Reticulate Iris-2012

[David Nicholson]

Ron, given that the availability of good reticulata type species stock is very limited and the Dutch market is flooded with stock that can only be described as 'miffy' I for one welcome the chance to grow some exceedlingly good hybrids.

[ronm]

Then very good for you David.  Enjoy.

[ronm]

Janis, Dirk et al, have good species stock don't they?

[Alan McMurtrie]

Ron, why are you so negative?  Have you ever collected in the wild?  Do you understand wild populations?

One reason for hybrids, is to create plants that are easier for the average person to grow.  Species have their place, but hybrids can add a whole other dimension.

Do you understand the whole new world I have opened up, and am continuing to expand?  Clearly you don't.

[Maggi Young]

  Wearing my moderator's hat here:
  
Some posts have been edited or removed.

It is customary in this Forum for conversations to be carried on politely. No-one is asking everyone to agree with eachother all the time, but some decorum is expected, please.

[johnw]

Welcome to the Forum Alan!

We have been following your great work for some time and were surprised to find you are just round the corner.  

Keep up the good work and we all look forward to your contributions as well as pictures of your ground-breaking work.

Wish you would send some rain eastward if you hear of any.

johnw  

[Lesley Cox]

Alan, when I mentioned a "trend" towards no standards, I'd forgotten about the danfordiae component in the hybrids. After all, we see it so rarely in NZ, poor quality Dutch stock which rarely lives more than a year and hasn't even been seen locally in the garden shops this year so maybe they've given up on it all together. Anyway, I liked that spidery flower.  For the record, I love every one of your hybrids, every shape and colour and combo of colours. They're different and exciting to my mind. I wish our importing regulations made it easier to obtain them.

Ron, there was nothing "royal" about my use of the word "we." I meant we, the Forumists who enjoy reticulate irises. If you don't like these ones , ok, but Janis has shown a number of them in the last year or two and I don't think anyone has responded to his postings as you did to Alan's.

We all have our dislikes. I loathe the modern double daffodils and split centred ones and am happy to say so but I wouldn't condemn their breeders or those who want to grow them.

[udo]

Welcome Alan in this forum.

Ron, you handle with Alan quite hard!
Nevertheless, crossing and also selection from seedlings of free end of blooming is a little bit thus an interesting.
I cultivate the native species, but also the new and older crosses. The irises are nice everybody in her kind and should have her place in our gardens.

[Brian Ellis]

Welcome to the forum Alan, great to have you posting here, that 05-GQ-3 is wonderful.  I look forward to seeing more of your fantastic irises.

Welcome Alan, good to have you posting here. You do realise that you will have us all dribbling looking at your hybrids.

You'll have to get a bib David.

[Janis Ruksans]

This I pskemense is such a colorful little thing - I really love it!
Janis, it's good to see how your stock is gradually recovering.
How long do you think will it take until you will be able to offer it again in your catalogue?

If I will edit next catalogue may be I. pskemense will be included - but I will see this only after harvesting. Central |Asian reticulatas are very tricky to grow - good size bulbs quite often rot after harvesting. Just medium size is the best. It seem that from this CA quartet (kolpakowskiana 2 forms, pskemense and winkleri) pskemense is the easiest (best to increase). I checked my labels and found that some bloomed in third year after sawing of seeds (if they are sawn just after harvesting). The germination rate is the highest. Next are both kolpakowskianas and winkleri is the lasiest and with bad germination rate. Usually very few seeds germinate only and at present I have only 2 flowering size bulbs, one of them is blooming, another will open (I hope) tomorrow - then I will handpollinate them. In pots of previous years seds are only very few shoorts.
Janis

[Hans A.]

Iris vartanii from last week - missed to take a picture by daylight.

[Rafa]

lucky one!

[fermi de Sousa]

Iris vartanii from last week - missed to take a picture by daylight.

Nice to see, Hans.
Does it usually flower at this time of year?
cheers
fermi

[Hans A.]

Thanks Rafa and Fermi - it is just the second year they have flowering size - last year only one plant flowered (in november) - this year four , all in this month. Earwigs like the flowers very much...

[David Nicholson]

Beautiful Hans. Much nicer than the usual pale shade.