Mount Pleasant is a National Display Garden for Japanese Iris. It is a well deserved title as the owner, Chad Harris, has hybridized some amazing Japanese iris! Alas, JI season was about a month away when I visited. I knew this but went anyway since I had heard the farm was such a place of beauty. And it truly is magnificent. The farm and home are on a slope that overlooks the Columbia River, with the Dalles in the distance and those rare mountain views. Chad and his partner, Dale, have landscaped the entire property into a thing of beauty. When you visit you get to view the grounds as well as the gardens. Worth the time! And wow, I wish I lived there.

I also found that Chad has a pretty amazing collection of MTB's! Many you will see here. Siberians were also in bloom, and some species.

The first thing you notice coming up the drive and parking is the landscaping. Chad used red trees as focal points to great advantage.


After being greeting by Chad we headed down to the gardens. First thing we came across was one of the Species-X seedlings. Species-X, or Species Cross, iris are produced from breeding to different species of iris.

08SPCXA2 (btw the way - Chad has great labels - even for seedlings!)

Chad's Species-X Unexpected Surprise looking a bit rained upon. We had on and off light rain while we were there.


Now it's MTB time!

Linda Miller's Connect The Dots:


and
Linda's Dodger - looking much more like it's plum and white falled self than I had seen in pictures.




The Craig's Say Red, which is really rose colored.

Linda Miller's Dollie and Me:



Thomas Johnson's Tic Tac Toe:




Bunnell's Hoosier Belle:

It looks like a beautiful place

It really is. You will see more of it but wish I had more of the house and from the deck.

That's great, Leslie. I just collected some red laceleaf Japanese maple seeds, off the ground, near the dental office, I went to for a referral, visit.. Wish those Iris ensata were in flower, while you were there, to see & get photos. Thanks for sharing part of your visit there, so far.

Back to the MTB parade!

Varner's Tracking:




Bunnell's In My Veins


Seem to be in a stripe theme, so one more of those! Jean Witt's Little White Tiger:

Markham's Bit O'Royalty, which is very pretty even when soaking wet!




Chad's Black Cherry Sorbet. Love this one.



Lynda Miller's Plum Happiness:

Chad's Candy Basket (a sibling of Black Cherry Sorbet):




Cheerful Doll by Lynda Miller:



And to give you a change in scenery, Lauer's IB Little Blue Girl:

Black Cherry Sorbet

I have wanted Black Cherry Sorbet and Candy Basket since they were introduced but was afraid to try them since I have had problems growing their beautiful parent Redrock Princess. I mentioned this to Chad and he told me that he too had problems growing Redrock Princess but that the other parent is a hardy grower so the children are better growers than the Princess. Now I must try them!

Going to give you a break from MTB's and throw in a few other bearded iris.

Chubby Cheeks being extra chubby:



Frosty Moonscape fully flat:



A shot of some of the bearded in bloom:

Black's Habit:


and his May Debut that is making quite a spring debut:



Another field shot:

One final shot of the bearded iris fields:

On to the Siberians and other beardless!

McEwen's Pansy Purple: So many still in bud waiting to open too.

Gabriel Lecomte's species iris Aaron's Blue:




Cleveland's Sib Summer Sky was a favorite of mine. I would love a whole clump of this blooming in my yard.

Shafer & Sacks Pretty Polly:
This one has a bit extra.



The Species X Holden's Child:


A photo of the Beardless iris fields. The rows at the bottom are where the Japanese and Laevigata are planted.

The next two are planted by each other and look a lot alike in my photos, but in person they are much more unique in appearance.

Shafer/Sacks' Three Hand Star:


and their Ships Are Sailing:



Final sib for now - their Charming Billy, which really is rather charming.

Thanks Leslie for taking the time to post and explain all these. Some very nice irises in the group. Nice field shots too!

Thanks Leon. Still have a few more to go here before I decide how to tackle the iris at Keith Keppel's and Mid-America.
Next up includes some SDB's that were still in bloom.

You take some time to figure it out. They will be well worth the wait.
"May Debut" & "Pretty Polly" are outstanding! Glad you posted.