Beginner Gardening: Beautiful Flowers and Plants , 1 by cathy166

cathy166 wrote:
Pretty sure the ensatas came from Costco in the spring about 2 or 3 years ago. I don't recall if they were plants, rhizomes or bulbs. I prefer them to tall bearded iris. Somehow I think they might be sold as wetlands irises, but are not in a particularly wet area.

The Dutch iris were small bulbs and bloomed only 1 or 2 seasons, but I have had good luck with all the others. While we order some bulbs, we purchase most of the bulbs at Costco as soon as they arrive. The bags are all the same price. The cheapest bulbs have 50-100 bulbs per bag. The most expensive, like the large alliums and fritillaria come with about 4 per bag. That is the only place I will get bulbs locally. I find that the other big box stores are unreliable at best with quality, content and damage.

The first two photos are reticulated (dwarf) irises that bloom in early March. They are 4-6 inches high, and when the foliage comes out, it is tubular, 3-sided and continues to grow long after the blooms are gone. That last three are all ensatas, but not the same plant. Some are fuller than others. I will say that the white ensatas are not so dramatic.

They did not post in the correct order, but I think you can tell which are the dwarf irises, and they are really blue.

This message was edited Nov 9, 2013 4:05 PM