garden tips

PLANTING HELP

Thanks Billie Gray for an informative overview of iris culture. Her first bit of advice was on choosing iris from a catalog, "do not just depend on the photograph; read the description, too". The advantage of buying your iris locally is they are acclimatized. Many iris out of our area are better off to age first before planting (let them sit and dry) until new roots show and they become hardened off. Choose nice, fat firm rhizomes.

When choosing a location to plant, remember large iris rhizomes need a lot of sun and good drainage. When planting, trim off old shriveled leaves and trim roots with scissors. Make a mound, drape roots over mound and pull soil up. Leave the top of the rhizome barely exposed to the sun; do not plant deep. Spacing is best at 12"-24" apart. Try to get three of the same variety and plant them in a triangle together.

Water well in the Spring and after planting, then let dry off for about six weeks. In the summer, they do like to dry out between watering, then in August and September resume plenty of water again. It is best to water early in the day, so plants dry out during the day. However, Japanese Iris do not like to dry out.

You should have continuous bloom each year, if you follow a division program every 3-4 years. When you divide, discard the center with the bloom stalk (mother rhizome) because it will not bloom again. The two on each side are the ones that will provide the bloom next year.

When cleaning the iris in the Fall or Spring, old leaves can be taken off by cutting or pulling. However, a word of caution. Tearing an iris can release toxins. If you tear, wait until Spring when leaves are dead. Do not injure the rhizome, as any cut or injury will allow bacteria to enter and start to rot. Be careful when you are weeding, too.

Low nitrogen fertilizers are best, including bone meal and phosphorus. Feed iris early in the Spring and again after bloom. A 5-10-10 once a year is good, too. Something like Osmocote pellets or another timed release fertilizer with a high middle number as a top dressing. Iris respond well to Epsom Salts, about 2 tablespoons around each plant in the Spring.

As far as insect attacks, we don't have a lot of problems in our climates. Borers are rare, some aphids and some thrips but sprays such as insecticidal soap will help control this. She didn't mention deer, but I find an occasional chomp from them.

Rot and leaf spot are more bothersome for our area, mostly because tall bearded (TB's} don't like wet feet or overhead sprinkling. If you do find rot in a rhizome, take it out. You can destroy the rotted rhizome and save the increases on the side; the white roots at the back or heel are the productive ones. Cut the rot with a clean knife, not serrated. Don't replant right away; instead let it ripen or callus for a few days first. Do not leave it on the ground where it will get watered. It's better not to replant in the same space. If you do want to replant in the same space, remove some soil and add fresh soil. Treat a fungus with two unbuffered aspirin tablets per gallon of water.

Leaf spot is a series of blotchy spots on the leaves. This infection is splashed on the plants from overhead watering, because it harbors in the soil. If lesions are severe, you may need to cut the plant all the way down. You can treat it with a copper sulphate, Bordeax mix. Pea gravel around the plants, about 3" deep, can help prevent organic material from causing the disease. The pea gravel also prevents heaving in the winter.

DREW'S IRIS BY JIM SADLER

Being a parent has many rewards. When you hear remarks you made to your child being repeated in front of you to others, that is one of those moments you smile inside. It always comes as a surprise when you realize that your child has listened and learned from you. I had such a moment this week when I spoke with my son Drew. When he was in high school , he would come with me to the Iris society meetings. He took some of the course work to become an iris judge.

After high school he went on to college and as any parent knows, spending time with your college student is very precious. Between work, studies and his social life Linda and I saw very little of our son. Then came marriage and a career in Washington DC. I thought he had put his interest in Iris aside. To my surprise on a recent visit to his home in Washington DC I found a well groomed yard that was full of flowers.

The crowning glory of Drews yard were his Iris. I know the Iris were his idea and I had very little to do with the planting and choosing of the Iris. But I had such pride that a little bit of my DNA had been transferred to him. My love for gardening and Iris had been passed along. I am passing along some pictures of Drews Iris so that members can enjoy them.

Jim Sadler

Showing Irises by Maryann Anning

If you grow and care for your irises properly, you have the same chance as anyone else to bring home a ribbon, even from your first show. It takes good culture, a good iris, careful handling and grooming and some knowledge of what iris judges will be looking for. The most important thing to remember is that your specimen is judged on how it looks at the time it is being judged, not when it was cut or what it might look like the next day.

TIPS ON HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH YOUR IRIS by Carol Barbian

When we were still using film cameras with a limited number of exposures, the temptation was to get everything in each exposure so that we could record EVERYTHING with each roll of film used. Thank goodness for digital. Now we can take as many photos as the memory card will hold-often more than 500-immediately see what we've captured and delete those deemed less than desirable.

This article will focus on a few tips for photographing your iris. I am by no means an expert, but I was fortunate enough to win the first annual iris photography contest and I am interested in producing a calendar for our Society, so perhaps what artistic knowledge I possess I can pass on.

Iris are beautiful flowers with a distinctive shape. The French fleur de lis is based on the iris shape. Showing that shape to best advantage may be your first challenge. Get eye level with the iris to capture its profile. Let one perfect blossom fill the whole frame, but leave a small space around the flower to show its form.

Viewpoint is a special consideration. If you stand above the flower and look down at it, you will not capture the shape to best advantage, but you may end up with a semi-abstract close-up of the throat or beard or stripes like a Georgia O'Keefe painting, capturing two or three in various stages of opening would be interesting.

Backgrounds may detract from your perfect photo. Learn to see everything in the frame. If your camera can blur the background while sharply focusing on the flower, that would minimize detractions. A plain gravelly background will showcase your bloom. Having a few leaves in the picture puts it into context. Donna Dowell had a lovely photo taken at a show of an iris in an arrangement with the plain fabric background.

Contrast will greatly aid the readability of your photo. Light colored iris will look best against a dark background. This may not happen in a natural setting. A piece of poster-board behind your bloom may bring out the best of the flower. Having an assistant to hold the poster-board works better than trying to juggle camera, shutter, background, point of view, etc. with only two hands. Of course, some of you may use a tripod which holds your camera absolutely still.

Exposure and focus may be automatic with your camera as mine is. If you can manipulate these on your camera, you know more than I do. I believe that sharp focus produces much better photos than fuzzy or soft focus. If you are photographing outside and there is a slight breeze that causes the petals or stalk to sway, your focus will not be sharp. You also cannot control outdoor lighting. Cloudy overcast will result in No shadows and softer prints than strong sunny midday times. The best lighting occurs in early morning (may be stiller) or late afternoon when the sun is oblique not overhead (which washes out color). You may want shadows on your flower. You may want some backlighting (which can result in a more unusual photo and therefore more interesting).

If you want more than one iris in your photo, be aware that each bloom will command attention and the overall effect my be diminished. Odd numbers are usually more pleasing gas is differing sizes. The same kind spaced out is more interesting than bunched multi-colors. The wide view of the whole garden will show off abundance but not the beauty of each iris. There is a place for that kind of photo, however, in the splendiferous display of rainbow color.

I hope these tips will help you get the very best photos you can of your iris that our Society can produce a top notch calendar fund raiser and object of beauty for our own homes as well as provide lots of competition for the next photo contest.

Carol Barbian