Please help me narrow down my list

11 years ago

Hi, my name is suzie & I live near sacramento ca. I am going to be buying iris for the first time next season. I have a large list & need to get it down by at least half. Can anyone recommend what to get, or what to avoid! I sure would appreciate it. I dont want to buy them & have them not grow well here.

Here is my list, all comments welcome!

ty

Ozark Rebounder

Plum poodle

Romantic Evening

Rosalie Figge

Pagan Dance

Select Circle

Snowed in

Who's Your Daddy

Waiting 4 October

Apricot Frost

Anon

Beverly Sill

Betty Dunn

Cloudless

Sunrise

Candy Floss

Celebration Song

Exhilaration

Frappe

Fortunata

Marriage Vows

Millennium Sunrise

Savannah Sunset

Robusto

Minneola

Orange Empire

Caracas

Fresno Frolic

Fresno Flash

Cajun Rhythm

Bride's Blush

Gigolo

Jumping

Liaison

Return address

Rustler

Ruth Black

Whispering Spirits

Ziggy

Bernice's Legacy

Solar fire

Latin Hideaway

Tomorrow's Child

Wine & Roses

Acoma

Abstract Art

Birthday Surprise

Double Shot

Edith Wolford

Heavenly Encor

Innocent Star

Spiced Custard

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Comments (5)

iris_gal
11 years ago
Hi Suzie,
The tall beardeds should be fine in your zone. High temps. around bloom time is always the thing I fear - shortens the life of the flower.
Always go for your heart's desire --- if orange speaks to you, you'll love an orange that others dislike.
I have noticed that awards are meaningful. Doesn't mean I like every iris that achieves an AM (Award of Merit) but I've found I've been more disappointed with iris that didn't win at least an HM (Honorable Mention). The exception being with rebloomers. And with foreign hybridizers whose iris may not be entered for US competition. If I have to trim a list this is one criteria I use.

Listed are the ones I'm acquainted with.

Beverly Sills a very pretty peachy pink.
Birthday Surprise was a wonderful warm apricot and raspberry here.
Cloudless Sunrise - not the greatest form but I loved the particular shades of color combo.
Double Shot is more violet than purple here.
Edith Wolford has not been a reliable bloomer here.
Fortunata looked better in pics than in my garden.
Gigolo did not resemble the Cooley's catalog pic at all - the apricot color was a surprise - unusual.
Innocent Star colors didn't do anything for me - beet with pale mustard background on falls.
Liason had beige standards and the fall edge was tinged lav-purp. which disappointed me but overall good looking.
Pagan Dance left me a bit disappointed ?? purple here, uninteresting.
Rosalie Figge was cool purple here unlike the pic I saw - just didn't want that color, uninteresting.
hosenemesis
11 years ago
Rosalie Figge is a good bloomer and grower, but I don't care for solid purple, so I found it kind of blah.

Ozark Rebounder I have heard good things

Pagan Dance I prefer Violet Turner
Select Circle a good rebloomer, eye-catching.
Beverly Sills a great grower and pretty peachy pink. Reblooms sometimes.
Betty Dunn a wonderful flower.

Celebration Song too subtle for my taste

Cajun Rhythm My prettiest iris.
Liaison I like it.
Rustler Wonderful iris!
Ruth Black I just bought it. We'll see how it does.
Whispering Spirits- Gorgeous.

Double Shot- I prefer Mariposa Autumn.
Edith Wolford- can be gorgeous.

Spiced Custard- very interesting.

Those are the only ones I am familiar with.
Renee
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They all are listed as 'hardy' which the catalog defines as hardy through zone 5. Because of my closeness to Lake Michigan we're actually zone 5b. Austin's cold-hardy list is more focused on zone 3 or 4. Some of the above roses may be more sensitive than others, which I'm curious to hear about, but I think they're all pretty much in the ballpark. Blackspot is also a concern of mine. I've heard some mention that some of the older Austins didn't hold up so well to it and I want to make sure these are newer varieties. Thank you for the concern though. I'm sure for someone in zone 9 we can kinda look like the frozen tundra. :) I grew up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and trust me, there's a huge difference between zone 3 and zone 5. I'm living in the balmy south now. lol
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Thank you, Lucy, for responding so quickly! I have rooted & successfully planted the broken stem & it is growing vigorously. The problem is yellow spots (if they ARE spots) on the original plant. I hesitate to call them spots because they are miniscule, only visible with a magnifying glass. Not blotchy at all, but more like fading all over. The nearby ES hydrangeas are somewhat blotchy. No critters that I have seen. I have fertilized religiously, although not with epsom salts since I just read about that, this PM. The seller treated with a systemic insecticide/miticide, but I have not re-applied. FWIW, here in NE Oklahoma it has recently been very hot, but I have watered at least once/day so the plant has not wilted. It is protected from all but morning sun. I really need a site which will identify problems with photos, if there is such a site. I have never posted photos, but maybe it is time to jump into it with both feet!!
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Oooo fun! This is the part that Kelly calculates in her REM sleep, I believe. Well, I have all of these plants except sp. Bicolor and sp. Thailand (and the latter is on my Liddle order). I have that exact rubida and rigida, but my lamingtoniae, lobbii, and blashernaezii come from a different source. Definitely go with the rigida! It's leaves are like giant weapons. Soooo kickass! I think the blashernaezii leaves are nice. Like those of siariae, they always look fresh and springlike. You definitely need at least one Hoya of this type in your collection. I haven't had mine for very long, but I can tell you it rooted really easily for me (even after a long trip from Thailand), and has seemed pretty durable so far, so that's a blessing. I don't think this group of Hoyas is the most hardy, but they aren't unpredictably spastic either, like some troublemakers. I like lamingtoniae. It grows pretty steadily for me and it has beautiful unusually delicate leaves. I guess there is some debate over whether what is sold as lamingtoniae is the real lamingtoniae or not. Also, whether it might be rubida. I'm not sure what lamingtoniae Joni sells. I know the leaves of mine very much resemble those of PNG-1 described in this article, and I like it VERY much. It hasn't bloomed yet for me, but it's the one pictured here. The lamingtoniae that I have and the rubida that I have would not be confused for one another, but they are pretty similar overall. I think I prefer the lamingtoniae, but I like them both a lot. I think the rubida is a little heartier. Hoya lobbii is really easy and it has a different look than the typical Hoya too. I think it's so great I just acquired a second one! (Thanks Dee!) You've seen Kelly's plant, so you know what you're getting yourself into with this one. If it were me, I would get: rigida sp. Thailand blashernaezii lamingtoniae but it's pretty much a toss up for lamingtoniae/rubida/lobbii. I think bicolor is spectacular but it's big and I always tell myself: you can have bicolor, or you can have a big one with showy leaves. And then I choose the latter. "The following messages has been paid for The Committee for Mindorensis Appreciation.> Seriously, though. When Joni puts up mindorensis 0768 for sale, buy it. /shakes her fist! ALL OF YOU! For a long time, I couldn't understand why everyone ignored me when I recommended mindorensis leaves. And then I realized that it's because you all thought I was crazy. Because the typical mindorensis has pretty boring verging on bleh leaves. BUT NOT THIS ONE. If you're only going to get one mindorensis/erythrostemma type (and that Thai sp. falls into this category), this is the one to get. It's the magical combination of special leaves and special blooms. And Joni's picture doesn't really do the leaves credit because some of them are almost jade-like succulent.
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I skipped the first group b'c you already had your mind made up on those. A few cherries (one of each): Black Cherry Ildi Green Doctors or some as-yet-undetermined variety (I really want to try Green Doctors, but I have yet to find it anywhere where there is actually something else I want... and I hate to pay shipping for one seed packet.) **** There are several sources for Green Doctors and for some of the sources there are lots of other interesting varieties. Jeff Casey at Casey's Heirlooms lists both Green Doctors and Green Doctors Frosted. Glenn at Sandhill Preservation with over 400 varieties to chose from lists Green Doctors and I think will be adding GD Frosted for 2011. Adam at Gleckler Seedmen will be listing both Green Doctors and GD Frosted for 2011, and there are lots of rare, hard to find varieties there now and more to be added for 2011 Mike at Victory Seeds lists it and loads of other varieties there as well Carol at Knapps is also listing it. In the link below to Tania's T-base data you can go from GD to GD Frosted if you wish just by clicking on the link on the GD page. ***** And one each of: Black Krim , delete Brad's Black Heart, keep Brandy Boy , delete Cherokee Purple or Indian Stripe, I'd chose Indian Stripe Danko , already chosen, a variety I listed in the SSE YEarbook and I love it. Green Giant , already chosen Joe Thieneman's Australian Heart , keep Kellogg's Breakfast or KBX , chose KBX Marianna's Peace , delete Just my selections for 6 of them. And no way to determine disease tolerances b'c you haven't told us which diseases are a problem for you. And productivity can be very variable from year to year, so I picked the ones I did primarily on taste and good productivity as grown by me in my zone 5 garden. I wasn't really sure if you wanted input on the paste varieties but in case you do want some suggestions I'd suggest considering: Heidi Mama Leone Opalka Martino's Roma Carolyn, who doesn't consdier Amish Paste to be a paste variety b'c it's too juicy. There are other varieties with the word paste as part of the name that aren't paste varieties either. Long TOm is just a long red and I think there are better long reds such as Opalka, etc, and I've never been enthusiastic about any of the San Marzanos or Costolutos as far as that goes. ( smile) Here is a link that might be useful: Seed sources for Green Doctors
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suzie29
Original Author
11 years ago
Wow! I didnt expect such great detailed responses. Thank you both so much, your information really helps. Many of the ones you say are good were my favorites!

The ones I need info on now is on this smaller list.

Abstract Art
Acoma
Apricot Frost
Anon
Bernice's Legacy
Bride's Blush
Cajun Rhythm
Caracas
Cloudless
Candy Floss
Exhilaration
Frappe
Fortunata
Fresno Frolic
Fresno Flash
Heavenly Encor
Jumping
Latin Hideaway
Logo
Marriage Vows
Millennium Sunrise
Minneola
Orange Empire
Plum poodle
Return address
Robusto
Romantic Evening
Ruth Black
Savannah Sunset
Snowed in
Solar fire
Sunrise
Tomorrow's Child
Waiting 4 October
Who's Your Daddy
Wine & Roses
Ziggy
hosenemesis
11 years ago
For sure get Cajun Rhythm.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cajun Rhythm Pics
suzie29
Original Author
11 years ago
Cajun Rhythm was one of the top 5 that I wanted. It made it on the revised list by mistake. Your pictures are absolutely beautiful! I am definitely getting this one.

Please help me narrow down my list

Comments (5)

iris_gal

hosenemesis

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