Name: Teresa Felty Barrow South central KY (Zone 6b) SONGBIRD GARDENS
I have been adding a few of these beauties. I have found out that not all L. iris are the same. Black Gamecock grows like crazy!! On the other hand I have had Hush Money for years and it has hardly increased. Tell me about your favorite ones. Thanks!
Name: Bonnie Sojourner Harris Brake Lake, Arkansas (Zone 7a) Magnolia zone
Black Widow does very well here and has large blooms. One that i like that increases well and is a faithful bloomer is a small brownish one that was taken out of a bayou in LA and registered. Its blooms are not very big but it has a lot of them.
Thro' all the tumult and the strife I hear the music ringing; It finds an echo in my soul— How can I keep from singing?
Teresa - it has the Pinwheel form which is one of the older forms of LA's. My Black Widow (above has that form), as does many of the native LA's whose parentage includes I. fulva and I. nelsonii (and that are often categorized as both species and louisianas).
Name: Bonnie Sojourner Harris Brake Lake, Arkansas (Zone 7a) Magnolia zone
Not many people like Bayou Bandit. It is both the form, brownish color and small blooms that put them off i guess. When someone wants a share they always want a more colorful one with flaring petals. I like both.
Thro' all the tumult and the strife I hear the music ringing; It finds an echo in my soul— How can I keep from singing?
Teresa - They are fine without being in a pond but you plant them differently than the TB's. They like really rich soil, so throw in the compost and manure! You plant them about two inches below the soil, then add two or three inches of mulch on top to help keep them moist. Pine needles are good too. And water more frequently than the TB's.
Mine are along a creek bank and get flooded periodically but they have great roots so never float downstream. Right now it is really hot and dry so I put the sprinkler on them and my JI's every couple of days. You can pop them into a section of your garden but will have to give that section the extra nutrients and water. And they "walk." Meaning that their rhizome increases can spread far away from the mother and pop up. The garden mine are in are all LA's so I don't mind if they walk because the different colors are all mixed together anyway. If I am going to dig them though I need to tag the offshoots during bloom time so I know which is which when digging. Lots of people grow them in big tubs so they don't walk, and so it is easier to give them the water they need.
"The chimera is a one time happenstance event where the plant has a senior moment and forgets what it is doing." - Paul Black
Name: Teresa Felty Barrow South central KY (Zone 6b) SONGBIRD GARDENS
Hmm interesting! Do you mean tubs like big containers or tubs in the edge of a pond? I guess either way. I bought Blue Mountain Mist LA iris this Spring at a Lawn and Garden show. I only had 2 blooms but they were lovely! I cannot wait until it increases.
I think that first one is properly called, "Red Velvet ELVIS". I have it, and it's a stunner.
I don't have mine planted that deep, but then they are in an area that gets swamped every time it rains with outflow from the neighbor's sump pump. They love it, while everything else in that vicinity tends to rot.
-"If I can’t drain a swamp, I’ll go pull some weeds." - Charles Williams
If you have a pond you could just plant them along the edge of the pond. Were you thinking of semi-submerging the containers into the side of the pond? That would work to keep their spread controlled. Just make sure the water line in the container stays below the rhizome. The LA's love water but drown if fully submerged
"The chimera is a one time happenstance event where the plant has a senior moment and forgets what it is doing." - Paul Black
If you were thinking of placing large (decorative) containers on top of the ground that works too. Just line them with landscape cloth or only drill small drainage holes so the water drains more slowly. Before winter you can let these type of containers dry out a bit so the roots don't freeze and thaw in the water.
"The chimera is a one time happenstance event where the plant has a senior moment and forgets what it is doing." - Paul Black
Name: Teresa Felty Barrow South central KY (Zone 6b) SONGBIRD GARDENS
I wish I had a pond. A friend of mine owns a nursery/ponds plus business. She cleans others and installs. I got an estimate to have one built and decided it was to expensive or the plan that I submitted to her anyway. I can buy a lot of plants for $800 to a grand!
Note that they say to plant shallower than I do. Mine are planted a bit deeper to keep all the soil from floating away if the creek floods (fast moving water).
"The chimera is a one time happenstance event where the plant has a senior moment and forgets what it is doing." - Paul Black
Black Gamecock
Hush Money
When someone wants a share they always want a more colorful one with flaring petals. I like both.
