It is my second year growing them. They seem to be more difficult to start than other seeds. I had poor survival rates with them, but the ones that grew were impressive plants. I start in jiffy pellets and/or seed starting mix in solo cups. Not much difference in germination rates for me. Also, some type of disease got some of them. Turned brown and died once about three feet tall. I like them and have about three out in the garden right now. Last years grew very green and bushy with intense orange/red flowers. Good luck. Vance

You do seem to have a nice surprise there :) I couldn't say why...if these are i. ensata, they shouldn't really germinate any differently than other iris and not in their pod - before a warm moist, cold moist, followed by warm moist sowing! Your seeds are germinating and need to be sown. Don't completely cover those newly emerging green shoots, and if you can't tell which end is up on all of them, laying them on their sides for them to find their own way is safe. You'll need to keep your flat moist (not soggy) so depending on your own local weather, you'll have to decide whether carport or in the open. I can't tell you which iris from your foliage picture but if you posted it on the Name that Plant forum, someone there might be able to. And congratulations on your seedlings! Here is a link that might be useful:

I have a volunteer pecan tree and it quickly became the largest tree in my yard. That was about 7 yrs ago and based on the height of my house, it must be a good 25' tall now and growing on the sunny south, the brutal side. I just didn't know I ever wanted a tree there. The tree won in 3 years. I discovered pecan trees first growth is undergound and set a root system that was 3x's deeper and bigger than the height and canopy above ground. It must have borrowed water from a dripper during the summer about 5' away. A friend of mine told me she had even hired bulldozers to break through her caliche to get a tree established with a similar tap root growing, without any luck. She was less than 2 miles away and (I think) very dedicated. If you want pecans you might want to get a tree for that. I was told seeds usually aren't true to the parent and mine probably won't produce nuts. But who knows? This tree is just now mature enough to surprise me again. I would love to have my own pecans. It's a very pretty tree. It has definatley cooled off the yard and the house. The leaves come in just when the summer heat starts, yet I don't loose the winter sun. The fallen leaves are good mulch at a good time. The bare branches at Christmas have provided nice seasonal variety. It also survived a micro burst last summer. My patio cover couldn't even do that.

Hi Noted you got lots of suggestions?? lol I only grow the giant blue form and find they offset quite readily so have never tried the seed. Would guess it takes at least 5 years from seed to flower?? Anyway good luck maybe somebody will jump in with some help?? gary