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Iris Reticulata Harmony — 19 Comments

  1. Martin, right enough when I was working I wasn’t so fussed about how the garden looked in Winter. I am trying to make more of an effort now.

  2. Alistair, I love all irises, they are just about my favourite flower. I’m ashamed to say, however, that I only have summer-flowering varieties, as I am not a winter gardener! Partly because I don’t like the cold, partly because I am at work during the daylight hours and only get to see the garden at the weekend. Cheers for now.

  3. Yes Rosie even a short fine spell can bring on the plants. Great to hear someone with success growing Reticulata. That is a lot of Potentillas, must give a really good show. You will have to do something on Perth having the tallest Beech hedge sometime.

  4. Hello Alistair
    Isn’t it lovely to see more and more colour appearing in the garden as each week goes by. I think our wonderful weather this week has really helped the plants along after our long winter.

    Some of my iris reticulata flowers started flowering on Monday and I must go out and take a few quick photos of them before it gets too dark. Mine stay in the same patch in the garden from year to year and every year they always come back into flower so I must have the ideal conditions for them. Last year after they flowered I lifted them and replanted so that they would be in a clump so I may not have as many as previous years….. I just can’t tell.

    I better add pruning roses to my list – I have a hedge of 70 potentillas to cut down this weekend.

  5. Your irises are so bright and beautiful. I had a few of these irises scattered in my rock garden and after seeing your photos I have realized that I should have clumped them together for a more spectacular effect.

  6. Thanks Carolyn, I am keen to try some more Irises, I will go for the bulb varieties as I cant be bothered with those tuberous ones which like to be slightly exposed.

  7. I saw lots of Iris reticulata and various other dwarf Iris’ at the London show and I must say I’m smitten with them, just love the vivid colours! I’ve bought some from there as well as bulbs from mail order. It won’t be till next year we’ll know if they’ll come back in full force or not but big clumps of these are stunning! 🙂

  8. Alistair, thank you! My bulbs came from a well known DIY shed as a reward for braving their appalling checkout queues for a packet of screws and some timber. No specific name, just ‘Iris reticulata’. At least now I know it is ‘Harmony’! I have to plant them in pots because my soil is acidic, and I don’t go for soil amendment – except on the allotment.

  9. Alistair, I too get frustrated with the description of late winter-blooming plants as spring-blooming–not sure why that is. I can’t grow Iris reticulata, but I love it. Iris versicolor, commonly called blueflag, is native to the whole northeastern quadrant of North America. I love it but it does have a very short bloom time. It can grow in average soil in addition to standing water. Carolyn

  10. Dear Edith, I also have tried reticulata time and time again outdoors as information which I constantly receive suggests that this should be successful. I now also treat them as an annual.

  11. Dear Alistair, I was most interested to see the photograph of your Iris reticulata ‘ Harmony’ growing in a border. I have now stopped growing these glorious early spring Iris outdoors in the open border as I have much more success with them in terracotta pans in the Alpine House. On reading further, I see that you have done the same. I suspect that they are relatively short lived outdoors unless they have perfect growing conditions, but they do make such wonderful conainer plants don’t they?

  12. Masha, I once saw a trial where Roses were pruned according to instructions and others were hacked back with shears, both sets bloomed well in Summer. However they did not recommend this as it may in the long term have different results.

  13. Beautiful irises, mine are not blooming yet….

    Interesting pruning guide. Here people are told to leave young roses alone except for dead, damaged and diseased wood to let them settle in. The only young roses which are cut severely (and severely is to 6-7 bud eyes) are those in which one would hope to induce branching by making such a cut. Really interesting how drastically different the approaches to pruning are. I am beginning to think that roses are pretty resilient and can tolerate almost anyone’s idea of correct pruning:)

  14. these are my favorite spring blooms…my best performewrs are in dry, sunnier areas…we shall see how they have weathered this winter…lovely Versicolour by the pond

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