Iris in July

Unbelievably, I have Iris buds still opening. Not sure when the last time I had Iris opening in July was. 'Moonsilk' opens in July but all my old iris are typically long done by now. 'Mrs. Andrist' still has lots of buds.

Such and odd garden year.

The purple is 'Stepping Out' and this is the first year it has bloomed in my garden. It came from Nova when we did our big iris exchange last fall.

The yellow is 'Bumblebee Deelite'. Just identified this year, it has been in my garden for many, many years. Moved with me from my city garden, it was one of my first original four iris. They arrived from Judy's garden all at the same time and were the start of my iris obsession.

The bright yellow makes this iris a plant that can be grown far from the windows yet still be spotted easily when it opens.

Corner of the Drive

I almost titled this post, My Favourite Spot. Then I realized that I don't have a favourite spot. I have many, many favourite spots. So unless I wanted to do a very long series of posts, I'd have to find another title!

This corner is passed by if you move from the house to anywhere, or from the car to anywhere. It sits at the junction of the road to the Campground yard (which also leads to the dogs building), the drive parking, the path to the firepit and the entry to the Boardwalk Garden. It is impossible to move around without passing by here and yet, Sean still does not notice the blooms... but that is another story, for another day.

The 'William Baffin' rose fills with blooms here, even if it does stretch forever to reach the sun, making it lean all to one side. Still, the roses are pretty with a lovely, soft scent. The lamium continually threatens to take the whole spot over and Iris were added last year. They are my most scented Iris so it is a nice spot to stand when they are blooming. Johnny-Jump-Up shows up in the rock, outside the garden edge, as often as the many, many weeds. But still this spot manages to put on a magnificent display year after year.

I think this is one of my favourite spots because it represents the way I see my garden. A little messy, slightly overgrown, never weeded enough but still dazzling me daily!

Its been a good year for iris here!

Iris has been a shining star in my garden forever but this was a banner year! Even with several patches not blooming at all, I had new varieties show up with 'Baby Blessed' and Nova's unknown Little Blue. Since I added so many new varieties last year, I expected that not all would bloom but the patches are big and healthy so no reason to expect they won't next year.

Several of my older unknown varieties were identified this year which was very exciting. Rae Street Blue and Whites are an MTB iris, 'Mrs. Andrist', German Purple are iris, germanica 'Blue Boy', the Double Blues are another MTB iris, 'Twilight Calm' and my MTB bright yellow is, 'Bumblebee Deelite'. I can't remember a year where so many unknowns were identified and 'Mrs. Andrist' was my first iris, planted long ago in my city garden. I have moved her everywhere with me and shared her with almost every gardener I know. So nice to know her name :)

The weather has not wanted to cooperate with the iris. It has been an unusually wet year. The rain has not stopped. Finding time to weed and mow when it is dry has been difficult. There is only one patch of 'Bumblebee Deelite' in my garden and the rain beat it up a bit. I got great photographs of the buds but the flowers opened in the rain, were beat down by the rain and photographs were less than perfect. The bright side is that there is a record, they did bloom here this year, the patch is healthy... I will see them again next year.

 

 

 

Front Garden

The front garden is small and it is the newest garden.
Because of this, it is also the garden that is the most overgrown.

Weeds overtake some of the plants and I never see them again. Others struggle through until I manage to get over there and weed.

The bit that is closest to the front deck is getting more and more under control this year. I see it more, walk by it more, bend down and pull weeds up more.

It is actually getting quite pretty.

 

 

 

Iris, German Purple

This is one of the iris I am dividing again this year. It has been in my garden for many years, starting in my city garden. It was moved here and spread to Linda's garden in Nova Scotia. I don't think I have many gardening friends that don't have it by now.

Originally given to me by Judy, it produces lots of flowers and is still a favourite! The best thing about it is that it is early blooming with open flowers long before the other iris are budding up. And it blooms until the later iris start. This week, the blue and whites started to open and there are still 2 patches of german purple that have blooms!

This variety really extends iris season in my garden.

NOTICE TO MY LOCAL FRIENDS -
I am dividing this iris this year.

If you want some, let me know!! 

 

Yellow and Blue

There is a period in my garden where everything is yellow and blue. I used to think I didn't like yellow. Until I discovered it was just a particular shade of yellow that I don't like. There are LOTS of yellows that I love. All my yellows are in that category and the blues run from the burgundy of the lady slipper, through the royal purple of the german purple iris, to the pale, true blue of Nova's Little Blue iris.

The first of the pink flowers opened this week, as did the first of the white flowers. Other colours are on their way! Sometimes I think I should make a concerted effort to add other colours earlier in my spring garden. But I like my season of yellow and blue.

The Reappearance

One fall about 4 years ago, Danielle decided she was going to move to Nova Scotia in the spring. That November we received a big box of bulbs from her to hang onto till she got here - tulips, daffodils, glads, iris and lilies. The glads went into the fridge - easy. Because it was November, the ground was already partly frozen. Kelly poked the rest all into one garden back under the trees in Little Stonehenge.

We still getting surprises! This iris came up once before and I neglected to mark it - have been waiting a couple of years for it to show up again. At least now it's a nice little patch and I can send some back to Danielle AND move some into my garden.

unknown bearded iris

Baby Blessed

Baby Blessed is the next iris to show up from my iris exchange last year with Nova. A pretty, yellow dwarf variety that is very delicate.

She is planted in the furthest sun circle, in sight of Little Blue, but not in the same bed. The nice thing is that from most angles, they are both in view when walking through the garden.

Little Blue

Last year, I was dividing iris and I put out a call for anyone interested in exchanging iris. Several friends got in touch and the result was that I should have a LOT of new iris coming up in my garden this year. This little beauty is the first of them.

He came from Nova's garden as an unknown pale blue dwarf iris. I always name my unknowns until I find out what they are... if I find out what they are! It helps me remember them and it helps me communicate about them with Linda. lol. I usually include something about where they came from in the name. Another thing that helps my memory.

I have decided to call these Nova's Little Blue. There are more pictures of him at this link.

All my new Iris

 

Remind me about this picture next spring. I will take pictures to post of them all in flower. It's hard to believe but there are more than 12 new varieties there! And enough of each that they should all show up.

Sharing Iris

Nova and I had an iris exchange and LOOK what I got :)



Unknown Pale Blue (dwarf)

Boo (dwarf), originally from Hazel's Garden

Possibly... Stepping Out

 

Cherry Garden (dwarf)

Baby Blessed (dwarf)

Batik

Blue and White (check scent)

I can hardly wait until next year!

Iris Sale

UPDATE: German Purple are SOLD OUT!!!

 

All the iris are done now. I am dividing three of my iris this year. If you would like any of the iris shown, please let me know at danielle@daleyprogress.com. Cost is $2/fan.

 

Iris, Blue and White (very fragrant!) 

 

Iris, Pale Yellow

 

Iris, German Purple (early blooming, blooms with tulips)

 

 

 

The Maid of Orange

This iris is Maid of Orange, and what a pretty maid she is with that bright orange beard. She sits beside my Mandarin Orange azalea. The plan is to have purple blooming here with them next year.

Shared Iris

Iris come in such different colours and forms - I love their variety! These two iris both came from Danielle's garden in Saskatchewan. The last time she came to visit, far too long ago, she brought a suitcase full of plants with her!

German Purple Iris

These iris were originally a handful of rhisomes that I got from Judy. Over the years, they have multiplied into huge patches that I have everywhere! I love the colour and I love the fact that they are the first of my iris to bloom.

 

 They are almost done now and only one of the other iris has even started to bloom. These extend my iris season by a lot and they allow me to have iris blooming with other early plants that normally would not bloom with an iris. I just discovered this year that these bloom at the same time as the 'Thalia' daffodil in my garden. That seems like a great reason to divide a patch and move some this year.

 

Long Time Coming

When we first moved here, I planted this Iris from my garden in the city in this spot. It sits just above and behind the Catmint, right under the flagpole off the back deck. Three seasons ago, the tree branches from above had grown to the point where this spot became mostly shade. The Iris has struggled to bloom here ever since. Add to that the fact that Iris really need to be divided every few years to put on its' best display and this spot was well overdue for a change. The Iris is being relocated to I don't know where yet but this Dwarf Burning Bush should be very happy here and I already like the look eventhough it has the strangest little flowers. I can't wait to see it turn bright red. If I believe the tag and my yardstick, it should not get tall enough to block my view of the sun gardens from the deck. Theoretically anyway.

The Little Things

This plastic pot belongs in a little green metal chair. It is the seat of that chair, obviously never meant to sit in. I really dislike plastic pots and only planted it because I loved the little chair. Last year I used the chair as a peony ring for a baby peony that was needing help standing and the pot sat in the shop all year. This year, every pot I am taking has been planted with plants I am taking. This little plastic bowl seat got filled with sedum, creeping jenny, hens & chicks and dwarf purple iris - yes, I have a spreadsheet! Since it is an awkward shape to sit outside the chair and the chair is still over the peony, I tucked it in the boardwalk garden where a winter killed veronica left a space. Turns out that it is my favorite little planter this year. It is full of texture and so many shades of green that it always catches my eye as I walk by. Guess I like plastic after all.

A Pair

Every so often a plant pair in my garden turns out to look exactly as I had planned it to look. My 'Therese Bugnet' roses and Siberian Iris are a perfect example of this today. I had to wait three years for this show. This is the first year the iris patch was big enough to have this impact against the three rose bushes. It was worth the wait and I couldn't be happier with the result. They provide a spectacular view out my dining room window that I appreciate several times a day.

I fell in love with the Siberian Iris in the neighbours garden and planted it before I even knew what it was. The buds made me think of bird of paradise and it buds for a long period to enjoy. Then when the blooms opened to be a totally different colour than the buds, I was immediately smitten. I still am.

Fall Moving

Here I am again, digging while paying no attention to the proper timing of anything. The only thing on my mind is that I am moving in either the spring or the summer and I want to keep my bulbs and tubers. So, I am digging in the snow and packing boxes to mail to Linda. I am sending glads for her 'fridge in case I am not there yet when it is time to plant them.

I dug up my orange lily garden today and although it is all mixed together, I hope this pile of bulbs contains 'Grand Cru', 'Cancun', Danielle's Hula, Early Orange and Tiny White as well as the Tangerine and Easter Yellow shorter varieties.

I managed to separate out the 'New Wave', 'Landini', 'Orange Electric' and 'Madrid'. I started packing the first box although I think there will be three this size before I am done!

Linda and Kelly will dig trenches or something to throw them in until I get there and I won't have to try and dig frozen ground in early spring here. Tomorrow the agenda is to dig all the pink and red lily. I hope the nicer afternoon temperatures hold for a few more days because I would like to get tulips and iris too :)