It has been another year with a great but slow start. A great winter with good survival rates. However, wet spring has made it hard to get out in garden. Some plants are suffering with excessive moisture and are showing illness. Every year has it’s own highlights and problems.
In spite of intentions, the catalogue and website are much later then I had originally intended. A one man show means that only so much can be done at one time and everything must wait its turn.
My introductions continue to win awards where they are judged on merit. That is judged on their beauty and plant habits, and not based on how many people grow them. Last year Paradigm Shift (SDB ‘06) won a Loomis award from the Dr Loomis Memorial garden in addition to the gold medal it won at German International competition in 2008. Additional awards include Eramosa Freckles (MTB ‘07) which also won a Loomis award last year. Black Lightning won silver medal in the 2010 German Iris International competition. At this years Median Iris Muster, Limesicle (SDB ‘00) tied for best SDB. The green colour that impressed the garden visitors is difficult to capture well in photographs.
The offering of new SDB for this year have passed testing in my own garden for a number of years. All are strong growers. Crash And Burn is an intense bitone orange. Orange SDB have proven difficult to maintain in this climate and Crash And Burn has surpassed expectations.
There were a large number of seedlings from Forever Blue X Autumn Tangerine that rebloomed last year. Some of these rebloomed several times. While these are considered transition plants, a couple may have good enough form to be considered for introduction. A lot of crosses with these seedlings so more cold weather rebloomers coming down the line. The more I breed with and study reblooming genetics and biology, the easier it becomes to select suitable crosses. For people interested in genetics and selections of parents for rebloomers, check out my article in the Spring 2011 Reblooming Recorder. Hopefully I’ll be able to get my articles up on my website later this year for easier access.
Work with hardy TB is ongoing. With the cold weather trials there are some interesting observations that could lead to better selection of parents for cold hardy tall bearded iris. With my TB breeding it is frustrating to get great flowers, but find plant is unable to handle weather and climate conditions here. There are some promising TB seedlings here, but need to wait further winter testing.
A number of beardless seedlings are being lined up for introduction. A tetraploid pseudacorus with flowers about 6" across, and huge plants. A very nice white pseudacorus with many buds and flowers well above foliage. A blue veined on white versicolor, a 6 falls versicolor, and a pink setosa. These should all be ready for next year.
Best wishes for your iris season for 2011. If close by feel free to drop in for a visit.
Chuck Chapman