Iris reticulata and forms 2008

[David Nicholson]

David - Cantab should be 'Cambridge Blue' ie light blue ... your pics appear to be more Oxford than Cambridge. Perhaps it is just a trick of the light and the camera but it should be really quite pale, quite different to the other one you showed us in the same post.  Sadly although I once grew it I do not have a digi-pic to post.

Tony, it is lighter than it looks in the picture but it was fairly dull outside when I took it. I will try to get another picture posted.

[David Nicholson]

Tony G, managed to take a few more pictures today. Not sure if these are any better than the previous ones I posted so have to blame the photographer rather than the camera. I haven't mastered using independent settings so I have to rely on the in-built ones to do the job. Certainly, to the eye, Iris retic. Cantab is a lot lighter than I. retic Edward and both are shown below again. Also shown is Iris histrioides Katharine Hodgkin.

 

[Armin]

my first Iris reticulata in this year,
a form from Iran, growing in higher altitute ( around 2300m )

Hallo Dirk,
this one is a real beauti. Interesting markings.
brgds

[Armin]

David,
nice pictures. Mine reticulatas are still underground.
I hope for more sunshine.
P.S. Be insured you are not the only Digicam photographer with setting problems!

[Tony Willis]

this is a tiny reticulata collected in Iran by JJMZ and I wonder if it is the same collection as Dirks

Did you grow it from seed Tony, and is the seed available in the market place?

No I did not grow it from seed I got it as some rice grain offsets. I do not know if the original came from seed or also as rice grains. I have seen it in the wild in E Turkey and it often has these rice grains lying on the surface where they have been grubbed up by animals.

[tonyg]

Tony W - that JJMZ form is a beaut!!
David - yes, that is much more like it, sometimes our cameras deceive us

Below are a couple of mine.
First one that came as Iris bakeriana .... from the same source as my Crocus not cvijicii.  I wonder if this is 'Clairette' a pretty hybrid with some bakeriana in its blood.  Post your answers here please!)
Second Iris hyrcana - mixed forms from Dirk.  Please can someone in the know tell me if Iris hyrcana is anything other than a small Iris reticultata (and some of those are small anyway.)

[David Nicholson]

Tony W - that JJMZ form is a beaut!!
David - yes, that is much more like it, sometimes our cameras deceive us

Below are a couple of mine.
First one that came as Iris bakeriana .... from the same source as my Crocus not cvijicii.  I wonder if this is 'Clairette' a pretty hybrid with some bakeriana in its blood.  Post your answers here please!)
Second Iris hyrcana - mixed forms from Dirk.  Please can someone in the know tell me if Iris hyrcana is anything other than a small Iris reticultata (and some of those are small anyway.)

I have Iris bakeriana from the same source. They haven't shown yet so I may have lost them.

[David Nicholson]

I have Clairette (or at least I think I do!!) will try to get a picture tomorrow to compare with Tony G's ?bakeriana?.

In the meantime a pic below of Iris retic. Harmony

Having expressed concerns about the no show of my Iris bakeriana, and not being prepared to wait any longer, I tipped them out today and sure enough all three had rotted. The same fate also applied to winogradowii x 1 and Kuh-e-Abr x 3. Lessons for me to learn there. My climate is obviously too wet to risk them outside in pots (I had brought them into the greenhouse around Christmas time) or maybe my potting mix wasn't as fast draining as I thought. My signature line is obviously very apt!

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Harmony 's a real nice one David - Too bad you lost Wino and Kuh-e-abr - (lots) more sand in the mix next time ??
I have my Winogradowii outside in the garden and after all the wetness we had over the last months I will be quite relieved when heads show up... 

[ian mcenery]

Iris Histriodes Major I hope bulking up slowly under cover

[David Nicholson]

Iris Histriodes Major I hope bulking up slowly under cover

Wise man Ian

[tonyg]

Am I going mad or is there a bit of a mix-up in the trade between Iris reticulata and Iris histrioides?

Here is a picture from last year of iris histrioides in Franzs Garden.  I really shoud go away and look up exactly what the differences are .... from memory one is that I histrioides flowers before the leaves appear while I reticulata flowers with leaves.

[Paul T]

Isn't 'Clairette' a two-tone pale blue variety, without such dark falls?

[tonyg]

Quote from the old forum by Gote Svanholm 2006

Bakeriana has leaves that are octogonal in cross section most others are square.

Danfordie has next to no standards. Just little bristles. Wionogradowii has normal standards. These two are the yellow ones.

Histrioides is supposed to show the flowers with or before the leaves.

Histrio: Leaves earlier than the flower.

Vartanii: Bulbs pointed. Perhaps a var of Histrio. Leaves earlier.

Kolpawowskiana Crocus-like leaves unlike the others.

He also reccommends Rafa's web site for Iris info ... I'm off there now!

[David Nicholson]

Thanks for quoting that Tony, I hadn't read it before. Now I'm off to Rafa's Web Site too.