Juno (Scorpiris) season 2011

[PeterT]

These are wonderfull Janis.
The 'bucharica does look different, the fosteriana is quite amazing!, and thankyou for showing the new turkish one.
Spring was too hot here and they did not last.

[BULBISSIME]

thank's janis for all this beauties, some of them are rarely seen....

[Luc Gilgemyn]

I got some seed of Iris fosteriana from the seed exchange last winter.
Knowing that it is rather rare in cultivation I was pleasantly surprised to receive quite a lot of seed.
Knowing how unpredictable juno's can be when germination is concerned, I was even more pleasantly surprised to see them germinate "en masse" back in March.

The two pictures below show what the seedlings look like now.
Anybody able to confirm (or deny) at this stage that they are the real thing

Thanks in advance.

[Maggi Young]

Oh Luc, those don't really look like onco leaves, do they?    Too soft  
Hans A will be able to tell for sure... he's grown it from seed, I know.

[PeterT]

could be right Luc, cant make out if the leaves are chaneld they should be at that stage and if they are right they have grown very well!
Its roots are the most delicate of all the Junos that I know.

Maggie, fosteriana is a small slender Juno with narrow leaves 

[WimB]

I got some seed of Iris fosteriana from the seed exchange last winter.
Knowing that it is rather rare in cultivation I was pleasantly surprised to receive quite a lot of seed.
Knowing how unpredictable juno's can be when germination is concerned, I was even more pleasantly surprised to see them germinate "en masse" back in March.

The two pictures below show what the seedlings look like now.
Anybody able to confirm (or deny) at this stage that they are the real thing

Thanks in advance.

Luc,

you'll never be able to plant them all out in your garden, will you  

[Maggi Young]

could be right Luc, cant make out if the leaves are chaneld they should be at that stage and if they are right they have grown very well!
Its roots are the most delicate of all the Junos that I know.

Maggie, fosteriana is a small slender Juno with narrow leaves  

I know, Peter, but are young juno leaves not still of a different "substance" to other iris leaves?  More structured, less, willowy

Hans A.' picture is here  http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2916.msg68597#msg68597
 and I see he later says  he received the plant as a young seedling, rather than having grown it himself from seed.

Kees Jan van Zwienen's has some terrific photos from the wild of this lovely iris ......
http://keesjan.smugmug.com/Botanical-trips/Asia/Kopet-Dag-Mountains-NE-Iran/12322686_YBsYX#880901670_kexBZ

[PeterT]

A sprouting Juno seed looks much like a sprouting pogon or sibirica untill the leaf begins to expand, then it looses its two dimensional nature as the leaf becomes u shaped in cross section. I cant tell from the pictures if this is the case. Young juno leaves are usually thinner than those of bearded Iris. I have grown I fosteriana to flowering from seed, It took about five years and then flowerd for three years, hasnt done so well for the past two though
here is a picture of I vicaria which germinated about two months ago,
I hippolyti seedlings germinated during the winter, and an Iris hippolyti seedling in its second year
I vicaria pictured at two months is already showing the juno leaf shape, and the pictures of I hippolyti show it developing.

[tonyg]

I got some seed of Iris fosteriana from the seed exchange last winter.
Knowing that it is rather rare in cultivation I was pleasantly surprised to receive quite a lot of seed.
Knowing how unpredictable juno's can be when germination is concerned, I was even more pleasantly surprised to see them germinate "en masse" back in March.

The two pictures below show what the seedlings look like now.
Anybody able to confirm (or deny) at this stage that they are the real thing

Thanks in advance.

Hi Luc - I'm with Peter T on this.  I once germinated a couple of seeds of Iris fosteriana.  They lasted three years but never looked remotely like what you have.  I'm 99% certain you have an imposter ... hope it turns out to be a beauty though   I'd guess that is a rhizomatous iris, you'll be able to tell later, especially if it does not die down in summer like the junos.

[Lesley Cox]

Honestly Luc, I would say those are NOT fosteriana or indeed, any Juno iris at all. They look at this early stage like something out of the Sibirica section, not bulbous anyway and not onco either.

Junos germinate with a single leaf which tends to be silvery-green or silver-edged, depending on the species. Then they often (not always) make a second and even a third leaf in their first season, but each leaf is enfolded in the one before it, if you know what I mean, like, as an example, the leaves of a Galanthus which is supervolute or convolute. As a second or third leaf develops, the whole "plant" tends to fan outwards a little, not stay upright as your seedlings are.

But being irises your seedlings will be worth growing on to see what's what.

[Lesley Cox]

I've taken a couple of pictures of seedlings about 1 month old, of Iris aucheri, which should show what I mean above about colour and the outer leaf folded over the inner.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Thanks for all the expert opinions and bringing me back to reality everyone ... 
My fear seems to be correct... I could have known... 
I'll see what it turns out to be in a hopefully not too distant future.

Thanks again ! 

[arillady]

Iris planifolia which has been flowering for more than a month.
Whenever I check it it seems to be late afternoon like today so I have not done any hand pollination yet.

[fermi de Sousa]

Pat,
my single flowering sized plant of this Juno wasn't even in bud when you posted your pics!
Here's mine in flower yesterday, it appears a bit lighter than yours.




cheers
fermi

[arillady]

Fermi the lighter blue Iris planifolia has not flowered so far this year for me yet.