Harriet’s Iris Garden

Celebrating a wonderful group of plants

We ’re back today in Harriet Robinson’sbeautiful Maine garden , today search her solicitation of irises :

I started collecting iris diaphragm when I joined the Maine Iris Society about 12 old age ago . I joined not so much for a passion of irises as for the fact that this radical had a lot of experient gardeners as members . My sword lily collection grew facilitate by barter from phallus , threshold prizes at meetings , and purchases at auctions and sales . I begin to love iris , especially siberians which gibe nicely with other perennials , historic whiskery irises that are less frilly than mod ones , and Standard Dwarf Bearded ( SDB ) and Miniature Dwarf Bearded ( MDB ) irises which bloom before and are easier to channelise to blossom shows . I now mature SDB irises as abut plants , other median ( specially Intermediate Bearded , IB ) and Tall Bearded , TB , irises in 4 dedicated iris bed for a selection to take to our yearly flower show . I acquire Siberian with other perennials in miscellaneous garden , and a aggregation of hybridizer Currier McEwen ’s ( the father of the modern siberian iris ) siberian iris in consecrated beds .

Here ’s an exemplar of SDBs used for edging in the bed in front of my house . ‘ Tiny Beacon ’ is the MDB in the foreground next to SDB ‘ Inviolate ” and then ‘ Rainbow Rim ’ and euphorbia ‘ Bonfire ’ . I particularly like the bright yellow ‘ Cache of Gold ’ beyond the tone but relish placing all of them with color combinations in nous . ( The troughs on the front steps contain rock garden works . )

The largest of my whiskered iris beds has a mixture from recent to historic irises and blooms for 5 or 6 weeks starting with IB and ending with TB . Among my deary in this bed are ‘ Code of Honor ’ , an IB introduced in 2013 .

Yellow ‘ Coronation ’ from 1927 is a great agriculturalist and celebrate flowering for 3 week or more . Here it is with TB ‘ Shipshape ’ from 1968 , a Dykes victor , the highest awarding the American Iris Society give .

The humble iris bottom was the first one I put in and include mostly historics . ‘ Stepping Out ’ ( 1964 ) ( purple and snowy ) and ‘ Blue Sapphire’(1953 ) , both historical Dykes ribbon winners , are in this bottom . The lower purpleness and white-hot to the left is ‘ Frosted Velvet ’ , a 1988 Miniature Tall Bearded , and the lower yellow to the right is ‘ Kaleidoscope ’ from 1926 .

I have a pocket-size sphere dedicate to hybridizerBee Warburton . Her granddaughter has given me a survival of the fittest of Warburton SDBs and IBs . Pictured are the IBs after the SDBs in the front wrangle finished flower . This bed is an extension service to a long border . My pet mulch for bearded iris is pine needles which help some with weed control .

I begin pull together hybridizerCurrier McEwen’ssiberian irises for a small public garden near me . As the goal of the collecting grew from gather a theatrical performance to trying to find all of the extant ones , I had to tot large beds to my garden to curb up to 100 cultivars . This is a piece of work in advance as I continue to look for the I I am miss . ‘ Sally Kerlin ’ ( registered in 1968 and put in in 1970 ) was McEwen ’s first registration and has the first place ( lower right ) in these 3 farsighted bottom . This iris is one of the very first ones I plant in the kitty garden long before I had any idea I ’d have a collection of just McEwen cultivars . It stay a favorite of mine .

‘ Snow Bounty ’ ( 1973 ) is front and center here with others in the collection around it .

My current favorite McEwen is ‘ Romantic Lady ’ ( 1984 ) .

Other best-loved siberians include ‘ Dirigo Indigo ’ ( 2004 ) . It is a howling companion to peony , cranesbill geranium ‘ Brookside ’ and amsonia in the pool garden . It blooms later than most of the Siberians in the pool garden .

‘ Swans in Flight ’ ( 2006 ) is the first siberian to win the American Iris Society ’s top award , the Dykes medallion . Here it is with peonies in the syndicate garden on a absolved day that shows of the White Mountain view .

Have photos to share ? We ’d love to see your garden , a particular ingathering of plants you be intimate , or a terrific garden you had the chance to visit !

To accede , commit 5 - 10 photos to[email protected]along with some information about the plants in the picture and where you accept the photos . We ’d love to find out where you are located , how long you ’ve been gardening , successes you are proud of , failures you learned from , Bob Hope for the future , favorite plants , or shady stories from your garden .

Have a mobile phone ? Tag your photos onFacebook , InstagramorTwitterwith # FineGardening !

Do you receive the GPOD by e-mail yet?Sign up here .

Fine Gardening recommend production

The Nature of oak tree : The Rich Ecology of Our Most indispensable Native Trees

ok horticulture receives a commission for item purchased through tie on this internet site , including Amazon Associates and other affiliate publicizing political program .

ARS Telescoping Long Reach Pruner

Planting in a Post - Wild earthly concern : Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes

Get our later confidential information , how - to articles , and instructional videos send to your inbox .

Signing you up …

Growing and Designing with Bearded Irises in the Southwest

Harriet’s Fence Garden

Harriet’s Former Swimming Pool Turned Garden

Beautiful Beards

Join okay horticulture for a liberal pursue live webinar sport Dr. Janna Beckerman , a renowned plant pathologist as well as prof emerita at Purdue University and the ornamentals technical manager …

When I spot a particular sand dollar cactus ( Astrophytum asterias ) at the Philadelphia Flower Show a few calendar month ago , I knew I was in trouble . With a delightful color pattern …

When we only prioritise plants we need over plant our landscape painting needs , each time of year is fill with a never - ending list of chores : pruning , pinching , lachrymation , treating , amending , and fertilizing , with …

Video

Touring an Eco-friendly, Shady Backyard Retreat

You must be measured when you enter the backyard of garden designer Jeff Epping — not because you ’re likely to actuate on something , but because you might be dive - bombard by a duo …