Reticulate irises 2015

Wonderful!  What is the significance of the letters and numbers behind the name... a particular seed-collecting expedition?

It will be some time here yet for the garden center varieties I have - looks like early to mid-May, from my photo records.

Yes, a seed-collecting expedition; can't remember who the letters stand for. Oh. Kammerlander, Pasche, Persson, and Zetterlund. From Göteborg. 

There are a couple of others here, but now under about 10cm of snow. 

Here's KPPZ 90-152, but taken last year. 

And six months later we have "retics" flowering here!

'George'

'Violet Beauty', but the color is not captured correctly by my photography!

This old hybrid 'JS Dijt' has also been enjoyed by the local slugs!

cheers

fermi

Lovely!  Isn't spring wonderful?

[quote=Lori S.]

Lovely!  Isn't spring wonderful?

[/quote]

Officially not for another 2 weeks here, Lori

Except that this one is called 'Springtime'

Very similar is 'Clairette' - the only difference I can see is less of a yellow "tongue",

'Harmony' is one of the both popular here in Australia,

and recently we've been able to get its sport 'Alida' - the second pic taken a day after the first!

cheers

fermi

Lovely to see the irises, Fermi.  In the last couple of years, the slugs have shredded blooms on my plants despite baiting.  So it's especially nice to see yours.

...Claire

Hi Claire,

yes, slugs are the bane of the spring garden! They totally destroyed 'Blue Ice', the only Alan McMurtrie (http://reticulatas.com/) hybrid that was looking like flowering this year! Sometimes it looks like we have blue colored gravel with the amount we have to use, though we try not to use poisons around the food crops - fortunately we don't intend eating our iris!

Here's a pic of a little clump of 'George' taken a few days ago,

cheers

fermi

A rather sad looking 'Cantab' also affected by slugs,

cheers

fermi

Iris 'Natascha',new stock from Lambley Nursery, as earlier ones seem to have died out,

cheers

fermi

Here is Iris reticulata 'Eye Catcher', an Alan McMurtrie cross in my 2016 spring garden.

I saw this one, an many more remarkable reticulate Iris hybrids from Alan McMurtrie, all over Facebook plant groups.  Truly breaking new ground.

Alan has posted some pics of new iris on the SRGC Forum: http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=13882.90

cheers

fermi