Iris Reticulata - 2017

[Chris Johnson]

Nothing unusual but a cheerful sight this morning.

Iris reticulata 'Pauline' and Iris histrioides 'Katharine-Hodgkin'.

An overdue repot last autumn seems to have helped. Perhaps overdone the latter (over 70 flowers). The blue pellets are slow-release fertiliser.

[Olive Mason]

Lovely iris Chris.  What fertiliser do you use?

[Chris Johnson]

Thanks Olive.

The main fertiliser is bonemeal, applied to the compost when repotting. When the noses start to show I apply a small dressing of general fertiliser and bring then under cover. The strong winds up here trash everything otherwise.

[Alan McMurtrie]

Gail had asked when my talk will be at the RHS Early Spring Plant Fair

Wednesday Feb 15 @ 11:30  (the second day)

The first day is always so busy, so the second day should be a lot better for me.  I had suggested first day in the afternoon from the point of view that people might want to be there for the first day to get first chance at the plants.  In the morning of the first day pots have to go up to Joint Rock, and paper work has to be filled out beforehand.

Reticulata Iris - Overview + 2016 Highlights
Something for everyone.  If you don’t already know, Alan has opened up a whole new world for Reticulata Iris — colours and patterns never thought possible.  As well as giving an overview plus growing tips, he’ll show you significant developments from 2016


Here's a picture of 10-CR-1 showing its "orange" colour.  Essentially the colour stayed for 7 days.  It's been suggested the pigment is Beta-carotene.  The colour is slightly more intense at first, and may lessen sightly because the fall is still growing somewhat.  The flower was outdoors, but protected by an upside down dish pan.  By the end-of-day March 30 the flower was shrivelled.
Looks like a water droplet on the blade "burned out" the anthocyanin


I do quite love It's Magic (05-HW-1).  Here's a tetraploid version.  It would seem the tip was damaged when in bud -- i.e. the damage to the end of the fall blades.


Here's the parentage of Tequila Sunrise (09-LE-2)


Here's the only sibling: 09-LE-1.  Unfortunately neither pod parent set seed.  I did get a quantity of seed with 09-LE-2's pollen

[Gail]

I'm really disappointed that I can't now get time off work to go but am crossing fingers that maybe by the magic of Maggi we can experience a forum version of the presentation??

[Maggi Young]

Your faith in me is  charming, if a tad mis-guided, Gail!  However, if Alan wishes to  make a thread here with his new projects, or write for the IRG or Journal I am sure both myself and Anton will be  all ears!

[Roma]

Iris reticulata 'Dance On'
Iris 'North Star'

[Cyril L]

Some of Alan McMurtrie's irises are quite early this year.  Last year they were in flower a month later at the Dunblane show.

Here are 'Sunbeam' and 'Sunshine'.  The latter is one of my favourites of Alan's hybrids, a good canary yellow colour that is aptly named.  Unfortunately another of my favourites, 'Snow White' (the true plant) is no longer in cultivation, unless someone knows otherwise.  I got it twice but it turned out to be the wrong plant.

 

[Alan McMurtrie]

It's nice to see my hybrids doing well and being enjoyed by others!  (Cyril's green thumb at work)
I am having a bit of difficulty identifying the "Snow-White" (but what else would it be?)  I do know Janis had issues with supplying all of the orders.  If it isn't Snow-White it should be one of my other whites with blue accents: http://reticulatas.com/sxd-WhiteBlues-1.html (page 1 through 6).  Janis had a couple for evaluation.  He did for example introduce Ice Cream (97-CK-3), Making Out (95-CS-1), and Sunburst (98-LQ-1).  One characteristic of Snow-White is the curl to the fall (Cyril's flowers are just opening).  It could be Cyril's colours are darker than I got in my garden  Aside: looking over some of the posted photos on SRGC there have on rare occasions been a mixup.  In 2011 post #236 00-KV-2 is actually 00-KV-1 (introduced in 2012 as Jump For Joy).  This was not Janis' fault.  It was the Dutch grower who got 2 tags reversed prior to rejecting them.  In 2011, post #229 correctly shows 97-CN-2.  It is followed by 97-CN-2B (also pictured in post #291).  97-CN-2B is actually 97-BG-1, though the green is much darker than "normal."  At least one of the 6 small bulbs I sent Janis in 2004 was mixed up.  A smile is I now have 97-BG-1 in Holland for evaluation.


In speaking about identification it's interesting to look at 01-IV-1 which will be introduced this year (still working on a name).  When it first bloomed it looked like this:


I have been a touch disappointed when I've seen it in the field in Holland.  It looked like this (it didn't seem to stand out):


I had the grower release a few bulbs last year, and here's a photo from a small bulb forcer in Germany - nice, bold colouring:




Ideally I want the expression to be consistent.  Is the difference due to soil / potting mix?  Certainly forcing whereby flowers aren't exposed to sun can have some difference.  Eye Catcher has a bit of pale yellow, which you don't even notice when the flowers open outdoors.  Presumably it's "burned off" quickly by the sun'd UV.

[Alan McMurtrie]

Here's 03-JM-2 originally in my garden


Here it is in Holland in 2016


Back in 2014 the grower and I thought a mixup had occurred.  It looked like there were two similar clones in the stock of Tiger Eye (02-ID-1).  We came to realize it's expression changes as the flowers mature (note: "flowers age" would refer to the tail end of their bloom).  Initially upon opening:


A day or so later (I haven't tracked a flower to know how long this takes):


See what I mean - the dark clone starting to open (2016 picture; other two were from 2014):

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Alan,
I just hope someone in Australia will eventually import some more of your hybrids!
I got a few from Janis when Marcus Harvey was still importing bulbs but when he closed his quarantine house he had to rely on other importers and that didn't work out for him.
cheers
fermi

[Alan McMurtrie]

I very recently heard from Barry Blyth: "We have a very keen gardening friend who grows Iris reticulata and has a nursery. We have sent the pictures to him. He also has a quarantine licence, so who knows, he may be interested if you have an export outlet in Canada."

It would be great to make this happen.  You might want to follow up with Barry and try connecting with the fellow.
(The bulbs would be coming from Holland where I have them being propagated due to the longer growing season and good distribution network)

It would be great to get my hybrids to you and Otto Fauser.

[Alan McMurtrie]

Snow-White (96-DZ-1) "back in the day" (I no longer have it -- of course I have too many others, with more coming every year [wonder what surprises are in store for 2017?])




One that I still have (it reappeared) and quite like from that time is 96-BN-1.  It was the first of the ones I classified as 'Light Spotted Pale Blue-Green' -- a "pattern" that occasionally showed up in backcrosses to danfordiae.

[Alan McMurtrie]

Looking at expression variation, here is Pristine (03-FQ-1) when it first bloomed in my garden:


Here it is in Holland in 2014


And in Holland, March 2016


Here it is ~two weeks prior on Feb 17, 2016 at the RHS Early Spring Plant Fair in London where it received a Preliminary Commendation
[I personally am not that concerned about awards, but they do help get recognition for what I have accomplished, and they potentially help spread the word so other people can also enjoy this magical new world that I've opened up]

[Cyril L]

Alan, I can see your photos of Iris 'Snow White' vary slightly with the one in Janis's catalogue.  I feel the blue accent is far more pronounced in my plant than you would expect with difference of soil/potting mix and climate.  However it is possible the expression is not always consistent.