Reticulate Iris - 2016

[Alan McMurtrie]

In case you're interested, I've just updated my website:  www.Reticulatas.com

[Maggi Young]

Thanks Alan - good to know !

[Mini bulb lover]

I am growing some of Alan McMurtrie's mixed bee pollinated Iris reticulatas from seed, sown in autumn 2013 (May). I've been growing them in pots which I know isn't ideal but until I have my new garden established I don't have any other choice. This spring has been very cool here in Melbourne. We usually start getting some 30(+) degree (Celsius) days from mid-spring but not this year. 1 December is the start of our summer and I still have green retic leaves (and a lot of other bulb species too)! I decided to lift all the retic bulbs because the chance of hot weather arriving at any time might cause problems as the soil is still moist. As I was lifting the bulbs I noticed one leaf had formed a loop just above the bulb. As I've never lifted them in the green before I don't know if this is common. I guess it hit an obstacle on the way up?

I don't know if it's because of the long cool spring but some of these seed-raised bulbs are quite large now - they'll definitely flower next year. I'll be excited to see what comes up!

[Alan McMurtrie]

Yes, a long cool Spring can really help.  It allows a longer growing period.  I've been told in Holland an extra growing week for Tulips, can get bulbs up to the next size (i.e. add one cm to the diameter)

In the case of Reticulata Iris, I find bulbs will bloom if they are 1 cm in diameter

Here's a picture of my hybrids being covered with soil in Holland


2011 seedlings have all been replanted and spaced out
"Something Wonderful is Going to Happen"


A lot of work goes into the replanting, and shifting bulbs around where they are too crowded.
Under the ground strips of aluminum separate out the different clones


Polyploid bulbs of Lilac Beauty (03-AN-3).  The pair in the middle are a bulb that bloomed this year.  The bulbs on either side are 11mm and should bloom next Spring
Because of how coarse the tunic on the left is, I wonder if it is 16n? (hexadeciploid)
[Going to tetraploid will allow different Reticulata groups to be crossed, and most importantly, maintain fertility]


Lilac Beauty (03-AN-3)

[Alan McMurtrie]

I'm on a raised platform so I don't trample the soil. A tarp is used overnight so squirrels don't dig in the area at day break (someone in the area supplies them with peanuts). After I'm finished a net is put down along with a layer of straw as deterrent against animals digging. The straw also keeps the ground frozen if there is a warm spell in the middle of Winter. Otherwise, if seeds / seedlings start into growth, a sudden cold snap will kill them -- their cell sap doesn't have the same anti-freeze capability that it did when they were dormant
[Bulbs several inches deep are buffered from temperature swings]

[Mini bulb lover]

Thanks Alan for the behind the scenes photos and information. It’s great to see your hard work pay off with lovelies like Lilac Beauty!


Here are some of my seed raised bulbs lifted this year (04-JB). I could tell before measuring them that they were flowering size. 
I didn’t expect such a large size from bulbs grown in pots. The pots were placed in a polystyrene box with shade cloth lying inside the bottom and a small layer of sand on top of that. While we had a cool spring we also had a very windy spring which quickly dried the soil of other pots not in the polystyrene + sand boxes.

[Alan McMurtrie]

It's been quite an uphill battle getting my hybrids to market.  Seeing the amazing new colours and patterns is what makes it all worthwhile.  It's an expensive hobby.  The fun is wondering "where can I go from here."  And I'm taking it to a whole new level so-to-speak, by working with ployploids.  Nothing is guaranteed, but it seems the smart was to go; or at least a smart thing to explore and see where it takes me.


Excellent looking bulbs!

Wouldn't hurt to keep them in the same containers.  After they bloom you can keep some material of each in containers, and try some out in the garden

04-JB is 95-O-1 x bee      95-O is I. reticulata hort. x I. reticulata var. Tibilisi [from Janis Ruksans]

[Mini bulb lover]

Thanks Alan, I'll try that. 

I hope you’re working on a book about Reticulate Iris and your years of work on them…. No pressure.
(I hope the blood doesn’t drain from your face on reading such a suggestion).

[Alan McMurtrie]

It's a Smile.  I'm not sure how good a job I could do.  I keep learning.  ...and per se, I don't have time (even though I'm supposedly retired).  To a degree I might ask, would such a book make a difference?  I do have my website as an outlet for showing off my work; but that only goes so far.  Never, say never; but its unlikely.  Ideally I would want to include substantive material from original sources.  Its nice to have references, but most people can not access them.  One of those is: De Periodieke Ontwikkeling Van Iris Reticulata (The Periodical Development Of Iris Reticulata) by Ida Luyten; which I do have.  William van Eeden's hybrid Ida was named after Ida Luyten.

The 2016 British Iris Society Year Book will have a 12 page article (my 8.5 x 11 inch pages) -- which adds to my 6 previous BIS articles (the last one was in 2004) [see the Articles page on my website -- the 2016 one will be added once the Year Book is published].  An article on polyploids is planned for the 2017 BIS Year Book.  It will be about 10 pages [I already have 7] (I'm just starting to see results.  Part of the article will talk about why I'm doing the work).  I'm working on an outline for an article about Reticulata Iris - Genetics.  Whether it will be published I'm not sure.  The genetics aspect is various colour and pattern breaks.  I don't know that I'll ever be able to explain them, but I can at least point them out in pictures, and talk about the complexity of pulling out recessive characteristics.  At some point an article could be written about the species.  I'm looking into the possibility of other 2n=18 species and have several leads.  Although the species Iris reticulata is 2n=20, because for example the Çat Retic doesn't have any physical difference from a typical Retic, other than it produces bulblets like danfordiae & sophenesis, it may just be the Çat Retic is a variety of Iris reticulata with a different chromosome count, as apparently is the case with Crocus [a given species having different chromosome counts].  In my mind a slight physical difference does not justify calling a plant a new species.  I consider it part of the variability of that species.  It may be that one valley has plants with that slight variation compared to plants from another valley.  The fact leaves of the Çat are below the flower, simply means it's an early bloomer.

I believe the somewhat recently described Reticulata species Iris kopetdagensis should really be called Iris reticulata var. Kopet Dag (from the Kopet Dag / Kopet Dagh mountains in Iran).

In the back of my mind I wonder if Iris histrio is really just a form of Iris reticulata, though I don't know of any hybrids between the two.  In my limited tries I haven't been successful at creating hybrids.  Histrio's seed pods are below the ground.  Some forms of Iris reticulata have tall seed pods, other are closer to the ground, and I believe can occasionally be part way into the ground.  A form from the wide with tall seed pods shouldn't be given its own species name

I don't consider pollen colour to be a defining characteristic.  Some forms of Iris reticulata I collected in Turkey had olive-coloured pollen.

Is Iris sophenensis really Iris reticulata var. sophenensis?  This is the name Foster recorded in Garden Chronicles 1885.  Certainly it is NOT Iris histrioides var. sophenensis.

For the North American Rock Garden Society I may at some point write 'The Story of Reticulata Iris Eye Catcher.'

There's a story to be told about my working with Dutch bulb growers, but I don't know that it will be written.

I haven't yet written for SRGC, and my one article to-date in The Alpine Gardener was back in 2003

[Maggi Young]

I haven't yet written for SRGC

I'm sure Anton Edwards would be pleased to hear from you, Alan! [

[Mini bulb lover]

I'm not sure how good a job I could do. 

Well Alan, I think you'd do a pretty good job. If you ever get the time or inclination I'll be first in line to get a copy. You already have a start with all the information on your website; the articles already created and the beautiful photos. While it's good to find information on the internet, it's also good to sit down and be lost in a book on a topic that you love.

[Gail]

While it's good to find information on the internet, it's also good to sit down and be lost in a book on a topic that you love.

Seconded!
I'm fascinated with your work with these beautiful plants and definitely would buy the book!

[Alan McMurtrie]

Feb 14-15, 2017 I'll be at the RHS Early Spring Plant Fair in London, England.  Look for me around the Jacques Amand stand.

I hope to have a couple of hybrids that haven't been on display before (possibly they'll get up to Dunblane, Scotland as well)

Likely I'll be giving a talk.  In part it will cover developments over the past year

[Maggi Young]

There is an article by Alan, translated  by Luc Gilgemyn and Wim Boens,  in the current issue of "Rotsplantenforum" the quarterly  journal of the VRV  - the Flemish Rock Garden Club - see link in moving  banner at top of  every forum page to contact   VRV.

[Gail]

Feb 14-15, 2017 I'll be at the RHS Early Spring Plant Fair in London, England.  Look for me around the Jacques Amand stand.

I hope to have a couple of hybrids that haven't been on display before (possibly they'll get up to Dunblane, Scotland as well)

Likely I'll be giving a talk.  In part it will cover developments over the past year

Do let us know which day you'll be talking as soon as you know - will need to book annual leave...