Iris 2011

[LucS]

Juno season has started again.
Here some pictures to show you the variability of iris rosenbachiana:
photo 1-2 =  "Deep Purple"
         3-4 = "Varzob"
         5  =  "Harangon"
         6-7 = "Tovilj-Dara"
         8-9 = unnamed selection from the wild

[LucS]

From an other section is iris (histrioides x winogradowii) "Frank Elder", a sister seedling of the better known "Katherine Hodgkin"

[McDonough]

Hello Luc, welcome to the NARGS Forum; thanks for kicking off Iris 2011 with a bang!  The Iris rosenbachiana cultivars are splendid.  It'll be a couple more months before we see such things over here (not that I have Iris rosenbachiana), but it is most refreshing to see these Iris delights on this cold winter morning.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

I thought I'd give it a try here as well ! 
Couldn't refuse Marc McDonoughs friendly invitation ! 

Here's two Juno Iris :

I. rosenbachiana 'Harangon' in full swing
Iris x sindpers

[Todd Boland]

Gorgeous images!  Please consider adding some to our image gallery!

With 5 feet of snow in my garden, I won't be seeing any iris bloom anytime soon.

[RickR]

Spectacular!  How long does each individual flower last?

And would that be pretty much standard across the Juno species?

[Paul T]

OMG... the rosenbachiana!!!!!!!!!!    Stupendous!!

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Thanks for the compliments guys !

Rick, each flower (depending on the weather) lasts for about a week.
The rosenbachiana I'm showing had one flower open on February 3rd - (you can see it's shrivelled remainders in the low left corner of the picture) - since then 3 new flowers devellopped - flowering will end in about one week from now I guess)

Todd,
I'll have a look where your image gallery is. 

[McDonough]

Luc, I think I like Iris rosenbachiana 'Harangon' best of all, simply gorgeous. These iris have the types of flowers one wants to keeping staring at, taking in the sculpted intricacies of the blooms, contemplating the dramatic coloration and markings.

I have posted photos of my "Juno" Iris in the past, I will add some link to these. When visiting the gardens of John Lonsdale in Pennsylvania, USA, the most striking aspect of this truly outstanding garden, if that he "pushes the envelope" so to speak, and grows things outdoors that we often think of as ungrowable outdoors.  Such inspiration.  This is where I saw many Juno iris being grown outdoors, even seeding around, and there were Oncos too.  Those that I have grown all came from John.

Not only is his garden magnificent, but so too is his web site and extensive photo galleries.  Here are links to John's Edgewood Gardens web site, his Iris subgenus Scorpiris gallery, and the last link to the floral candy of Iris rosenbachiana:

http://www.edgewoodgardens.net/

http://www.edgewoodgardens.net/Plants_album/The%20Plants%20-%20%20Complete%20Collection/Iridaceae/Iris/Subgen%20Scorpiris/index.html

http://www.edgewoodgardens.net/Plants_album/The%20Plants%20-%20%20Complete%20Collection/Iridaceae/Iris/Subgen%20Scorpiris/I.%20rosenbachiana/index.html

[WimB]

No magnificent Juno's, like from the two Luc's, here...just some reticulate Irisses which were flowering here in the last couple of weeks:

Iris 'Alida'
Iris 'Beautiful Day'
Iris 'Blue Ice'
Iris danfordiae
Iris 'Evening twilight'
Iris 'George'
Iris 'Gordon'
Iris 'Harmony'
Iris histrio
Iris histrioides 'Angel's Eye'

[WimB]

And a couple more:

Iris hyrcana
Iris 'Katherine Hodgkin'
Iris 'Morning Glow'
Iris 'Pixie'
Iris 'Vivacious Beginnings'

[deesen]

Nice collection there Wim

[LucS]

Excellent plants to give the N. American winter some colour Wim !

[McDonough]

Wim, quite an eyeful of gorgeous Iris there.  There are a few with names I don't know; are 'Evening Twilight', 'Morning Glow', and 'Vivacious Begginings" McMurtie hybrids?  And do you have any brief info on there beautiful blues: 'Beautiful Day', 'Blue Ice', and 'Alida'?

Something I want to document later in the season, is how people cope with the greatly lengthening summer foliage on the retics. This past summer I intended on photographing the leaves on some of these, that I have measured as reaching 3' (1 meter) in length in past summers.  But as it turned out, with our severe drought, they didn't get that long and dried up much faster than normal.  I did take a picture (I think I did) of a small massed planting of Iris 'Katherine Hodgkin' where it makes a very messy mass of long foliage afterwards, I'll see if I can find it.  It is my one criticism of the otherwise beautiful retics, and to a lesser extent some of the Chinese Iris like I. koreana and minutoaurea, that the foliage grows so long after flowering.

[RickR]

Iris minutoaurea foliage does not go wimpy-floppy for me.  It does lengthen after flowering, but not to the extent you showed on the forum (I don't remember if  it was here or SRGC).  But my plants have more room than the one in your pic, Mark.