Iris photos from my obsessive hobby [Archive]

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iris lily

5-13-11, 9:04pm

Here are photos of my main iris garden.These photos were taken last week.

I've got a few other iris gardens including one that is coming on to rival this one, but this is my "secret" garden that is behind a fence where people cannot steal iris. This one has the special, expensive iris that I grow here until there is enough to distribute around to the other, unfenced, gardens.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb111/kprp/frenchiesandiris040.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb111/kprp/frenchiesandiris041.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb111/kprp/frenchiesandiris050.jpg

Kestrel

5-13-11, 9:16pm

The flowers are beautiful! Thanks for posting ...

Greg44

5-13-11, 9:48pm

benhyr

5-13-11, 9:58pm

Very beautiful!

flowerseverywhere

5-13-11, 10:21pm

I only have eight varieties but I love them all. Your gardens are beautiful. What a stark contrast to the brick buildings.

On the last picture what are the bunches of sticks on the roof?

Mrs-M

5-13-11, 10:56pm

So vibrant and beautiful. In the middle picture the bright mix of colours takes all my worries and troubles away. Thanks Iris for thinking of us and sharing.

Let me take a wild guess at what those bundles of vine type twine are. (The overgrowth of Virginia Creeper or another variety of climbing vine that has reached the point of the rooftop and simply died off).

iris lily

5-13-11, 11:16pm

I can almost smell them! My Great Grandmother was so proud of her Iris', I always think of her when I see them blooming.

We affectionally called her "more grandmother" When we were little and had grandma and great-grandmas around, we must have pointed to grandmother and then to Great Grandmother and said "more grandmas".

I can see her giving us a tour of her Iris beds explaining the different varieties, etc.

Thank you for sharing.

Ha ha people always link grandmas and iris, but I always emphasize when I'm having an iris giveaway "these are NOT your grandma's iris!" because mine are modern hybrids of the past 10 -15 years. I don't do historic iris (with a very few, beloved exceptions.)

iris lily

5-13-11, 11:17pm

...
Let me take a wild guess at what those bundles of vine type twine are. (The overgrowth of Virginia Creeper or another variety of climbing vine that has reached the point of the rooftop and simply died off).
you are probably right about that, I'll take a look the next time I'm there.

danna

5-13-11, 11:31pm

Heavenly!!!!

pinkytoe

5-14-11, 12:02am

How gorgeous!

Anne Lee

5-14-11, 6:38am

Wow. I really like the peach and maroon ones.

Kat

5-14-11, 8:49am

Just stunning!

Mrs-M

5-27-11, 6:51pm

iris lily

5-27-11, 10:37pm

Hey Iris Lily. Don't forget to do a check for us as to what all that twine like mess is atop that roof! I just remembered this thread and thought- "I have to post an entry otherwise I'll forget about it". :)

I did look and I'm pretty sure it's old vining stuff like you said. It's not very attractive on top of that house, is it?

fidgiegirl

5-27-11, 11:18pm

Do they bloom all summer, or are these the glory weeks?

Mrs-M

5-27-11, 11:26pm

Originally posted by Iris Lily.
I did look and I'm pretty sure it's old vining stuff like you said. It's not very attractive on top of that house, is it?No, it's not, but the nice part about vine crawlers or creepers is that they come back so nice and full and thick after a good topping. Thanks for posting the follow-up! :)

Tenngal

5-27-11, 11:54pm

so beautiful, thankings for sharing with us........how many have a good smell?

iris lily

5-28-11, 12:34am

Do they bloom all summer, or are these the glory weeks?

Iris bloom in May. There are a few cultivars that rebloom in the fall, but that's unusual.

iris lily

5-28-11, 12:35am

so beautiful, thankings for sharing with us........how many have a good smell?

Oh gee I don't know, in a concentrated area where these are, there is iris smell all over. I love the smell,there's nothing fresher.

Greg44

5-28-11, 1:55am

Oh gee I don't know, in a concentrated area where these are, there is iris smell all over. I love the smell,there's nothing fresher.

Their smell is distinct -- I bent over and smelled my neighbor's Iris' as I went to the mail box yesterday. It really does bring back many memories...

rosarugosa

5-28-11, 6:20am

That is a glorious display - you must have some very happy bees!

Sad Eyed Lady

5-28-11, 10:07am

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing with us.

Florence

5-28-11, 11:04am

Just beautiful!! I have one iris bed and they are lovely for a week and then gone until next year.

iris lily

5-28-11, 2:12pm

Just beautiful!! I have one iris bed and they are lovely for a week and then gone until next year.

With iris, if you do them seriously and long term bloom, you start with the tiny retiuclatus that bloom here in March, then miniature dwarf iris, then standard dwarf iris, then borders and intermediates, then the tall bearded and miniature bearded. They run Mardch through end of May, 8 weeks.

cdttmm

5-29-11, 7:18am

Love your pictures, Iris Lily -- thanks for posting them! My iris' are blooming right now, too, and are looking pretty good considering I have no idea what I'm doing! After May, you get to shift your focus to the lilies, right? I have trouble keeping track of when the sun-loving stuff blooms. Give me hostas and ferns, I'm a shade gardener. If I have a moderately sunny space, I plant Japanese maples -- gotta create more shade! (Yes, yes, I know, trees are the enemy!) If I have lots of sun, I plant peonies.

Wildflower

5-29-11, 10:59pm

Such pretty colors!! Thanks for sharing - I can almost smell them...

Tiam

5-30-11, 12:18am

Iris, do you trim the foliage back when they stop blooming?

iris lily

5-30-11, 12:21am

Iris, do you trim the foliage back when they stop blooming?No, not usually. I only trim the foliage when it hangs over the sidewalk and looks sloppy.There is no scientific reason to trim the foliage, the leaves feed the root and make a stronger plant.

Azure

5-31-11, 7:30pm

BEAUTIFUL!

Nimble

6-7-11, 5:20pm

shurflo (http://www.spraysmarter.com/public/buy/category/default.aspx?ID=196)

Here are photos of my main iris garden.These photos were taken last week.

I've got a few other iris gardens including one that is coming on to rival this one, but this is my "secret" garden that is behind a fence where people cannot steal iris. This one has the special, expensive iris that I grow here until there is enough to distribute around to the other, unfenced, gardens.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb111/kprp/frenchiesandiris040.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb111/kprp/frenchiesandiris041.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb111/kprp/frenchiesandiris050.jpg
Wow, I nowhere near can rival your gardens. You are right when you say it is an obsession hehe. The pictures are quite beautiful. They remind me of a movie scene I once saw. Were they ever used in a movie?