Iris planifolia and the Warmth of December

" People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent."

                                                                                                Bob Dylan

It was 65 degrees yesterday in parts of the Willamette Valley, my little nook of the world was a bit colder, but anything over 60 in December is unusual to say the least. You can go back in this blog and read the things I've said about the changing climate. Anyone with the least amount of observational skills can see it in the flowers. Lot's of stuff is up and growing that probably should be locked in a frozen soil mass right now. It's disconcerting to say the least. The worst part of it for a grower is that we could get an arctic outbreak next week and see the coldest temperatures ever recorded in the valley. Climate change should really be called climate volitility, the highs are higher and the lows are lower, something akin to the planet being on drugs and coping with depression, Maybe it's all the smoke us humans blow out ever day. The planet just keeps getting higher and higher and the lows keep getting lower and lower. 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Illahe, even though the weather doesn't reflect that.

Iris Planifolia:

Hailing from the Southern European Mediteranean and into North Africa, this is the only Juno iris found in Europe. It's quite a quick bloomer, I grew these from seed and they started blooming nicely in year three. It seems to be well adapted here, although it will be interesting to see how well they handle our modified arctic air outbreaks that can occur this time of year. I have had 9 degrees for a low at Illahe in the last 14 years and I expect it will be coming again anytime soon. Might even be a lower temperature than that we are capable of hitting with the climate volatility now such a part of our everyday vernacular. 

If we go by the equinox as the definition of winter, I would say this species if fall blooming, although winter blooming seems to be what most people consider it on the interwebs. From a cultural standpoint they sound very adaptable, and said to stand heavy, clay soils that can be saturated in winter if given a summer drying period. I'll be trying it out as I have enough stock to plant out in the garden. I. graberiana and I. aucheri have both done well in the better drained parts of the rock garden as well as I. bucharica, in raised beds.  This one seems like an ideal candidate for the wetter parts in my native jory soil. 

Iris planifolia

These are fragrant, not overwhelming but a nice light, spicy fragrance which
is kind of cool to get in a plant this time of year. 

I'm selling some plants at the local vinyards makers market this weekend, alongside some beautiful handcrafted wreaths from Schilling Family Farms. I used to do tons of in person plant sales, from the days when I organized the Berry Garden plant sale, to attending the Leach Sale every year, the Squirrel Heights Garden sales and the HPSO and a host of other fundraising sales. I've been growing a lot more potted plants these days to compliment the dormant fall bulb sales during the rest of the season and I'm excited to get back to slinging plants more and more. I think the need for climate adapted plants is getting bigger and bigger every year. 

If you read this blog and you are in the local area, come on down to Ankeny Vinyards this weekend to look through some local crafters and support your local rare plant grower! 

Cheers, 

Mark

Growing from Seeds

"Since a hundred million dollars in New York and twenty-two fish-hooks on the border of the Arctic Circle represent the same financial supremacy, a man in straitened circumstances is a fool to stay in New York when he can buy ten cents' worth of fish-hooks and emigrate"

Mark Twain

I've been following a thread on the Pacific Bulb Society regarding seed propagation of Fritillaria with some interest. I do try to sow quite a lot of seed every year, and I've learned a few things about it over the years. So the other day I was cleaning up the greenhouse and noted some,  2nd year pots of Iris planifolia, Fritillaria lusitanica, and Crocus cartrwhightianus 'Marcel' open pollinated,  I had long given up on had some nice seedlings popping up. I do always try to save seed pots for two years and I have had some make it three and finally germinate but usually by that time there are so many weeds it's often hard to keep 3 year old seed flats productive in that sense. 

A mix of seed pots that were sown in the fall of 2018 but didn't germinate until November of 2019

 

I usually treat all seeds the same, sowing them as soon as they come in. Sometimes that is early fall, if you are buying from collectors,  sometimes as in the case of the exchanges it can be midwinter. I use a couple different mixes for seeds, in the past I stayed primarily with a gritty mix, heavy on pumice and with a small amount of peat and usually an organic like compost or shredded leaf mulch. Lately I've been having fine results from using a soiless mix, like Pro Gro HP, with added perlite or pumice to increase the drainage. I sow into either square quart pots or 4" depending on the amount of seed and then I cover lightly with a crushed grit like quartzite, available as a turkey/chicken grit. I water them in good and set them outside of the greenhouse on the groundcloth area to get whatever the weather can throw at them. If I get pots that are germinating right away I'll move them into the greenhouse to better control the amount of moisture they get. At that point I'll keep them just barely moist. Often Fritillaria seeds especially seem to follow a pretty natural cycle of germinating when the weather first begins to warm in the spring, so often by late March the seed pots will be showing good germination from a November/December sowing. I think the best advice is just not to throw out pots that don't germinate the first winter/spring. I'll let the seed pots go bone dry through the summer and often as can be seen in the above pic they will germinate as soon as the pots get cool and wet again in the following fall. 

The garden work is pretty well wrapped up for the season, just in time for the Turkey day. The greenhouse is nice and clean and with the weather forecasted to be down into the 20's throughout the Holiday week the tender bulbs have been moved into a climate controlled area. Should see the coldest temps of the season coming up this week with forecasted lows possibly hitting into the high teens and maybe some snow in the forecast. 

Happy Holidays to all, 

Mark