Dear Friend,
It’s time…
What am I talking about? A speedy trip to labor and delivery? The pizza guy is here? Your beloved Birkenstocks from 1968 are finally on their way to landfill?
Nothing like any of that: It’s time to make plans for your garden… bulbs, rhizomes, seeds… what will it be?
Irises, especially, are friendly faces in any garden. Pollinators enjoy their colorful blooms and the greenery is such a lovely backdrop all year ‘round.
Many years ago, when Frank and I lived in our log-cabin home, I had an opportunity that I’m pretty sure qualifies as ‘once in a life time.’ A woman who was selling her iris farm, invited me to her property. She hoped that I would be willing to re-home as many different plants as I could care for; several of the plants were her original hybrids.
She showed me to an area of her yard with hundreds of piles of iris rhizomes, no flowers, just blunted iris stalks with little dirt-clods dangling from their roots. In front of each pile, there was a handmade name-tag nailed to the ground. Luckily, I was prepared with a notebook and pencil; to me, all of the rhizomes looked alike.
The lady was happy that I was taking notes, and with her help, I numbered a series of paper take-home bags, and made a chart to detail the expected height and the name of each corresponding iris plant. Sometimes the names indicated a color… i.e. Strawberry Shortcake, so, will the flowers be pink? I knew that I wouldn’t know for sure what they would look like until they bloomed - I love those sorts of surprises!
It was important for me to consider how tall each plant would get as I planned my garden. It was difficult to tell exactly how tall a plant would grow just by looking at the rhizome or a bulb. Some would be short, some tall... I had to plan because regardless of color, no one would be able to see the shorter plants if I planted them behind the tall ones, and that would make everybody sad.
For instance, the little, ‘dwarf’ bearded Irises can grow from 8” – 16” tall. The ‘border or mid-range’ bearded Irises, 15” – 28” tall, and the ‘tall’ bearded irises can get to four feet tall and taller! Additional considerations: what other plants will complement and what sort of soil will make everyone happy? Will my garden attract bees, butterflies, hummingbirds… all good questions… that’s why planning your garden is a thing.
Irises can also be beardless, like Japanese Irises and there are Dutch Irises (that, to me, look an awful lot like orchids).
Here’s a post from The National Garden Bureau that gives great descriptions w/ photos of each kind of iris, prompting you to: Plant an Iris or Two!
I worked with the collection of irises for years and with such a huge variety, by the month of May each year, our property was quite colorful. Frank loved to photograph these beautiful flowers. I’m so glad that he took all of these photos! I miss that garden very much!
The people that bought our home said that they would love having this iris collection. Irises don’t really take much maintenance. Over-watering is a concern and they do enjoy a dividing party now and then. Here’s a helpful video that explains HOW TO PLANT AND DIVIDE Bearded Irises
Would you like to create your own iris hybrid? You, too, can become an Iris Hybridizer and in time, you can come up with your own original color, plant structure, and even size of flowers … and… then you can name and REGISTER YOUR IRIS!
The possibilities seem endless! Here are the winners of the American Iris Society 2024 Awards.
Hybridizing involves pollinating by hand and waiting for seeds to produce. Then you harvest the seedpod and plant the seeds and raise the seedlings. As you might have expected, this process takes … time.
Here’s a quick video that explains the process of pollinating HOW TO HYBRIDIZE IRIS
Someday we’ll plant another garden, this time with more edibles like broccoli and herbs. And I will include some irises because they really do bring joy to a slice of land!
Update: In last week’s letter (#32: During emergencies), I told you about the Crozier fire … all evacuations have been lifted and as of this morning, the fire is over 90% contained. Miss B is happily home again with her dad and her tennis ball collection!
We’ll be going to visit family next week. We look forward to spending time with them, their pups, and their chickens. And we wish you a happy week ahead, hoping that you will take all the time you need when choosing the next book to read, deciding how many pets to adopt, or planning your next most-excellent garden!
Thank you for being here to read Tracks by the Post! Please write, we always love to hear from you!
Gently Be,
Leslie and Frank