skip to main content

Sisyrinchium bellum, Blue Eyed Grass, with Iris?

19 years ago

Has anyone done it?

I have some Blue Eyed Grass, and I think there is a varient of it in Australia (at any rate it is in WorldPlant's catalog online.)

Has anyone hybridized it with Iris? To try and make a tiny Iris or a big Blue Eyed Grass or something cool in between?

Has anyone? I'd like to know.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

AArooon1
19 years ago
I thought you were crazy at first....but it looks like its possible....
drasaid
Original Author
19 years ago
A longer lasting Blue Eye flower would be nice, or a teeny tiny iris. I'd buy it.
Related Discussions
HAVE: Blue-eyed Grass, Sisyrinchium 'Lucerne'
Q
Comments (1)
I would like to trade for your Blue-eyed grass, geranium yoshinoir confetti, Choc. eupatorium and others. I have Bletilla striata, hardy geraniums, yellow eyed grass and other items mentioned on your list. I'm following up with an e-mail as well.
...See More
HAVE: Purple-eyed, blue-eyed and yellow-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium)
Q
Comments (1)
Your trade list is blank.
...See More
Sisyrinchium montanum (Blue Eyed Grass)
Q
Comments (4)
I'm pretty sure you over watered your plant or the soil stays too wet when you do water(or maybe you have some mulch too close to the crown?). All of the Sisyrinchiums like moisture, but it also needs soil with very good drainage. It does get a little scruffy after flowering, and it does need to be cut back half way, as Nell discovered. Then you leave it alone until spring (don't cut it back any further). It's a sweet little plant. I think you can expect to see some seedlings in the spring! Good luck! Patti
...See More
blue eyed grass
Q
Comments (5)
Sisyrinchium angustifolium...this is a cool plant. I found a selection of it, 'Lucerne', offered at several online retail nurseries (if you can tell the varieties apart): http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/04782.html http://www.santarosagardens.com/Sisyrinchium-angustifolium-Lucerne-p/sis-luc.htm http://www.highcountrygardens.com/catalog/product/91850/ Like gonativegal said, the original plant may be short lived, but it'll seed and create a long lasting stand. Not surprised where it found a home, does well in those kind of moist conditions. I hope some emerge for you!
...See More
keking
19 years ago
I don't like to put people off making wild crosses -- you never know what might succeed. In this case, though, I think it would be more productive to try some selective breeding -- while pollinating some of the Sisyrinchium flowers by Irises, just in case.

Selective breeding can be as simple as crossing among a few different strains of S. bellum (if you can find different selections) and raising as many seedlings as you can in the space you have available. Look for any variants with longer or broader petals than average. Save these, cross among them, and destroy the rest of the plants that didn't measure up.

In the next generation you may see some improvement, but repeat the selection process and cross among the best for a few more generations. In this way you should be able to increase the flower size significantly.

A friend of mine did this with Four o'Clocks and doubled the size of the flowers in a few generations.

If you feel more adventurous, try crossing with other species of Sysyrinchium.

Karl

Here is a link that might be useful: Sisyrinchium species
gardenpaws_VA
18 years ago
drasaid, I've got the beginnings of a "longer-lasting" blue-eyed grass - it turned up in a mixed population in my yard, and may be inter-specific or may just be a sport. Anyway, it stays open later in the day, at least in moderate temperatures, and as long as it has moisture, it keeps blooming until hard frost knocks it out. It's not tremendously showy, but I like all but one of its habits. (the bad habit is that it is about 8" tall when it starts to bloom, and since it throws keikis and then blooms on them, it keeps getting taller until it flops!)

As far as teeny tiny iris is concerned, there already is one that's a real treasure - Iris gracilipes. Think of the classic (not over-blown) Japanese iris form, with 6 falls and little tiny styles, and scale it down so it fits on a quarter, then put it on a slim stem no more than a foot tall. It's cute, and it comes in lavender and in white.
dneyder
13 years ago
I had exactly the same idea - did you try?

Related Stories

CENTRAL PLAINS NATIVE PLANTS 10 Top Grasses for the Central Plains

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Low-maintenance grasses provide seasonal interest and wildlife habitat, and aid good design

FALL GARDENING 6 Splendid Blue-Flowering Bulbs

By Therese Ciesinski

How do you blue? With colors from sky to cobalt, these bulbs will greet you merrily in a spring garden

COLOR Relax and Reflect in a Blue Landscape

Find sanctuary by introducing this well-loved hue outside

BULBS Great Design Plant: Wild Hyacinth for a Bolt of Blue

By Paintbox Garden

Get knockout spring blooms on spiky stems by planting these bulbs before the ground freezes

PLANTING IDEAS 7 Ways to Use Drifts and Masses In Your Garden

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Whether in formal or natural landscapes, grasses or succulents planted en masse elevate the garden

PRODUCT PICKS Guest Picks: 20 Gorgeous Perennials to Plant Now

By The Estate of Things

Take advantage of warm spring weather to create a colorful garden with blooming plants, succulents and ornamental grasses

GARDENING GUIDES Small Carpenter Bees Are Looking for a Home in Your Plant Stems

By Pollination Press LLC

Provide flowers and nesting sites in your garden for this beautiful, tiny, metallic blue wild bee — your plants will thank you

GARDENING GUIDES Monochromatic Garden Magic Done 7 Ways

Discover intriguing ways to use color in your garden by unlocking the secrets of monochromatic design

FLOWERS 10 Spring Wildflowers for the Central Plains

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

These blooming native perennials thrive in dry locations and help welcome early-season pollinators

GARDENING GUIDES 8 Perennials for Great Fall Color

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Trees haven't cornered the market on autumn splendor. Add these flowering perennials for a foliage sight to behold

Sponsored

More Discussions

It can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 58

23