Showing posts with label Japanese iris. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japanese iris. Show all posts

Sunday, February 5, 2023

Preparing Beardless Iris Beds at Dry Creek Garden

by Jeff Bennett


Overview of iris plantings at Dry Creek Garden 
Image (C) 2023 Maxar Technologies | Google Earth

Dry Creek Garden is located in Union City, California and is part of the East Bay Regional Park District. Iris plantings were established for the 2019 American Iris Society National Convention and are maintained by park gardener Jeff Bennett.



In 2021, I decided I wanted to improve our Louisiana iris beds at Dry Creek Garden so that they would hold more moisture and require less physical watering. At the same time, I wanted to try my hand at growing Japanese irises. California is known as a great location for growing bearded irises and of course Pacific Coast native irises and their hybrids, but not so much for the beardless classes (including Louisiana, Siberian, Japanese, and Pseudata hybrids). In this blog post, I will walk you through processes I used to prepare beds in this extremely drought-affected area of the country.

Before preparing beds for new irises, be sure to orders are placed well ahead of planting time to have the greatest choice of varieties. I do this in January and February, when the growers and hybridizers usually update availability and open up their websites for ordering. The irises you order won’t be ship until September, so you have plenty of time to plan and prepare the beds. 

For the new Louisiana iris bed, I dug 10 to 12-inches deep and created a  trench 5 x 30 feet - with the occasional help of Mount Diablo Iris Society or local community volunteers and sometimes other park staff. (Sorry, to readers in every other country in the world. I never quite learned the metric system.) We mounded up all the clay-like, native soil in the pathway next to the bed so it could be returned to the trench later. 

Excavated trench with a mound of removed soil and concrete edging piled to right.
All photos by Jeff Bennett



Next, we lined this trench with weed block to prevent bindweed from coming through very easily. On top of the weed block, we added a layer of 6-mil plastic (is mil metric?). The plastic will prevent the water in the bed from soaking all the way through to China. Once the bed was lined with plastic, we started refilling it with soil in the adjacent mound. We added about four inches of straight compost and then top this with about four inches of the native clay, trying to mix this together as we went. This was followed with another two to three inches of compost and another two to three inches of soil, again mixing it up. Finally, we added a final layer of two to three inches of compost on top. To finish the edges, we used recycled cement from my home patio (which had been removed and hauled here the year before). The cement edging helped conceal plastic from view and gave the bed a finished appearance. Since this area had already housed bearded irises before, I returned the same drip lines onto the top of the bed. The half-inch drip lines have emitters every foot and we planted a Louisiana iris every three feet on each side of the bed using the emitters as a guide. 

Completed and planted Louisiana iris bed.

When I receive any iris orders, I always pot up rhizomes to give them a good start (see my post "Get That Order Planted" from last summer). The bed was completed in January 2022 and potted Louisianas were transplanted from their pots directly into the new bed then. Since they like water and we weren't getting ANY rain, I used a hose to give the bed its first flood soak to settle them in. Now it was their turn to do their work!

Louisiana irises thriving in new bed.

After planting the Louisianas into the new ground bedalphabetically by name of courseI turned my attention to getting the Japanese irises transplanted into their new water-holding containers. Unlike Louisiana irises, Japanese irises CANNOT dry out. Their roots must remain moist at all times. For them, I decided to use large metal water troughs, typically used for livestock. I got the watering troughs at a local hardware store, but they can also be purchased from farm supply stores. Livestock-watering troughs are galvanized metal and have no drain holes anywhere.

New livestock-watering troughs for Japanese irises.

I first put about three inches of wood chips on the bottom to make a water reservoir below the soil. I then bought a rhododendron soil mixture to provide the acidic pH Japanese irises prefer. I layered this soil with compost to the top of the tubs, about three inches each of rhododendron mix and compost, mixing these together while filling the troughs. Japanese irises like their roots to be wet but the rhizomes need to be above the water table to grow well. To create this effect, I measured down from the top of the tubs five inches and drilled ¼-inch holes in the metal to allow excess water from rain or irrigation to escape. I drilled eight holes in each container, two on each side of the oval-ended tubs. They were now ready to plant. I have nine tubs -  seven for Japanese, one for Pseudatas/Species-X, and the last one for Siberians. For a quicker visual effect, in each tub, I planted seven to eight varieties. Since the irises were growing in pots, I just transplanted them alphabetically to the tubs (rootball and all). It was now February 16, 2022.

Filling livestock troughs with layers of rhododendron soil and compost.


Newly planted beardless irises in livestock troughs.

Everything started growing immediately as it was the season to do so. By early April, the Louisianas were showing good growth and the first flower opened on April 27, less than 100 days after the plant was transplanted into the ground.


Louisiana iris 'Eyes Wide Open' (Heather Pryor, 2016) blooming approximately
100 days after transplanting into the new trenched bed.

The Japanese irises were looking great by early May and the first Japanese bloomed on May 19, just in time for our scheduled Japanese iris judges' training on May 20. 

Japanese iris 'Devi Banri' (Toyokazu Ichie 1989) blooming in May 2022 after being transplanted
into livestock troughs in February.

None of the Siberians bloomed during their first year in the tub, but they put on lots of increase and we are looking forward to them blooming this year. I reiterate that we are growing them the same way as the Japanese irises with wettish roots and rhizomes above a water reservoir. 

This year we created another bed like the Louisiana bed, for the Japanese irises. These will be planted very soon, now that the California storms have passed and we can dig in the soil again. I am adding peat moss to this bed for acidity along with all the compost. We're hoping to grow Japanese irises successfully in our specially-prepared ground beds in this otherwise Mediterranean climate (no natural summer rainfall)!

We had also begun preparing a Japanese iris bed in the same fashion in the heart of the garden down near the creek last fall. Just as we were about to add peat moss to this bed before planting, the atmospheric river of storms hit California starting on December 31, 2022. THANKFULLY, we had not planted the bed yet by transplanting the Japanese irises from their pots into the ground as this area ended up getting flooded and under three feet of water, devastating this part of the garden. Flooding deposited 20-24 inches of silt there and strong winds toppled six mature trees nearby. We are now cleaning up the garden from this storm. In about six months, we hope to re-open the damaged area to the public (~Fall 2023). The damage was bad! Thankfully, the iris area on the hill was not harmed by the flooding. HORRAY!

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

The American Iris Society Announces the 2021 Payne Medal Winners

'COLUMBIA DEEP WATER' and 'DALLE WHITEWATER'

The Payne Medal is restricted to Japanese irises (JI). It is named in honor of W. Arlie Payne (1881-1971). W. Arlie Payne was at first especially interested in peonies, but in the late 1920's, he "discovered" Japanese irises. He started hybridizing Japanese in irises in 1932. Over the next three and a half decades, he raised many thousands of seedlings. One of the most exceptional aspects of his breeding program was that it was developed in the early years using only six cultivars of the Edo type. Payne took line breeding to a new level of intensity. The American Iris Society awarded Arlie Payne its coveted Hybridizers Medal in 1964. When he died at the age of 90, in 1971, he was universally revered as the world's premier breeder of Japanese irises.

Editor’s Note: Due to the pandemic last year, the American Iris Society Board of directors suspended garden awards. As a result, and only for this year, two medals will be awarded in each area. Previous awards winners can be found at https://wiki.irises.org/Main/InfoAwards.

'COLUMBIA DEEP WATER' (Chad Harris)

'Columbia Deep Water' (Chad Harris, R. 2012) Seedling 02JC1. JI (6 F.), 48 (122 cm). Late bloom. Style arms multiple pale blue-violet (RHS 91B), flared upright crests of dark blue-violet (90A); Falls iridescent red-violet with deep blue-violet (88A) undertones, faint neon powder blue-violet (93B) rays radiating from signal to within 1/2" of fall edge; signal bright yellow (5A). 'Night Angel' X 'Frosted Intrigue'. Mt. Pleasant 2013.

'DALLE WHITEWATER' (Chad Harris)

'Dalle Whitewater' (Chad Harris, R. 2010) Seedling 02JC3. JI (6 F.), 48" (122 cm), Late bloom. falls heavily sanded pale blue-violet (RHS 92B), pale ray pattern of pastel blue-violet (92D) extending into faint 1/2" light purple (90C) band, signals off-yellow, slight green cast (3A); style arms multiple upright white, edge and crest medium blue-violet (92A); rolling ruffles. 'Night Angel' X 'Frosted Intrigue'. Salmon Creek 2011.

The World of Irises blog will be posting classification medal winners as soon as the hybridizers are notified. The entire list of winners, including award of merit and honorable mention, will be published in the AIS website, the AIS Encyclopedia, and later in the AIS Bulletin, IRISES.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

2019 Payne Medal


The American Iris Society
Announces
The Payne Medals 2019
'Cascade Rain'
'Indigo Angel'

The 2019 Payne Medal is a tie:

'Cascade Rain'--image by Chad Harris

'Cascade Rain' (Chad Harris, R. 2007) Sdlg. 02JH1. JI (3 F.), 40" (102 cm), Midseason late bloom. Standards white sharply edged purple (RHS 86A), lightly stippled same; style arms white edged light blue-violet (93D), large upright crest washed same blue-violet; Falls white ground heavily stippled blue violet (89B), blue violet wash covering ¾ of petal intensifying to sharp ¼? blue violet edge, yellow green (2A) signal. 'Hekiun' X 'Peacock Strut'. Aitken, Mt. Pleasant 2008. Award of Merit 2015

'Indigo Angel'--image by Ensata Gardens

'Indigo Angel' (Bob Bauer and John Coble, R. 2011) Sdlg. J02H-1. JI (6 F.), 36 (91 cm), Midseason bloom. Style arms dark purple, slight light rim on crests, upright form; Falls white ground sanded with blue-violet halo and veins, veins turning red-violet at ends fading into red-violet edges, white wire rim. 'Night Angel X 'Sapphire Crown'. Ensata 2011. Honorable Mention 2014, Award of Merit 2017

This medal is restricted to Japanese irises (JI). It is named in honor of W. Arlie Payne (1881-1971). W. Arlie Payne was at first interested in peonies, but in the late 1920's, he "discovered" Japanese irises. He started hybridizing Japanese in irises in 1932. Over the next three and a half decades, he raised many thousands of seedlings. One of the most exceptional aspects of his breeding program was that it was developed in the early years using only six cultivars of the Edo type. Payne took line breeding to a new level of intensity. The American Iris Society awarded Arlie Payne its coveted Hybridizers Medal in 1964. When he died at the age of 90, in 1971, he was universally revered as the world's premier breeder of Japanese irises.

The World of Irises blog will be posting once a day all of the medal winners. The entire list of winners can be found at the AIS website, the AIS Encyclopedia and later in the AIS Bulletin, IRISES.

Monday, April 30, 2018

Quest for Pink I. ensata


by Chad Harris

The quest for a strong pink Iris ensata has been a breeding goal for many modern hybridizers. The Iris ensata pink is a pastel violet as there are only three colors found with this iris to work with; violet-blue, violet-red, and Alba (white). This color is most notable in the iris garden when compared to a true pink rose seen side by side with the iris.


Many problems with this color line are plaguing us due to previous breeding’s in Japan; most evident is from the Ise line. This line of breeding has given us good clear pastel pink tones. However, the plants were bred to be shorter with their blooms lower than the foliage height. The flower form of the Ise style also is problematic with drooping falls found normally with very little substance.

A row of seedlings all blooming down in the foliage

 
A more modern hybridizer of Japan that worked with pinks gave us some bright colored flowers with substance. However his selection of plants has given us a stumbling block of poor plant performance, by purposely selecting weaker plants. As there were no records kept, no one knows why he did this.

Many hybridizers in the United States have recently introduced clearer pinks with strong growth habits, displaying the blooms above the foliage. I regret not showing photos of these at this time as they are still in the American Iris Society’s award system.

The following are some older pink iris’ that can be readily found on the open market for your garden.  Many are the same that I started with in my own breeding program over thirty-five years ago with a quest for pink. Which is your favorite?

 'Coho' (Harris 2005)

 'Dirigo Pink Milestone' (White 2000)

 'Geishunka' (Mitsuda Reg. by SJI 1995)

 'Hime Kagami' (Hirao 1976)

 'Honour' (McEwen 2001)

 'Joy Peters' (Ackerman1990)

'Joy Peters' (Ackerman1990)

'Pink Dimity' (Reid 1987)

 'Pinkerton' (Bauer-Coble 1999)

 'Reisyun' (Shimizu 1996)

 'Saigyozakura' (Mitsuda 1986)

Satozakura (Kamo 1993)

All images by Chad Harris

Monday, March 27, 2017

Flower Forms of Japanese Iris


By Chad Harris

The iris family Japanese iris, Iris ensata has the most diverse flower forms of any other iris. This diversity has been achieved under the watchful eye of hybridizers in Japan over several hundred years of selective breeding, working with mutations within a single species.

Areas in Japan that bred Japanese iris with different flower forms

Secrecy of breeding stock within the different groups in Japan and the regional taste of perfecting what the perfect flower form should be, gave rise to distinct forms. Container growing for indoor display or garden growing for outdoor viewing also led to distinct flower forms of Iris ensata.

Typical three fall form of a wild type Japanese iris

The typical flower forms found in the wilds are smaller blooms of three falls, three standards, and three style arms. It is easy to remember flower parts of the iris as falls are the petals that hang or fall down, while the standards are the petals that stand upright. The style arms are the central part of the iris flower housing all of the reproductive organs female and male.

Nagai style of flower blooming in a Japanese iris garden

Nagai possibly the oldest flower form found in Japan. This area is known for its wild iris that had more variation in flower colors and patterns.

Nagai form is simple, showing variation in colors and patterns

The flower forms found here are simpler, being collected wild iris that had caught the eye of a collector.
Elevated walkway to be able to look down upon the iris flowers

Edo ancient name of Tokyo is where growers developed different flower forms some with multiple falls. Plants from this area of Japan were meant to be grown in the garden and seen from a higher elevation looking down upon the flower.

Three fall Edo flower form

Six fall or double flower form of the Edo style

Nine fall flower with the horizontal flower form of the Edo style

To get the maximum viewing pleasure of viewing from above, many flower forms whether single (3 falls), double (6 falls), or multi-falls (9+ falls) generally are held in the more horizontal linear line of a plate.

Ise flower form the three falls are pendent

Ise style and form meant to be grown in containers and brought indoors for display. This distinctive form embraces only the three fall variety of bloom. The falls to be seen from the side were bred to be pendent and hang straight down from the haft or shoulder of the bloom. These plants are shorter with the bloom stem at or slightly below the foliage height thus cradling or to seemingly hold the flower.

Higo indoor display

From the southern island the Kumamoto or Higo form was bred. Due to the heavy rains at bloom time these plants were also grown in containers like the Ise flowers to be displayed indoors during bloom.
Higo three fall flower form

Six fall Higo flower form with large style arms and flaring crests

The 3 fall, 6 fall, or multi-fall blooms being viewed from the side were also bred with arching falls, however, not as severe as the Ise form. These are large flowers with very large style arms and upright crests being the “heart” of the flower.

Ball form of the Japanese iris

There are also recognized flower forms that we today would call novelty. The “Ball” form is a flower that does not open fully staying in the balloon stage, or slightly opening up as Yae-gyokuhoren.

The raptors talons of the claw form

The “Claw” form is very self-describing. Do you see the raptors claws?

Hose-n-Hose is one flower inside of another

Rare is the true Hose-n-Hose form. This flower may look at first glance to be a multi-fall bloom, however, look at the placement of the pollen anthers and you will discover that this is truly one flower inside or on top of another. These flowers do not have any seed in the ovaries, they only show layers of more flower parts (petals) one on top of another.

Multiple style arms and crests a form being embraced in the United States

Fast becoming a modern favorite flower form here in the United States is the “Multi-Style Arm”. When the anthers become extra style arms, they make for a tight tuft in the center of the flower. This does have drawbacks as there usually is no pollen to be found. It is also difficult to find which correct style arm to put pollen on for future breeding of the flower. I do not know if this form is found or embraced in Japan and would like to hear from other growers.

For further reading on this subject: The Japanese Iris, by Currier McEwen; Classic Irises and the men and women who created them (chapter 4), by Clarence E. Mahan; and The Japan Iris Society web-site at http://www.japan-iris.org, here you will find English written papers by Hiroshi Shimizu.

Monday, January 16, 2017

Historical Japanese Irises

by Chad Harris

For the past two years (2015-2016) Mt Pleasant Iris Farm has been very fortunate to be the recipients of many historic Iris ensata (Japanese iris) from their homeland. Most of these plants are "Historic," never have been in the United States nor registered with the American Iris Society. I have been asked not only to register these but also, when the stock increases, to distribute them to the open market for prosperity.

This is the beginning of a photo journal of one of the two beds that will be posted and updated until they bloom.

This bed was planted last summer with 53 irises most no larger than the end of a thumb. Originally 6 were deemed to be lost; however, at today's count it seems that only 2 are not coming up.

At this time half will try to bloom this year. Looking forward to the bloom and the journey!


Just a few weeks later (4/15) and the iris have not only woken from their winter rest but have more than doubled in size. I can hardly wait until the bloom in about two months.

May 21 with the heat setting off an early spring, the plants have doubled and are now waist high with buds starting to show.

June 12 and the maiden bloom of the plants are showing the many colors and different flower forms that can be found with the Japanese iris, Iris ensata.

A more detailed look to the different flower forms, colors, and blooming habits will be presented by Chad Harris at the Society for Japanese Iris Section Program in Des Moines, Iowa at the American Iris Society National Convention May 22-27, 2017 titled “Old There, New Here” a look at historic Japanese irises. For more information about the National, click here to go to the website.

Editor's Note: Most of this blog first appeared on Chad Harris's garden site: Mt. Pleasant Iris Farm. While specializing in water land irises of Asia, there is a good listing of other types of irises too.