Hiya folks, There has been lots of activity and great PBS postings, but my schedule prevents me from answering as much as I'd like. Jim McKenney talked about an Allium "event" in his garden... well, I have to say my garden is an all-season Allium event. But more about that latter. We had a late spring in New England, then a contracted season where everything is blooming at once. But some Iris are flowering exceptionally well this year... I thought I would share. Starting with the smallest, Iris minutoaurea from China is the best it has ever been. From the photos it might be hard to realize the plant is literally just 2" tall in bloom, with lots of tiny yellow blooms. The following two images are from this past weekend... it was too dim when I got home tonight to photograph it again, with even more flowers showing: http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… A new one for me is something I picked up at a locla Rock Gardening conference a couple years ago labelled ad Iris reichenbachii. I haven't researched the name to know if the name or ID is anywhere close to being true... but is is an Iris with very short leaves and stems reaching ionly 4-5" tall.... very nice: http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… And then there is the rock garden favorite, Iris suaveolens, a tufted miniature nest of tiny fans of overlapping foliage and hordes (this year) of tiny olive-yellow flowers. Here are three views of this delight, only 3-4" tall: http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… One of the dwarf bearded Iris is I. lutescens. My plants came from Mike Salmon seed, collected from several locales in France and Spain. I have 3 yellow forms, and one purple-blue form. This year it has flowered better than ever... http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… ... the following shows a form with pronounced brown veins on the falls. http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… Numerous Iris cristata forms threaten to bloom. One that has, is a giant among the crested Iris, I. cristata 'Edgar Anderson', here's a peak: Iris_cristata_Edgar_Anderson_2008a.jpg The exciting new Chinese Iris are also in bloom, I. odaesanensis (several forms, from Garden Vision Nursery), the rare Iris henryi looks like it'll have 50 blooms or more, and Iris koreana is just like a bright yellow form of I. cristata... all are great woodland garden plants or subjects for the bright shady rock garden. Iris 'Lancer' finally has a bud! Regarding Allium "events". my garden is an Allium Event... just so little time to describe why. Hope to do the research over the weekend. Cheers, From Mark McDonough antennaria@charter.net
