Dutch Iris 2011

Well finally mine are blooming. Many of them had the leaves freeze-burned over this funky winter we had, since here at least Dutch iris leaves emerge in the fall and generally stay all winter.

Finally emerging from the burnt foliage

Steve, Are dutch iris hardy to zone 4? They would be a great addition to spring bloom!

Hurray, the Dutch Iris are blooming in Fort Worth! I hope you post lots more pictures. You know I love those Dutch Iris.

I know people upstate that don't have the Dutch Iris come back for them so I really doubt they would come back in zone 4. You could just plant afew in the fall each year, the bulbs are inexpensive.

Hi Becky, I think they are hardy to 6a on the northern end from what I have read..like zones 6 through 8. Pretty narrow range for return. Ahh but at least you can do the Crocus Vernus which don't return well for me :-( Guess we allhave our trade-offs :-) Agree with Rita on bulbs being very inexpensive; just don't know if they'd survive your winters...and Rita didn't you try spring planting once? How did that work out?



This message was edited Apr 3, 2011 12:50 PM

I did try spring planting for two years in a row. It was a dismal disaster. Few of the bulbs even came up much less bloomed. I think I had two blooms the years I did the spring planting. Never again. I am going for fall planting from now on. From what people have said about planting in zone six in the fall, they come up the following year. Years after that is when they dissapear. But not for everyone. I guess it depends on the micro climate in one's garden.

Thanks for the update Rita....didn't remember hearing the results of your experiment. I am lucky that this is one of the bulbs that do really well for me for return....and when you can get a bag of 50 for $12 or $15 that is really a bargain. Those in the pictures above have bloomed for three years running (yellow) and four years (blue). Not sure how much the frost damage to the leaves will impact next year's return but 'll add more anyway. Mine send up leaves in the fall and they stay all winter and then bloom in April each year. Unfortunately I don't have the same % return with, say tulips, I get maybe 25 to 50% return on the high end. I am just glad the peonies have been successful. And yes Rita I know you hate peonies which I will never understand since we are in sync on everything else, LOL.

Here are my Dutch Irises behind the Bearded Irises

Love the bearded iris, drthor....I only have one in bloom now but lots of them have flowerbuds.

my Dutch Irises

a few darker Dutch Irises ... yes lots of buds on my Bearded Irises too ... just a few blooming

Here's another clump of the yellow ones with a floribunda rose that just started to bloom in the background

Another variety beginning to bloom

And another

Steve- I just never could get excited about those Peonies. I think it might be because the few times I tried them they were a great failure in my garden. Never the correct color and bloomed singles instead of the prettier full flowers. And the flowers only lasted about three days each spring. I tossed them outta here long ago. Not trying again as I have limited space and things I really love so the heck with things I don't much care for.

You must be in the perfect climate for the Dutch Iris as they always look so beautiful for you blooming each spring.

I don't do that great with tulips either. Just afew come back after many years. I find that I need to replant at least every three years if I want my spring tulips. But mine had really dwinded down so last fall I put in hundreds of them. This spring will be spectacular. Next spring should still be good and then not so great and then plant again. Tha's how it goes here. I planted mine deep this time around so am hoping for stronger return.

drthor- Lovely blooms on your Dutch Iris

One more. Will look better in a day or two when the whole clump blooms

Rita,

You are right about peony blooms' endurance. Especially when the sun gets hot here the flowers go to pot very quickly, especially the coral ones I have. Depends on the year....cooler Aprils with overcast skies make for a really nice and relatively long lasting display (like a week) but for example, I had Abalone Pearl blooms that opened pink this morning and already have faded to white. Not all varieties fade but the ones that do, DO. Still love them though and have LOTS.

Well you have one of the most spectacular lily displays around and then of course your daylilies are out of sight as well!

The tulips I think like a really dry soil and maybe that is part of the problem. The ones I have in a really dry area seem to return better than others but in any case I think you're right about the need to replant often. When they do return they're not as big or vibrant as the first year. Nothing like the staying power of daffodils. Hyacinths now do really well for me and I get good return.

My tulips are in my mixed gardenbeds so they have to deal with whatever needs watering. Can't be helped and can't be changed.

I need to get lilies out in the front yard area out on the left. I used to have a nice stand there but it more or less died out and then the last of the bulbs dissapeared when I did the last of the terracing. Of course I have lots of lillies elsewhere around the garden. But I always feel like I need more.

Sometimes I feel like the daylilies have gotten out of hand around here I have so many. Oh well, I do love them. Love my roses too and lots of other things around here.

Those Dutch Iris sure do seem to love Texas! Gorgeous! Too bad they would not like it here.

dthor: what is the name of your pink TB iris above? It is beautiful!

irisluv0252 .. I really dunno the name of that Iris or most of my Irises ... I am really bad at that.
But I can tell you that it is huge and very fragrant.

irisluv0252 .. I really dunno the name of that Iris or most of my Irises ... I am really bad at that.
But I can tell you that it is huge and very fragrant.

irisluv0252 .. I really dunno the name of that Iris or most of my Irises ... I am really bad at that.
But I can tell you that it is huge and very fragrant.

It reminds me of Vienna Waltz.....thanks!

After looking closer, I think Vienna Waltz is too lavender. I found a couple of others that might be better matches:

Ever After
Aplomb (this one is a closer match I think). Pic below:

Well, I found another one that is close:

Here are some more DI blooming...April 4th or 5th....

Steve- Really beautiful blue color on those blooms. The picture looks to be sideways :-))

I love that you guys down south have blooms. This is what my Dutch Iris look like today. Not even thinking of blooming yet LOL! There are daylilies in front of them and TB iris in back.

Here's my Oriental Beauty, the other 99 that were planted are just purple.

How come you only got one Oriental Beauty?

Thanks Rita :-) Yes Picasa automatically changes orientation when i view it on my computer but I guess I have to rotate it and save for it to come out right here :-)

CONGRATS Rita on your DI....they overwintered - now the hard part's done!!!

Well, yes but I totally expected the Dutch Iris to come up since I only planted them last fall. The test of the pudding, so to speak, is if they will come up and bloom next spring.

My entire order of 100 bulbs should have been Oriental Beauty, but they sent the wrong bulbs which I found out only after they bloomed.

Clem- Were did you buy them? Thats a bummer only getting one of the correct color out of the hundred.

My Dutch iris came from Van Englen. All the other bulbs that I ordered from them, except the amaryllis, were fine and did well.

I order mine from Scheepers (same company as VE) and also Brent and Becky. Wow, sorry - they're usually pretty reliable.

Here are some darker yellow ones I caught in bloom this morning.

Oh, I like the solid yellow ones. Very Pretty.

I ordered one batch from Brent and Beckies. 50 bulbs I think. But all the rest of my Dutch Iris I ordered from Scheepers. I know Van Englen and Scheepers are the same company. The only difference in the two websites seems to be Van Englen has larger quantities listed in some of their bulbs offered. And maybe $2.00 or so difference in prices listed. I sure hope I got the correct colors that I ordered.

Clem- What a bummer getting only the one Oriental Beauty. Seems to me that they owe you replacement bulbs.

I will be sending them an email about this. Their other bulbs were fine.

Heck, I look everyday. No bloom stalk yet on my Dutch Iris. I thought these bloomed before the Tall Bearded Iris and my TB have just, just statted barely showing bloom stalks. So of course I go peer at all my Dutch Iris but no bloom stalks showing yet!