[Fleur Pavlidis]

When you say'prune' an Iris unguicularis can you tell me how do you do it, Joanna? I had to take an axe to one yesterday to separate it.

[Joanna Savage]

Hello Fleur. Yes I.unguicularis is extremely difficult to divide and when visitors admire the flowers and ask for a piece I feel weak and shudder at the prospective effort needed. I use the term 'pruning' very loosely. Mostly I have cut a great swathe of lower leaves very nearly back to what might be called a compressed stem, although I am sure there is a much more subtle botanical term. The aim is to be rid of as much leaf as possible but not to touch the buds in the leaf axils. It seems that the new flowers are coming from the position of those buds, so there must be flower buds as well as vegetative buds in that position, but I haven't yet noted whether there is any new leaf  forming.

 'Hacking' is probably a more accurate description than pruning.

[oron peri]

Fleur,

I cut back I. unguicularis every third year to about 10cm. Best time to do it is in autumn so that you'll enjoy the flowers when they start in december.
It is also the best time to devide big clumps and plant new divisions in the garden.
In nature, all 3 subspecies, have very narrow leaves that dry compleetly in summer therefor floweres appear while new leaves are still young.
The robust form grown in cultivation is a selection originated to north Africa [Algeria], it has much wider and longer leaves and is practicaly an ever green, there for needs to be pruned.

Personally this species is in my top 10 list for the Mediterranean garden as it is extreemly togh plant, can grow in the hardest conditions such as under Pine trees, deep shade etc and can live for ever,,,
Also it is one of the few plants to bloom during all winter.
There are few named cultivars including a white form but i find it less atractive and it doesnt live very long.

[Fleur Pavlidis]

Thanks both. I now have material for planting all round the garden, and to give to my daughter who has pines, and in future I'll obey you're 'pruning' advice and not let them get so big.

[plantsman50]

Here is an easy Iris that I grow as annuals in the greenhouse and conservatory for some welcome colour early in the year. Plant them out into the garden once they have finished flowering inside.

Martin

[JTh]

Wow, impressive image!

[Fermi]

Hi Martin,
'Harmony' is the most commonly seen Retic in this part of Australia - but no retic is really "common" here! I grow it in the rock garden and raised beds where it multiplies well - but it doesn't like it if we have a wet summer - no worries this year!
'George' and a few others also do well but 'Harmony' is the best,
cheers
fermi

[Trevor Australis]

Hi all, like Fermi I grow a few retic Iris outside under widely spaced deciduous trees and shrubs. 'Alida' and 'Katherine Hodgkin' are among them along with some of the blue kinds. I feed them as soon as the first leaves and flower buds appear and then several times after the flowers have faded. I use water soluble tomato food so there's not too much nitrogen. I plant the bulbs about 10cm deep in an effort to keep the bulbs at a depth where the soil is at a constant but cool temp year round. tn

[Joanna Savage]

Hello Fleur, referring to your posting of 20 Feb 2013, in which you wrote about dividing Iris unguicularis with an axe, I have been wondering whether you have had good results with the resultant plants.

Also using an axe I separated about 30 pieces of tuber for planting in Feb 2013. The results have been rather disappointing, as only about 8 have grown. The few I put in the ground immediately had about half success rate, those in pots were terrible and the last few appear to be on the way out. I note that Oron wrote of dividing in autumn so perhaps I left it too late. Still, there does seem to be something about being planted in pots which they didn't like.
So I'll have to sharpen the axe in time for autumn and another try.

[Fermi]

Here's a pic I took this morning of an Iris aucheri I grew from seed from NARGS Seedex 2005 ex Turkey - collected Leylek Station;
cheers
fermi

[Alisdair]

Beautifully grown, Fermi - and judging by the look of that tempting stretch of grit/gravel behind it, it's the advance guard of what's going to be a terrific show as your Antipodean spring advances!

[Fermi]

Beautifully grown, Fermi - and judging by the look of that tempting stretch of grit/gravel behind it, it's the advance guard of what's going to be a terrific show as your Antipodean spring advances!

Sadly, no, Alisdair!
This is an experimental sand bed and of the six Juno iris planted here the Iris aucheri is the only success. It's 20 to 30 cm of pure sand over the "native soil" which is heavy clay. I'm planning to re-vamp the bed to try Oncocyclus Iris by digging in some soil about 15cm under the sand. A neighbouring bed is a mix of sand/grit/clay and Onco iris are doing reasonably well in it.
cheers
fermi

[Trevor Australis]

Yes Hermodactylus tuberosus does have yellow forms. tn

[Fermi]

Some of the reticulata iris this year in our garden,
Clairette x 2 views
Edward
Iris histrio ssp aintabensis MT4501
Pauline
George
Harmony
Blue Ice
Dance On
cheers
fermi

[Trevor Australis]

A friend refers to Tony Hall's bulb fertilizer mix but never tells me what it's make-up is. Does anybody know the 'secret' stuff?