GENERAL CATALOGUE LISTING

JAPANESE, VIRGINICA, PSEUDACORUS AND LAEVIGATA IRISES

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JAPANESE (ENSATA) IRISES

JAPANESE IRISES (also known as Iris Ensata or Iris Kaempheri - pronounced 'camp-fur-eye') are very happy in a wet or bog garden location during spring and summer - and need lost of water to ensure that they flower well at those times of the year. However, when they start to die down in late autumn and during winter, they become almost completely dormant. During this time Japanese Irises need to have their regular supply of water withdrawn - or the rhizomes may rot away. Just let them receive regular rainwater during their dormant period - as this will be sufficient for their needs.
For this reason, Japanese Irises make excellent pot specimens, where they can be easily moved about during the seasons. Pots can be easily removed from a water environment in autumn and winter. However, that said, we grow our Japanese Irises in large kiddie wading pools - which are readily available at most large supermarkets. We fill the pools with soil and create an articificial bog area. We give the irises lots of water during their active growing season (and the wading pools help to hold the water, which results in less watering)). We then just stop watering the pools during the winter - and the plants just receive rainwater. While we appreciate that these readily available and economical kiddie wading pools are not particularly aesthetic in design or colour, they do fulfil a purpose and provide a good environment for the plants to grow in.

Japanese irses like a rich acid soil - with lots of acidic mulch and compost placed around them (but not right up next to the roots!). Things like pine needles and/or oadk leaves are an excellent natural acidic mulch. We use commercially-available sugar cane mulch bales as mulch - and these are very successful at providing good mulch cover. They also retard weed growth.

We feed our Japanese irises with commerciallly-available Camellia/Azalea fertiliser as soon as the dormant foliage starts to re-grow in late winter - and again just after blooming has finished. You can also happily use Blood and Bone products on Japanese irsies, but please DO NOT USE any other commerciall-available fertiliser UNLESS it specifically states that it is suitable for acid-loving plants.

Japanese irises are greedy feeders and need to be lifted and re-located (lifted, divided and potted-on) every 2 or 3 years or so. Providing the irises with fresh acidic soil will ensure that blooms are large and plentiful. If you already have some Japanese irises growing and you have found that their blooming has not been as robust as usual lately - then you need to lift them, dividie them and re-plant them in fresh acidic soil. Your efforts will be rewarded with better bloom performance next season.

Japanese irises should ONLY be lifted and divided in mid-to-late winter, when the majority of the foliage has started to die-off and die-down. If you try to lift and divide your Japanese irises at any other time of the year, you may risk losing them. Be aware of this and only purchase Japanese irises from nurseries who provide bare-rooted stock in winter.

If you can grow Louisiana irises well, then we recommend that you give Japanese irises a try. They are a little more demanding with their specific cultural requirements (whereas Louisiana irises are very tolerant of the harshest of environments and treatment!) but are well worth the extra effort to grow them.

Flowers are generally described as single (usually a three-petalled bloom), double (usually a six-petalled bloom) or peony-type (with nine or more petals). They can bloom early, mid or late in the general Japanese iris season - and some varieties are regular autumn re-bloomers for us in our garden in Sydney.

In our Sydney garden the Japanese irises tend to start their bloom season in late spring - early summer (late November to early December), with peak bloom around Christmas time. They generally follow the Louisiana iris bloom season by about six weeks, but this can vary with the type of spring that we have (ie. hot and dry or cold and wet).

As mentioned above, Japanese irises are NOT as adaptable as Louisiana irises. They need to be provided with their more exacting cultural requirements in order for them to grow to their best possible standard. You may be interested to learn that most early collections of Japanese irises were originally grown around Shinto Shrines in Japan - and it is no coincidence that the plants have been bred over the centuries to coincide with special events in the Shinto religious calendar.

JAPANESE IRIS CULTIVARS AVAILABLE

MY HEAVENLY DREAM

These cultivars will be available for supply from mid Autumn, 2008 until about 1st June, 2008. Some of the cultivars are only available in limited numbers, so if you wish to obtain some of these, may we suggest that you place your order with us as early as possible. Orders will be supplied in their order of receipt, to be fair to everybody.

ANYTUS - double ivory-white with white style arms and yellow signals. LIMITED SUPPLIES.

BENI TSUBAKI - dark double red-violet with whit rays and style arms. An interesting name, as 'beni' means 'red' and "tsubaki" means "camellia" in Japanese.

ENCHANTING MELODY - double lavender-pink with deeper lilac-pink style arms and yellow markings. LIMITED SUPPLIES.

FASCINATION - double, ruffled mauve-pink.

HEKITO - double, rich dark cobalt-blue with light blue veins, white styles tipped blue. LIMITED SUPPLIES.

HISIKATA - double, very dark midnight-blue self with darker veins, yellow signals and blue style arms. VERY LIMITED SUPPLIES.

IMMACULATE WHITE - single, pure white. This is a good late summer re-bloomer for us. A wonderful grower - and great increaser. Outstanding.

IMPERIAL MAGIC - single, with deep violet standards and very large falls with soft purple markings. Mid violet style arms. VERY LIMITED SUPPLIES.

MY HEAVENLY DREAM - double rose-red with deeper veins and pale pink rim. Rose style arms and yellow signals. One of the first - and last - to bloom in our garden. A great garden performer, with late summer re-blooming.

PASTEL PRINCESS - double, pastel lavender-pink. A great garden performer.

PRAIRIE NOBLE - double, pastel lavender with a fine overlay of purple veins on all petals. Large, overlapping, ruffled petals. Outstanding performer for us.

RETURNING TIDE - single with pale blue falls and ice-blue standards. Mid violet veins on the falls and pale plus style arms. A regular late summer re-bloomer for us - and a great increaser, forming a large clump very quickly.

SUMMER STORM - double, very dark blue-purple self with yellow signals. Style arms are black-purple. Heavily ruffled. VERY LIMITED SUPPLIES.

TAFFETA & VELVET - single, very dark purple. LIMITED SUPPIES.

ANYTUS (left), PRAIRIE NOBLE (centre) and RETURNING TIDE (right).

IRIS PSEUDACORUS - ENGLISH WATER IRIS

The English Water irises will grow in a similar location to the Japanese irises noted above. These early spring-flowering varieties can die down during the winter in colder climates, but here in Sydney they remain a semi-evergreen addition to the bog garden. English Water Irises are happiest in shallow water or in wet, boggy soils. We grow ours in semi-shade, as this is the wettest part of our garden, but English Water irises will grow happily in full sun - provided they receive sufficient moisture. We can supply English Water Irises at any time of the year, but have found that they re-establish themselves better after having been re-planted in autumn/winter. English Water iris cultivars are, however, supplied by us during the Louisiana iris sale period from about 10th December, 2007 until approx. 31st July, 2008. Sorry, but we cannot supply English Water Iris cultivars to Western Australia.

COME IN SPINNER (Janet Hutchinson, Mid))
An unusual, evergreen variety with bright yellow flowers. Flowers remain open for about three days. There are none of the traditional brown markings on the flower at all. It is clean, crisp and delightful. An extablished clump can give you six feet (or 2 metres) of year-round garden impact. AU $10

DRAGONFLY DANCE (Janet Hutchinson, 100 cm, E-M))
A shorter-growing variety with pale lemon petals and unusual maroon signals. Petite flowers on delicate, multi-budded stalks with fine, grass-like foliage. Charming AU $10

DWARF ENGLISH WATER IRIS (Pryor, 65 cm, M)
A cultivar of our own breeding, this one has grassy green foliage. Flowers are clear, bright yellow. Stunning. AU $10

PHIL EDINGER
A taller-growing vareity with deep golden flowers, overlaid with a fine golden-brown web. Can be dormant in winter. AU $8

REGULAR ENGLISH WATER IRIS
Not as tall as COME IN SPINNER - and it can be dormant in cooler garden locales. Bright, canary-yellow flowers have a distinctive golden-brown "thumbprint" signal. This is the original European 'fleur de lis'. AU $5

COME IN SPINNER (left), ENGLISH WATER IRIS (centre) and PHIL EDINGER (right).

IRIS VIRGINICA

Iris Virginica is a semi- evergreen native of the USA - and is a cousin to the Louisiana iris. Iris Virginica cultivars thrive in similar conditions to those that Louisiana irises favour. They prefer a boggy, acidic area with some light shade to protect them from severe summer sun. They are also equally at home beside a pool in boggy soil. They generally flower a little earlier than Louisiana irises in very early spring. The leaves of the Virginica cultivars are generally much wider than the Louisiana cultivars and have raised grooves that are easy to feel when you touch the leaves. The foliage can also grow out at a 45 degree angle from the ground, giving the trademark "fountain foliage" effect which is found ONLY on Virginica cultivars. Iris Virginica cultivars can be dug and supplied at any time of the year, but best re-planting results are obtained if plants are purchased or re-planted in late autumn and early winter.

GIANT BLUE - beautiful, sky-blue flowers are borne on tall 'foutain foliage' in early spring. Foliage has a deep violet base colouration, which is a wonderful foil for the deep green leaves. AU $6

PALEST LAVENDER - shorter-growing variety that starts to bloom just be "Giant Blue" noted above. Flowers have a paler lavender hue. AU $6

LAVENDER LUSTRE - a shorter-growing variety bred by us. Large lavender-violet flowers. AU $6

ORCHID PINK - this one blooms just before "Giant Blue" in our garden. Flowers are a mixture between violet and deep pink, with shorter bloom stalks than "Giant Blue". The 'fountain foliage' can almost touch the ground. AU $6

PINK - has been grown for many years in Australia. Has unusual black stalks with large pink-hued flowers and wide 'fountain foliage'. Floiage has a deep cerise-pink base, making it easy to identify in the garden. AU $6

SLIGHTLY DAFT (Hutchinson)
A beautiful large, purew white flower which features a large golden signal on the falls. Beautiful, wide and rich green foliage. AU $6

LAVENDER LUSTRE (left), SLIGHTLY DAFT (centre) and PINK (right).

ORCHID (left), GIANT BLUE Virginica (centre) and PALEST LAVENDER (right).

SOME OTHER INTERESTING IRIS SPECIES

CHINA WESTLAKE
A new Iris Versicolor for Australia! Iris Versicolor will grow in a similar location to Siberian irises (ie. cold winters with frost) but we have found that this cultivar is equally at home in our more humid garden in Sydney - where we grow it in full sun. This cultivar was named by intrepid US-based iris explorer, Dr. Jim Waddick, who travels expansively and extensively in China. He brought the seeds back from the 'Westlake' area in China - hence it's name. LIMITED SUPPLIES AU $15

SIBTOSA PRINCESS
An interesting inter-species cross of an Iris setosa crossed to a Siberian iris and then crossed back to another Siberian iris cultivar. A mid-season blooming cultivar with light lavener-pink blooms which feature speckling near the petal base. Stalks can grow to 90 cm when the plant is completely happy. We grow this in full sun - but in a boggy soil position - and it has just thrived for us. AU $10

NEOMARICA GRACILIS
Grows to about 60 cm in ideal conditions. Has pure white flowers with strong, strikingly-beautiful navy blue and chocolate markings. Foliage is a healthy, shiny, smooth yellowish-green - with no grooves in the leaves. Flowers usualy apear in mid-to-late spring and are reputed to bloom in sync with the lunar phases. Sold by some as an indoor plant, but it really is happiest outside in a frost-sheltered, shady area. Also known as the 'walking iris' as new plants are borne at the end of the leaf tendrils after blooming. Sold as bare-rooted plants during most of the year. AU $5

NEOMARICA NORTHIANA and NEOMARICA CAERULEA. We stock these two other species of Neomarica in very limited numbers. If you are interested in obtaining some, please email us to obtain current stock numbers.

I. Versicolor CHINA WESTLAKE (left), Neomarica Gracilis (centre) and SIBTOSA PRINCESS (right).

ZANTEDESCHIA - ARUM LILIES

We grow an interesting assortment of Arum lilies, which we have found have become popular with water and bog garden enthusiasts. We supply only the evergreen varieties that generally thrive in a 'heads in the sun, feet in the mud' garden location. None of our Arum lilies are available for sale, supply or despatch to Western Australia, sorry.

MINIATURE White Arum "CHILDSIANA'
An elegant, pure white lily which is evergreen and produces a plethora of petite white flowers for at least nine months of the year. Generally grows no taller than 80 cm in full sun, but can get a little taller if grown in the shade. Limited supplies. AU $4

GREEN GODDESS LILY
A marvellous addition for the wet spot in your garden. Flowers are white with green blotching. They make a striking floral feature and cut flowers will last for weeks in a vase of water in the house. Flowers from late summer to mid spring (February to November). AU $4

PINK ARUM LILY
Sold in Australia under a variety of different names, this one grows well in full sun or semi-shade. Full sun locations produce flowers which are mainly white, but with a deep pink throat. Semi-shade locations produce pinker flowers. This one is just as hardy as the better-known white ones. AU A$8

WHITE ARUM LILY
An elegant, purew white flower which grows slightly shorter than the old-fashioned, wild paddock form. It makes an excellent addition to a pond, bog area or even in the garden, requiring little or no attention once it is established. AU $4