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Louisiana Iris Hybrids
Louisiana Irises have to be one of the best kept secrets of the garden
world. The word Louisiana conjures up images of steamy bayous and tropical
foliage, but that's not the altogether correct image for these plants.
Yes, most of the five species that make up this incredibly variable mix of
plants do make their natural home way south of the Mason Dixon Line. But
people are growing them in virtually every state of the union and most likely in
every country in the world.
My first experience with this vibrantly
colored, vigorous group of floriferous plants came over a decade ago as I
was cruising a group of holding beds that I'd rarely visited higher up the
mountain. These are beds that I "toss" plants into until a time that I can
figure out where their final destination in the garden will be. I'm constantly
rotating plants in and out of these beds and I've came up with a great many
surprises. It was early Spring, and in the garden there were no Iris
blooming. Much to my astonishment a huge clump of Iris appeared in
one of the back beds that had gone previously unnoticed. There had to have been
over 20 of the most lovely blue flowers with the most unusual look to
them. At first I thought it was a Japanese Iris, but it was much too
early in the season. I dug around and found a faded tag that said Louisiana Iris
- D.K. Williams or Dorothy K Williams. I remember reading about this cultivar at
the time, and the woman for whom it was named a long time ago, but
for the life of me, I can't find any information about either
now.
Plants termed "Louisiana Iris" are interspecific hybrids
encompassing varying percentages of Iris nelsonii, Iris brevicaulis,
Iris fulva, Iris giganticaerulea and Iris hexagona. Each one of these
species brings a different range of color and form to the group. These are
mainly "water Irises", but they do quite well in average garden soil. The
wetter the soil, the more vigorous the growth. I've had equal
success in shade or sun, but if you grow them in full sun, in most
climates, they appreciate more moisture.
The term "Louisiana Iris"
originated with a painting by famed naturalist James Audubon in the
1820's, but Tom Dillard tells the story so well that instead of
paraphrasing him here, I'll just send you to http://sliris.bizland.com/aboutsli/history.html#introduction
and you can read his story for yourself.
Propagation couldn't be easier
by division. The rhizomes resemble lobster tails and new plants grow from
both sides of the front of the rhizome as it creeps along the ground. How
slow or fast it creeps is determined mainly by soil moisture content. The
sometimes fist sized seed heads yield handfuls of seed per plant. They are
huge seeds and seem to germinate slowly over the period of a few years.
Seedlings of open pollinated plants vary widely, but I've never
experienced an "Ugly Duckling" in the lot. This group of plants has not yet
succumbed to the insanity that the Daylily world has seen with hundreds of
thousands of named cultivars. I certainly hope that it doesn't.
The
popularity of this group of plants is most definitely on the rise, and if
your interest has been piqued, you should think about joining the
SLI, Society for Louisiana Iris. They have an extensive website at:
http://sliris.bizland.com/welcome.html I have a 225 page
book titled "The Louisiana Iris", edited by Marie Cailett and Joseph
Mertzweiller. It's an extremely well composed treatise on the subject and covers
history, hybridization techniques, culture and propagation in great
detail. It was published by The Texas Gardener Press in 1988 and from what
I understand is unfortunately out of print. The Library of Congress number
is 88-050001 and the ISBN number is 0-914641-09-3. A quick search at http://www.amazon.com listed
it as unavailable new, but used from $20.00. A real bargain! Texas
Gardener Press can be reached at 254-772-8696, maybe with enough calls we
could encourage them to do a reprint. Although I've never perused a
copy, there's a new book published by Timber Press, which is an
almost undeniable guarantee of its quality. You can buy this book at a
substantial savings from the Society. Read the in depth description and
purchasing information at - http://sliris.bizland.com/publications/book1.html
Taxonomic
Hierarchy Kingdom - Plantae - Plants Subkingdom -
Tracheobionta - Vascular plants Superdivision -
Spermatophyta - Seed plants Division - Magnoliophyta - Flowering
plants Class - Liliopsida Subclass - Liliidae Order
- Liliales Family - Iridaceae Series -
Hexagonae Genus - Iris Species - several Cultivar
name - Many Common name - genus - Iris Common name - species
- "Louisiana Iris", "Gulf Coast Iris" Synonyms - Water
Iris Native range - Missouri to Ohio, Mississippi drainage and Gulf
coast to Florida and north to Carolinas USDA Hardiness Zone - Varies,
but most to Zone 5, others to Zone 4 (3?) Light preference -
Open bright shade to full sun Soil fertility preference
- Average to rich Soil pH preference - 6 -
7 Soil moisture preference - Average to moist to submerged Bloom
time - May through June, depending on latitude Bloom color
- The whole spectrum Fragrance - Slight Foliage -
Medium green swordlike to thin grassy foliage Spread - Varies from
mildly spreading to vigorous Height - 12" - 60" Deer
palatability - Seems deerproof, at least my deer don't seem
interested Landscape uses - Margin of ponds, mid sun or shade
border Related species - Vaguely related to other North
American species Medicinal uses - None found
The complete set of GPOW back issues are now available on line at:
http://www.sunfarm.com/picks
By the way, if you're getting more than one copy of the "Glick
Pick of the Week", or would like to subscribe a friend, or for some insane
reason, to unsubscribe, let me know.
© 2003 Barry Glick and Sunshine Farm
& Gardens
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