Irises


April 2009:




April 2010:

South side of circle. Unknown type.

Kay's sister, Denise, gave us a bag full of unidentified irises in fall of 2009 just before it started freezing.
I pretty much just threw them on the ground and spread a little dirt over them and they came up:

Here was the only one to bloom in 2010. Someone online said that she thought it is "Magic Pallet", but nothing by that name comes up when Googled.
It has the markings of "Rock Star", but no matches to these colors come up in Google Pictures. Looks like "Hold That Tiger".

I don't know that the one above was one of Denise's bunch. In 2013, it didn't come up and I don't recall if it did in other years.
That area blooms a lot now, but only blue and violet(?) irises:

April 2012:

April 2011

We were given 4 irises (2 each for Kay and me) at a Garvan Gardens class on irises.
The rocks in these pictures are a temporary measure against the very strong winds we are experiencing now.

This one ("Clarence") is a rebloomer and was planted in the northwest bed by some other rebloomers:

These Intermediate Bearded were planted in the northeast bed by some crested irises.

2012: Bordello Queen:

2012: Bottled Sunshine:

2014: Bordello Queen and Candy Rock:


2015: Under the cedar tree:

April 2012: This bed of irises is at the bottom of the hill in the back yard. We have not had any luck getting plants to grow down there
even though it is an open space that gets at least as much sun as anything else in the yard. The tops of the rhizomes have been kept clear,
but these have never bloomed. Haven't given up on them yet, though.

2013: These irises are mostly in shade (no afternoon sun at all) and the rhizomes are not even kept cleared, but they flower faithfully:

May 2, 2013: Northeast bed: Since the River Birch tree was removed, this bed probably gets the most sun of any.

May 15, 2013: The iris on the right is unknown. It came up near where the MegaBucks iris was planted which never came up, and is somewhat similar, so that's what it's being called:

May 2, 2013: Irises from a class at Garvan Gardens:

(Not) Double Shot rebloomer in the Cotoneaster bed:
This plant was labeled as being "Double-Shot" when given to us, but D-S is blue and white and is a rebloomer.

More irises in Cotoneaster bed:

May 7, 2015: reblooming Champagne Elegance, street bed


Iris ensata 'Shogun'

In an iris class at Garvan Gardens, we were told that Japanese Irises are very hard to grow in Arkansas.
Unfortunately, these were ordered long before the class and haven't bloomed.

Catalog picture and description:



The Japanese have long been admired for their beautiful, serene gardens. Amid the silent stones and gurgling waterways stands the elegant Shogun Japanese Iris. Royal red blossoms with cascading petals and white and yellow throats bloom early to midsummer-the latest of all irises. Grows 24-40" tall. Plant 12-18" #1 field-grown rhizomes.


Iris and coreopsis, May 3, 2015:

See the irises in the street bed of the side lot.

April 21, 2015. Here are a couple of irises from the center bed of the side lot: