1995 and 1996 re-selects have been inspected and several have been real "spade jobs" (dig em out and into the compost where they belong!).  All Iris noted below are LA unless advised otherwise:
 
This morning we chanced across a 1996 seedling which was blooming still in its seedling pot.  We haven't had time to get them all into the ground as yet, but were amazed to see a spike on one and now a bloom.  But what a bloom it was!  Deep apricot bitone with quite good form!  Woopeee - another step down that orange brick road!! 
 
We were actually eating lunch when we saw it sitting in its little wading pool.  I was about to eat a luscious mandarin so used this as a colour comparison so that I could speak with some honesty.  (You can get a bit carried away with the colour of something new unless you go back and find a good point of reference to put you back on solid ground again).   Three shades lighter than the mandarin - not too far to go now!
 
"Discovery"  immediately brought the camera to the fore and all pollen sacs on aforementioned bloom plus pollen on all remaining buds of sufficient maturity were taken off and the pollen used on many prospective "further steps".  Wet weather has been forecast  for the next few days so we were not going to waste that precious pollen and have to wait another year to do something with it.   The cross was from a red with a soft apricot. 
 
Several BUSHFIRE MOON grandkids starting to bloom with many a shade or two deeper than grannie, which is right on target.  One or two have nice ruffling as well as the deeper colouration.
 
Several of our "Water Sprite" new releases have offspring which have bloomed and most are short (less than 30"), nicely ruffled and with good substance.  Blooms lasting 3-4 days in the garden so are looking good.   One  1996 little beauty has the tiniest of flowers (a bit bigger than a silver dollar) with a "hot mauve" (my way of describing one of those luminous shades) colour, bright white rim (you guys call these halos) and red veining.  What a dazzler!!  Bernard is delighted!  Pollen crossed on to HEIRLOOM AMETHYST and sibs.
 
One entire series of a cross from OUR DOROTHY (a lemon self with hot pink rim) x NEW VOGUE (a ruffled soft  lemon) has given us a series of deep purples all with bright white rims.  Can't see where that has come from AT ALL so shall be researching the matter a bit more.....
 
Another 1993 seedling, which is an ice blue self was crossed in 1995 with NEW VOGUE and has given us the most beautiful lemon and ice blue ruffled thing.  The lemon petals have a bright orange steeple signal, which really lights up the bloom.   We gave the 1993 ice blue self the garden name of "Duck Egg Blue" so have now given the new seedling the garden name of "Duckling" - and it's no ugly duckling either! 
 
One gorgeous 1994 cross is a deep ruby red, and was to be re-assessed this season.  Blooms came out, nice as before, but have bunched up the stem this year.  Bernard remarked that each spike looked like its own bunch of flowers, and he was right.   Only 25" tall too - which is not much spike to grow on anyway.  Will be a spade job tomorrow....     
 
The bright fire engine red WIZARD OF AUSSIE has made a bold statement in the garden again this year.  It is growing next to it's mother, VOLCANIC WILDFIRE with a child of WIZARD OF AUSSIE growing on the other side.  Such a splash of vibrant reds, sunset tones and flashes of lemon.  Needed the raybans on to get near them....
 
Bernard's Water Sprite LOVE ME DO is a sea of cerise and frothy white rims too.  The planting of this variety is 15 feet long and about 3 feet wide and all in bloom.  Wish you could all be there to share it with us.
 
A professional photographer was at our garden yesterday taking photos for the Better Homes & Gardens  gardening book series.  Much excitement!!!   This is the first time we have allowed anyone in to the garden (other than friends) so we were a little uncertain how things would go.  She was Ssooooooo   nice and we parted as friends, and feel happy with the work she did.  She has promised Bernard a nice print of OUR DOROTHY, which was named after his dear mum.
 
Tomorrow the NSW Region of the ISA is holding a meeting/mini show/display at a nearby garden centre.  I have a basket of blooms ready to take, plus a few spikes for the display.  Have also prepared a nice "country-styled basket" of SPRING WELCOME with yellow banksia rose.  They both tone in perfectly, and should be a nice addition to the efforts of all the other members.   My good friend Janet Hutchinson is also bringing along some of her LA blooms, so we shall be putting in a good representation for these Iris at least. 
 
There is nothing more rewarding than introducing folk to the wonders of iris-growing, and I'm hoping that the Society will gain some new members from the effort.  Here's hoping that the forecast wet weather will not discourage folk from coming.
 
Hope the update brings a sparkle to your eyes and a rose to your cheeks!
 
Cheers for now,   Heather Pryor   i*@pip.com.au
 
 
 
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