I've been enjoying the numerous PBS digests and photographic additions. On the heels of my last message, I have some more photos to share, most taken within the last few days. I wrote about Iris cristata 'Edgar Anderson, but forgot to give the whole link, here it is. It's the largest and tallest of the many Iris cristata cultivars I grow. I like the crisp wavy edges to the petals. http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… One of several exciting dwarf Chinese woodland Iris available from Darrell Probst's Garden Vision nursery (http://home.earthlink.net/~darrellpro/) is Iris henryi, only very recently introduced into cultivation in the US. Today I counted over 50 flowers of the most delicate pale powder blue on 3" stems, accented with bright yellow signal spots. The freshly opened flowers look like blue butterflies, the fully open blooms looking more propeller-like. I grow this at the top of a shaded enbankment (dry), in a spot that gets a few hours direct sunlight. The leaves are exceptionally narrow, building up into a tough sod. Wonderful! (photo taken today, 5/15/08) http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/Iris_henryi_2008c.jpg/ Growing nearby are two other dwarf chinese species, the golden I. minutoaura and white I. odaesanesis. In my last posting, I included two links to the tiny Iris minutoaurea, but couldn't resist sharing a photo taken yesterday where the sun brough out more flowers, a miniature spectacle just 2" tall. http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… A number of seedlings have appeared "downstream" of these plants, at the base of the enbankment. None have flowered yet, but I hope for hybrids. Darrell tells me that he had tried hand pollinating these chinese species with crosses amongst themselves and with Iris cristata, but no hybrid results yet. Another species introduced by Darrell Probst and available from his nursery list, is I. koreana. In his nursery it grows into large patches similar to I. cristata, except the flowers are bright yellow. I almost lost my plant due to being in too dry a location, and vole/chipmunk tunnelling, so last fall I moved it to a new spot, and while small, it flowered well and is still in flower. http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/Iris_koreana_2008a.jpg/ Several tulips have been enjoyable over the past week and a half. The tiny Tulipa pulchellus humilis is adorable, with long-lasting tricolor blooms on 3" stems. I particularly like the blue center and dark anthers. Thanks Dave! http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… ...and a profile view: http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… There are two miniature tulipa cultivars I grow and like very much, 'Little Beauty' (red) and 'Little Princess' (orange). It seems that 'Little Beauty' must have come from T. pulchellus humilis lines, with that same pale halo and blue center, only a truer red color. http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… Tulipa vvedenskyi never ceases to dazzle the eye, with a flaming orange red goblet on a 2" stem, and those remarkable wavy silvery-blue leaves, a first class miniature. Here are two views take a few days ago, although it is still in top form today. The first is a profile view, the second an overhead view: http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… One of my all time favorites is Tulipa clusiana 'Lady Jane'. While tallish (16-18") it has narrow grayish flowers that allows the graceful flower form to carry the day, the blooms looking oversized for their modest carriage. These have been in bloom for 2 weeks now, photos taken this past weekend. http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… ... as with most tulips, the flowers close up within minutes of shade reaching them: http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… Relatively new to my garden is the woodland tulip, T. sylvestris (thanks Jim!). I have planted these in two locations, one much drier than the other. In the dry spot, they have flowers (just a flower here or there) and little increase. In the most spot, the have romped and increased a lot, but no flowers... have to keep an eye on that one. Nice bright yellow fragrant flowers on 12-16" stems, semi-nodding, lovely. http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… ... photo showing the whole plant, not a great photo, but... http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… A few miscellaneous items come to mind. Many trillium are in bloom, here's a shot of T. grandiflorum f. roseum taken today. No matter how many times I photograph this, it looks paler pink in photos than it does in reality (still using my daughter's entry-level Canon Powershot digital camera, which is not good at light-colored blooms). In reality, it is quite a good solid lively pink color. http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… Another trillium that's sort of different is T. lancifolium, distinctive both for the narrow foliage and tepals, but for the swept-back posture of the leaves. http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… Still among my favorites, for it's novel stemless appearance and beautiful mottled foliage sitting right at ground level, is T. decumbens, this form from Alabama. Thanks John! http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… And to end this message on a note of an off-topic non-bulb related subject, here are two photos from my one of my very favorite trees. It may be permitted, because as a tap-rooted Magnolia, I grow numerous bulbous plants under the beneficial canopy of such trees. One of the very best yellow Magnolia hybrids, is one called 'Golden Gift', a distinctly compact, intricately branched, slow-growing tree, with M. acuminata ssp. subcordata 'Miss Honeybee' as one of it's parents. It doesn't get much better than this. The first photo is near sunset... sorry, I get home late... http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… ...here, with more sunshine is a close-up: http://plantbuzz.com/buzz/… Good growing to ya! Mark McDonough Massachusetts, near the New Hampshire border, USDA Zone 5 antennaria@charter.net
