Iris reticulata 2019

[Steve Garvie]

Iris reticulata - an attractive form from Armenia.

[Rob-Rah]

It's only "sort of" a reticulata..... but Iris tuberosa is quite a fun plant. I have the standard (yellow/green/brown) colour form on the rockery outdoors, if it survives from one year to the next... but this colour form in this photo came from an eBay dealer who labels if "smokey" and it's quite fantastic. Kept in the cold greenhouse for safety.

[David Nicholson]

Iris reticulata 'Cantab'

[Alan McMurtrie]

Hi Roma,
When did you buy your Mars Landing?  The 4 blue flowers you got are 00-KV-4 [http://www.reticulatas.com/00-KV-4.html].  Mars Landing is 00-KV-3.  A previous Dutch bulb grower messed up several of the stocks.  I'm trying each year when I'm over for a week in March, to get things cleaned up.  In Fall 2017 (blooming Spring 2018) people, including myself, were finding they got Chameleon (02-ID-1) [a soon to be introduced variety -- http://www.reticulatas.com/02-ID-1.html] instead of Mars Landing.  I discovered when I was in Holland last March that one planting of Chameleon was incorrectly labelled 00-KV-3 when it should have been 02-ID-1.  I made sure the grower knew so he didn't look at his planting map and change the label back.  The grower had honestly thought he was distributing the correct variety.  For those "lucky people," they got a pre-release.

I don't like to see mistakes happen.  I try my best to do what I can to improve things.

The blue you got in Sunshine is Blue Zest (01-JR-1) [http://www.reticulatas.com/01-JR-1.html] It will possibly be introduced in the future.  I'm very surprised, and wonder how that happened.  I expected you would find North Star in Sunshine.  Here is a portion of what I took out of Sunshine last year:
 

[Gabriela]

I guess it can be very frustrating to constantly see your cultivars mixed by the growers Alan.
I can't complain by getting Chameleon instead of Mars but Roma got a worse deal by the look of her pot.

I look forward to the spring and the Iris flowering, North Star is one of my favourite now because of its fragrance.

[Roma]

Hi Alan, thanks for your reply.  I bought the bulbs September or October last year by mail order from Jacques Amand.  I spoke to John at Dunblane today so he said he had had a few reports of wrongly labelled Irises.  I did get 'North Star' the last time I bought 'Sunshine' a few years ago.  I did like the effect of the one blue flower like a butterfly among the 'Sunshine' but was not happy with the blue ones instead of 'Mars Landing'

[Alan McMurtrie]

Hi Roma, I am puzzled that the Mars Landing mix up occurred with bulbs bought last year.  There must be another batch of bulbs that are mislabeled -- a stock that I didn't see in bloom because of the cold weather last Spring.  I will take a look at the stocks when I am in Holland in 2 weeks and try to figure out what happened.  Thanks for letting me know !

I am continuing to try to get North Star out of Sunshine.  I hope to see this year that my efforts are paying off -- that there are noticeably less North Star in Sunshine.

[johnralphcarpenter]

A tub of mixed Iris enjoying the late Winter sunshine.

[johnralphcarpenter]

Iris reticulata 'Harmony'



Iris reticulata 'Blue Note'

[Alan McMurtrie]

Just received this from Jan Ligthart in Holland
Small stocks under test are all the blue sticks at the left (in some cases the same variety sent in different years -- to be put together when confirmed to be correctly labelled)


Retics ready for the Lentetuin in Breezand Holland -- opens to public on Thursday Feb 28

[Tomte]

Iris kurdica, a reticulate Iris probably not that commonly grown but very lovely for its soft color and dark purple (almost blackish) blade of the falls. As a bonus, it is rather tiny. I like it!

[David Nicholson]

Iris kurdica, a reticulate Iris probably not that commonly grown but very lovely for its soft color and dark purple (almost blackish) blade of the falls. As a bonus, it is rather tiny. I like it!

....and so do I.

[Alan McMurtrie]

The field on Saturday


Opposite end of the field


My Reticulata Iris at this year's Lentetuin


The theme for this year is Paris


This doesn't show the Paris theme per se, but does give you an idea of all of the flowers on display

[Janis Ruksans]

Some of Alan's first hybrids from late nineties of last century - those are few which Im still growing and regard as best and very unusual. The numbers are below pictures.

[Maggi Young]

Just received this from Jan Ligthart in Holland
Small stocks under test are all the blue sticks at the left (in some cases the same variety sent in different years -- to be put together when confirmed to be correctly labelled)

In the UK  Alan's  reticulata hybroids  can be  bought from Jacques Amand International https://jacquesamandintl.com/ and  Rose Cottage Plants -https://www.rosecottageplants.co.uk/iris-spot-on/p1096 

 Some of the specialist alpine nurseries  may have a few too!