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Green Thumb Gardening- The irisBy David Coltrain Walnut Creek Extension District, agriculture agent Kansas The iris family of flowers, Iridaceae is my favorite family of flowers. Plants of this family are found on every continent except Antarctica. They grow in the polar tundra, temperate forests, grasslands, swamps, deserts, mountains, coasts, and rainforests. The iris specie database currently lists 274 different species. Our yard presently has eight species of iris growing. In early spring, reticulated and danford iris bulbs bloom as early as crocus. Dutch irises are another spring blooming bulb that are often used in cut floral arrangements. We also have Japanese, Siberian, pallida and I believe some dwarf irises are a different specie. Siberian and Japanese irises have grass like leaves that remain green all year and unique large flowers up to eight inches across. The pallida species has variegated yellow and green leaves with a regular looking bearded purple iris flower. Most of the irises we grow are German bearded iris and with its unique flower design and interesting petals and blooms it is the most commonly grown iris type. German bearded irises come in many different sizes and colors. Miniature irises are only about six inches high with dainty little blooms. The largest German iris varieties have flowers over three feet off the ground. So wherever you want to plant irises in your landscape, you can a find the right size to fit. Purple is the most common color for iris. But check out a catalog for German irises and you can find colors all across the rainbow, from white to nearly black, with reds, blues, yellows and many two toned or more ones to choose from. Newer developed varieties can have flowers nearly six inches wide and tall. Anymore when planting different iris varieties, I plant reblooming varieties. If your have not heard of this relatively recent development in German iris, you are missing a delight. About the only negative item for German iris is that they usually bloom for such a short time in the spring. Each variety only lasts for about two weeks. Reblooming irises answer that problem by blooming again later in the fall. Fall blooming irises often bloom for a month or more due to the cooler fall temperatures. They can even withstand a light freeze down to about 28 degrees before the blooms are hurt. Last fall we had some spectacular displays of reblooming iris. I counted more than 50 flower blossoms on one plant. Some of the irises growing in our yard are in beds with irises from different periods in our lives. One bed contains irises from my parents' house. Some of those divisions came from my grandparents and great-grandparents. Another bed contains varieties that we grew around our farmhouse in Neodesha, Kansas. A third bed represents some of the irises we purchased at our former home in Manhattan. The fact that irises need dividing after a few years is another great reason to grow them. Along with having irises in our yard that are divisions from irises grown by our ancestors, so do our children have irises growing in their yards that came from plants we gave them. So when I look at our irises, I think about how some of them have been passed down from my grandparents and parents and now are getting passed down to my children. Freezing temperatures early last month were hard on irises, but they are a durable flower as evidenced by observing irises surviving on homesteads that have long ago been abandoned. Hopefully, this year we still get to enjoy many bearded irises blooming profusely. Remember to plant more this summer and fall, especially the reblooming types, and then in a few years when they need dividing, pass them on to your family and friends. If you have specific questions about irises or need more information, feel free to contact me. The May Green Thumb newsletter is now available and contains a May garden calendar and seven articles with information on vegetables, trees, lawn care and flowers. If you would like to receive a copy and be on the monthly mailing list, please e-mail me at coltrain@ksu.edu or call the LaCrosse Extension office at 800-460-9079. Date: 9/21/07
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