Iris potaninii seed help

[daveyp1970]

i've just aquired some  Iris potaninii could somebody please give me some advice on how to go with them,thers not a lot of info on this iris about so anything would be a help.

[David Nicholson]

Dave, this is one for the experts to answer maybe Rafa, or Jamie(Regelian) or Lesley. I would be inclined to divide your seed into two lots, if you have sufficient to do this. Lot 1: I would wait for advice from the experts. Lot 2: I would soak in tepid water with a dash of washing up liquid for about three days, changing the water each day. After that I would sow them in my usual gritty mix, cover them with grit and park them in my open seed frame and wait to see what happened!!

[Rodger Whitlock]

i've just aquired some  Iris potaninii could somebody please give me some advice on how to go with them,thers not a lot of info on this iris about so anything would be a help.

David's suggestion about soaking in water is on point. However, I'd soak them for at least a week, maybe two. When you change the water, be sure to rinse the seeds in a sieve under a hard spray of tap water.

Sow in a soil based compost, label well, then put outside in a cold frame and be very patient. You may get germination next spring - or not for 15-20 years! The great iris expert Dykes had one pot of seed germinate after (iirc) 17 years!

[maggiepie]

The great iris expert Dykes had one pot of seed germinate after (iirc) 17 years!

Am surprised anyone would keep a pot for 17 years without reusing it. I'm surprised he could even remember what was in it.
They must not make labels like they used to 

[Paul T]

Maggi,

I'm more surprised that a pot lasted for 17 years!!    I'm assuming it wasn't a plastic pot, or if it was then it was a very thick, UV stabilised one.  Then again, I guess so many areas don't get the UV that we do.  A few years ago I bought gardening edging originating from the UK (i.e that is where it was made).  Obviously UV stabilising wasn't something important there.... it lasted 6 months before becoming brittle and pointless.

Good luck with the Iris potanini, Davey.  Not a species I had even heard of before you posted.

[Rodger Whitlock]

Something to note: Dykes was active a century ago, when the only pots available were terra cotta.

BTW, I may be wrong is saying it was Dykes that had the slow germinating iris seed. Given the contents of my library, it may have been William Robinson (the father of the hardy plant) or E. A. Bowles (Mr. Crocus). But I *think* it was Dykes. If I run across the anecdote again, I'll post the reference.

[daveyp1970]

Thank you David and Roger for your advice,Paul i hadn't heard of it before  but i love a challenge and if or when they germinate i will be one happy cookie,i bought the seed off Kurt Vickery's seed list if anybody's interested in this iris.

[Rafa]

Thank you David, but I am just an amateur

This speceis might germinate without any special tratament, in one year or so... And also I have to say that Kurt's seeds have very well quality: last year I ordered from him several seeds of Junos and ALL germinate in 2 or 3 months!!   I never seen this  before in this very difficoult section.

[Lesley Cox]

I had 2 plants of I. potaninii from seed, I think from Tim Loe in Cormwall, maybe 7 or 8 years ago. I lost them all during the first winter planted out in a raised bed but I think they were too dry. Mathew, while mentioning it in "The Iris" gives no cultivation advice and only says it is closely related to the regelias, some people including it in that section, others in a separate group with II. arenaria, humilis and mandschurica. Whatever, it is very rare in cultivation.

Since I didn't have trouble germinating it, I'd suggest "ordinary" sowing in a gritty seed mix and covering with .5 of a cm of sharp grit, keeping moist and if, as Rafa suggests Vickery's seed is of good quality, you should have something in your northern spring. It is fully deciduous so maybe the danger time is that first winter underground.

[Lori S.]

In case it's of any use to anyone to know (probably not!   ), I've had this one outdoors here for a few years in regular soil (not grown from seed, though) - it's been tolerant of cold without snow cover and our relatively dry conditions.

[daveyp1970]

Lori do you have any pictures

[Lori S.]

Good point - I should check if it really is what it was supposed to be!  I got it from Beaver Creek a few years ago.  Unfortunately I don't have photos of it (obviously, it has not been overly spectacular!) - the last time it bloomed (2 years ago) was during a rainy period in spring when the flowers got all rain-soaked. 

[daveyp1970]

The reason i asked Lori wasn't to check if your was correct its just there aren't a lot of photos of this iris,it just would be nice to see yours.
Rafa and Lesley thank you for your advice,the more information i hear of this iris the more i cant wait for next spring or the one after that or the one after that,maybe i will post pics of my pot with little iris in them one day but still cant wait.

[Lori S.]

No, I didn't take it that you were suggesting that at all, Davey, but it just struck me that it would be a good opportunity to actually confirm its identity.    I do wish I had photos of it in bloom...  I went out to look at it today, and it is definitely deciduous - nothing but the dried-out strands of narrow leaves lying on the ground (of which I could post a photo but it would be the most unattractive photo ever seen on this site... so I won't, LOL!) - so that, at least, seems to fit with the ID.

[Lesley Cox]

I know it's difficult Davey, but you CAN wait, quite simply because you have no alternative.