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Welcome! As "Annie in Austin" I blog about gardening in Austin, TX with occasional looks back at our former gardens in Illinois. My husband Philo & I also make videos - some use garden images as background for my original songs, some capture Austin events & sometimes we share videos of birds in our garden. Come talk about gardens, movies, music, genealogy and Austin at the Transplantable Rose and listen to my original songs on YouTube. For an overview read Three Gardens, Twenty Years. Unless noted, these words and photos are my copyrighted work.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

1999 Iris List

This wallow in Iris nostalgia was inspired when MayDreams Carol mentioned her dwarf bearded iris. Her post sent me to the old diaries from our last Illinois garden, the one I left behind in Summer of 1999.


The diaries had lists of names and bloom records. Some iris were ordered from catalogs, some picked up at Northern Illinois Iris Society sales, many were passalongs from friends. I don't remember ever seeing dwarf bearded iris for sale at a nursery.

I loved those dwarf bearded iris! They bloomed with Brunnera and Dicentra/Bleeding Heart, when the coral bells and lilies were waking up. Their small rhizomes didn't attract Iris borers like the flashy big hybrids and they fit so well into a small bed designed for close-up viewing.


Some of the dwarf bearded iris had registered names:

'Bright & White'

'Little Imp'

"Pixie Pastel'

'Beau'

'Lillipinkput'

'Eyeshadow'

'Irish Sea'

'Gingerbread Man'

'Bright Eyes'

'Orchid Raye'

'Enchanted Blue'

'Mr Roberts'

'Daisy'

'Hammered Copper'

'Indian Jewel'


Some dwarf bearded iris were named for the friend who shared the plant:

'Ruth's Kansas Prairie Purple'

'Vi's Minister's Yellow'

'Ellen's Yellow & Maroon'

'Vi's Purple w/white beard'

'Vi's Bright Yellow'

'Ruth's white with Blue beard'

'Carol's off white'

'Bernice's yellow & mahogany'

'Vi's Light Pink'


Some tall bearded iris had official names, too:

'Tangerine Sky'

'Orange Parade'

'Cozy Calico'

'Schiaparelli'

'Dundee'

'Stunning'

'Debby Rairdon'

'Carnival Time'

'Superstition'

'Fire & Ice'

'Lacy Snowflake'

'Victoria Falls'

'Lemon Brocade'


And names unofficial:

'Ruth's lilac'

'Bernice's Yellow'

'Sophie's Purple Velvet'

'Lilacia Garden Club Pink'

'Vi's Tall Purple & White'


Siberians were called:

'Sea Shadows'

'Gull's Wings'

'Cabernet'

'Illini Encore'

'Maranatha'


Passalong Siberians had names of people attached:

'Dad's Dark Blue'

'Vi's Dark Purple'

'Vi's Lilac'

Two species Iris came to me from Lorraine:

Iris graminea and Iris pseudocoris.


It's nearly a decade since I left - think any of them still bloom at the old house?

5 comments:

Carol Michel said...

I want more dwarf bearded iris after seeing your list. I have Brunnera blooming near mine, too, just out of range of the pictures I took.

Thank you for the wonderful iris post!

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

mss @ Zanthan Gardens said...

Your iris list is impressive. Reading it tempts me to try again. Live is too short not to have irises.

Kathy said...

Wow, Annie, you had a lot of different irises!

healingmagichands said...

I'll tell you what. If the people who live there now did not take them out, those irises are still blooming. Around here, you can identify old house sites by the daffodils and irises blooming there, even when the house is completely gone.

Muum said...

so, how do irises do in the heat of Texas? I love irises. They do well in hot and sunny UTah, but I know it is hotter longer in Texas!