Inland Region Iris Society

Novelty irises.

Post bloom care.

Dividing a clump.

Brought up on another iris group, this is great information and a good visual. The photo is from the Historic Iris Preservation Society website. It’s full of information pertinent to all iris, not just historics!

The original photo has the most recent mother with a bloom stalk in yellow. Also where you could divide increases from mothers, red lines, I would not necessarily separate all that they marked. Some are a bit small and would benefit from remaining attached and planted together.

I marked up the photo a bit with a bit more detail. Note the original mother that produced all rhizomes in the clump(purple). A series of increase that didn’t bloom but produced increases (orange). Two increases that I personally would not divide from their mother because they are too small, plant together to support the small increase until it matures (light blue X).

Hope this is helpful when it’s time to divide your clumps. There is no hard and fast rule about when that needs to be done. 3-5 years is one recommendation. As long as there is room for more increases around the outside of the clump, without running into another plant, they are fine longer. If there is diminishing bloom it might be time to divide.

Credit for the original photo goes to the HIPS website. Again, their website is chock full of great information as well as an amazing photo gallery.

Looking to confirm the name of the iris you grow? Here's how to do the search.

Tonight's IRIS meeting will feature a program by Riverside Master Gardener Deby Anderson on olla watering system.
Meeting starts at 6 pm at the Goeske Senior Center, Sierra Avenue, Riverside, CA.

Thank you for supporting the Riverside Community Flower Show and the Inland Region Iris Society.
Watch out for the IRIS Fall Rhizome Sale this September at the Jurupa Mountains Discovery Center.

Useful Iris culture information.

On NoIDs and such.

Feeling the need to elaborate on cultivar identification…

First off there is nothing wrong with a beautiful NoID!

Just because someone challenges the name you have on a photo on social media doesn’t mean you are incorrect…it does mean you should take a careful look. We all know (in spite of the saying) pictures can lie, in the context of how color is presented or captured by a camera or your screen. Lighting can absolutely change how the iris appears. Some are actually nearly impossible to photograph with correct color.

As growers ( especially if we are intending to sell or share iris with a name attached ) we should police our selves, bloom verify, check traits, be familiar with the iris we grow or purchase.

The idea of DNA verification has been brought up in different discussions about ID.

I’m no scientist so maybe there is a super cheap way to DNA plants…but I don’t think there is…

DNA for identification of iris would likely be cost prohibitive especially to the small grower or backyard gardener. Today DNA testing for AQHA (horses) required registration costs a minimum of $100 for basic parentage verification. This is with a database that has been developed over the course of over 30 years.

The sheer number of iris that would need to be tested and the database that would need to be developed takes time, testing and manpower. Some of the costs of verification for the AQHA (manpower and extra paperwork, etc)has been transferred to the horse owners by way of nearly tripling the registration and other association fees. The AIS coffers, I would guess, cannot absorb or fund the effort to DNA test for parentage without increasing fees for membership or the like. We already feel the $$ pinch when purchasing new iris introductions. Hybridizers would obviously need to raise their prices to cover more costs of registration.

So do we trust the hybridizers and growers? I don’t feel so cynical as to think they are purposely cheating. I think the biggest problem is that there are INDEED extremely similar registered iris out there and gardeners/growers are far too often guessing on names and using them. Those names get passed along as gospel. When challenged we should make every effort to research and use common sense to determine whether the challenge is reasonable or not.

Most mistakes in ID from commercial growers are obvious, not similar cultivars. That mistake (similar but incorrect) is likely coming from a backyard grower trying to ID a NoID, not realizing how difficult the task is…finding something similar and using the name…not knowing there might well be 100s like it.

Another culprit in misidentification is the brokers who really don’t care and are selling all pink iris under the name of Peggy Sue for example. So you buy the iris That’s All Folks at Walmart, it’s marked as such and blooms yellow, must be corrected, right? Maybe, maybe not…but how many backyard gardeners know that there are probably a hundred somewhat similar cultivars?

I trust the hybridizers to sell correct IDs. I trust the growers to do likewise to the best of their ability. I also trust the bearded iris community to gently but diligently police identification. We don’t generally need to take an ID challenge as a personal attack. We should do our due diligence if ID is questioned…carefully comparing to the resources available. Judging from photos on social media is a poor measure. We know what a bloom looks like in our garden and that should be our measure…but we should measure honestly in case the challenge is warranted. HIPS has a section on their website dedicated to identifying, including a detailed check list. It’s extremely helpful.

I’ll stop rambling now….

Labeling your irises is a great idea. Start now (if you haven't already) while they are in bloom.

Bearded irises have rhizomes.

Bulbs, Corms, Tubers and Rhizomes Bulbs, Corms, Tubers and Rhizomes are actually underground stems, not roots. These underground stems are all storage facilities for the plant, storing starches,

I share this image every year as I feel it gives a clearer understanding of the different sizes that the Bearded Iris offers. Irises can be used in landscaping settings so many different ways and they don't all bloom at the same time. My suggestion is take a chance and get another Iris that's not necessarily a Tall Bearded. You might be surprised at how many new possibilities you have!
Have a great day everyone!
~Liz~

Nice article on California poppies by Pat Clayes.

See Pat Clayes' article on California Poppy Day in the March-April 2024 issue of "Golden Gardens eNews" athttps://www.californiagardenclubs.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/GGMar-Apr-2024.pdf

Home Style (F. Kerr 1998} is a gorgeous blue and white tall bearded iris. In bloom now 4.5.2024 USDA Zone 10a

It's almost time for the AIS Region 15 Spring Trek, hosted by Inland Region Iris Society, Riverside,CA. Registration fee $100 per person. Registration form and info at region15ais.org.

Good to know.

FAQ, Why did my bearded iris change color?

I could type for an hour and not answer the question as well as David Troyer did in this article! He also has a video on YouTube on the subject. Look up “Do Bearded Iris Flowers Change Color”. All credit for a well explained answer goes to him. Lots more information on this topic, just google it.

So here is the copy of Mr. Troyer’s answer…or watch his video on YouTube!

That is the question I get asked quite often. In fact a couple of years ago while I was in my iris garden a couple came by and asked me that question. Now my first answer is that they do not change color – more on that in a minute. But back to the couple visiting the garden. When we began to talk and I explained that bearded iris do not really change color the man got really mad and finally yelled at me, “I know what happened, don’t tell me they don’t change colors because they did!” It was time to stop talking. After all someone convinced against his or her will is of the same opinion still. In case you are open to an explanation about what happens to make you think bearded iris change color, I have 10 explanations for you. I think this will cover all the bases unless you don’t want to hear. Most often it seems those people say that purple iris change to white or vice versa. So I will use that as an example.

So here goes -- 10 reasons in no particular order:

1. Certain bearded iris cultivars are more vigorous than others and can choke out the less vigorous. So let’s say you plant purple and white iris but in a year or two they have all changed to white. In fact if you were to dig up every single rhizome and replant them under ideal conditions you might find a few of the purple bearded iris you thought were dead are still there. Or perhaps the purple ones were completely choked out.

2. Let’s say you dug your original irises from a bed where only purple irises were blooming, perhaps you assumed that you dug only purple irises. However, there may have been a number of white bearded irises in the original bed that weren’t blooming at the time you dug but that did bloom later in your own garden.

3. Another possibility is that you dug a tiny piece of a white bearded iris along with other purple iris and in a year or two the white iris which is vigorous grows and begins to bloom. As it spreads and crowds out the purple it appears that the purple iris are changing to white iris.

4. It is even possible that someone or something could have thrown or dropped a piece of another color iris in your bed. Like a child, neighbor, lawn mower, or animal tossing or dropping it. It is amazing how hardy an iris can be. I know I have tossed away pieces of iris rhizomes that I thought had no life in them or were rotting and found in a year or two they have established themselves. So it is very possible for this type of thing to happen.

5. Another possibility is that a flower was pollinated and the seed developed and fell to the ground where it grew. It might have taken a couple of years and then it blooms and grows and slowly takes over the iris bed. Bees do pollinated bearded iris and the seeds will develop and fall if you don’t collect them. And they can be a different color than the parent.

6. A chemical herbicide could have drifted onto your bearded iris and can cause a temporary (usually) change in an iris pigmentation. I know it can do some weird things to iris. Once I had Bermuda grass in my iris so bad that I decided to take a few out and spray the rest with roundup. It made them bloom with parts missing and different colors.

7. The soil, sunlight, and chemicals in the soil can make some pigmentation variations, although not usually great changes.

8. Strong sunlight, heat, or shade and the temperature can also vary the color. But not to the degree of changing colors completely.

9. Bearded iris often do not bloom every year. So it is possible that a dark iris like a purple one did not bloom in a particular year. So, you could dig what you thought were all purple iris one year and planted them. The next year you are surprised that they are all white or part white when you only planted purple iris. But really the purple just did not bloom the next year. Very often I have noticed that some years a certain variety will fail entirely to bloom even when I had hundreds of plants.

Now the last reason why bearded iris appear to change colors:

10. This is a little more complicated. On rare occasions and iris may produce a “sport” which means the iris may produce and increase the differs greatly in appearance from the original plant. These sports do not change the original plant but they could grow and be vigorous as in the first example. There is an iris named HONORABLE that is known to have produced several sports over the years.

I understand from others that there does seem to be a rare bluish purple sport of the old hardy white iris commonly growing in the south and that the purple sport is quite vigorous. However the purple sport sends off shoots that produce only white flowers and the purple sport could them seem to disappear. I suppose this would come the closest to a real change in color.

All I can really tell you is that people and companies who have been growing bearded iris for over 100 years all say that they don’t change colors. If I ever see it happen I will be happy to agree that it does. But in 50 years of observations I have not seen a bearded iris change colors.

Don't miss the Inland Region Iris Society's POTTED IRIS SALE on April 27-28, 2024 at the Riverside Community Flower Show, Elks Lodge, Brockton Ave, Riverside, CA. Cash or check sales only.

Happy Easter!

Great advice on W**D CONTROL

May the sun shine warm upon your face, and the rain fall soft upon your fields. May your iris blooms be plenty and give you joy throughout the year.

Inland Region Iris Society will have potted irises for sale at this event.

The 76th Annual Riverside Community Flower Show & Garden Tour is back!

Dates: Saturday, April 27 and Sunday, April 28

Location: Riverside Elks Lodge at 6166 Brockton Ave., Riverside, CA

For more information check out the flyer or visit this website: https://www.riversideflowershow.com

We hope to see you there!




ucanr.edu/sites/RiversideMG

Pre-Bloom Care for your Bearded Iris with Ben Schreiner. Tackle these easy tasks in early spring to set your iris up for a healthy start this growing season! Schreiner’s Gardens 4th generation owner and grower, Ben...

Potted Iris Sale on Aoril 27-28. 2024.
Elks Lodge, Brockton Avenue, Riverside, CA

Leaping into spring!