“All Ya Gotta Do Is...”

Well, another Sunday night finds me winding down from a fantastic weekend of gardening, as Mother Nature graced us with weather in the 70s (I know!) and being serious about stretching out my gardening season as much as possible, I stayed outside!

And to my complete delight, I had excellent company and help from my partner in this project, Chris, and my darling husband, too. So much more got accomplished by having them here, and it was just so enjoyable having their delightful company. Thanks to them both for their help and presence! A combination of tasks were at hand, and although I didn’t finish everything for Phase II, it’s very close:

As you can see, there are still two beds waiting for iris, but the dirt is in, and all I’ve got to do is dig up iris from my property, separate them, clean them up, plant them in the bed, feed and Preen them, and install irrigation. So, for all practical purposes, Phase II is done. (Let me just have that for a moment... the reality will still be there when the moment has passed.) And although today was 73° the prediction is that the high Wednesday will be 48° so I’m actually very serious about getting the work done right away.

These beds hold a combination of named iris from purchases made recently (some growers are still shipping to our climate!), named iris I had at my personal property, named iris from friends and family, and a huge quantity of unnamed iris from my personal garden. One of my only frustrations as an iris gardener has been how difficult it is to keep names and plants together. I have been undone by mother nature (the sun, the water), sheep, gardeners, dogs, and my own lack of maintenance. I’m being very diligent about keeping the names and layouts for this project in a database, so that even if the name tags disappear, I will know what is where in which beds. Progress! All I’ve gotta do it is make sure the rhizomes aren’t moved from their beds!

The large center section has two iris in it: at the very center is a smaller section of Denver Dawn (see photo below) and the outside edges are a beautiful heirloom yellow iris that I got from a lovely woman in Encino about a decade ago. I love this story, as it illustrates how iris are a social plant: I drove past her house daily on my way to and from work, and she had a zillion yellow iris on her front slope. When they all bloomed every Spring they were just gorgeous. I finally went to her house with a shovel, a 5 gallon pot, and cash. I knocked on her door to ask her if I could possibly buy some, and she graciously refused my cash and took my 5 gallon pot instead! Sadly, she never knew the name, so I chose them simply for their beauty. I think I only took about 10 or 12 of her rhizomes even though she easily had over 100 on the slope. I have found that people who love iris are generally very generous about sharing their excess fortunes, wink wink... Anyhow, when I separated them this month, I had over 100 rhizomes myself. They will make fantastic centerpiece for the iris in the outside beds.

'Denver Dawn' (John Durrance, R. 1965). Sdlg. 58-90. TB, 40" (102 cm). Midseason late bloom. Color Class V1P, Self with subtle infusion of mauve and rose. 'Pierre Menard' X Loomis plicata sdlg. Long, Cooley 1964.

The other task that is already presenting itself is weed management in the areas around the beds. We’ve had some rain already this season, with more coming soon, and the green sproutlets are rapidly becoming a proper field of weeds. There has been more hoeing (thanks to my darling husband), and Preening of course. Hopefully we can stay on top of it throughout the wet season. All I’ve gotta do is just keep up with the rain and the sun!

While my darling husband was weed massaging (heh), Chris and I addressed the hundred or so rhizomes that had been dug up in previous years, and stored (rather badly) at my property. Some were from my mother’s garden, some were from my personal property, and all of them deserved to be planted at least 12 months ago. Believe it or not, there were still quite a few viable rhizomes in that collection of papery mess, and after choosing an appropriate spot to give them their best shot, we cleaned them up and got them planted. I shall be interested to see what we get from them in the Spring. All I’ve gotta do is feed them, water them, and beg them to forgive me!

And earlier this week, I brought home seven buckets of rhizomes I dug up from an impacted and neglected bed at my mother’s house. They’ve been out of the ground since the first weekend in October, and while I know there are irisarians out there screaming at me to not dig them up until I have space ready for them to immediately go into, I don’t always have that luxury, and I have to admit to having exceptionally good survival rates, and thriving plants. The bearded iris are all now planted in one section together, as the gardener at my mother’s house had mangled and separated some of the names, and removed others altogether. I have a rough idea of what iris were in that particular bed, so I’ll keep them all together, and as they bloom I’ll label and move them. In the meantime, they are hunkering down for a nice wet Winter.*

The bulk of the transplant, however, was spuria, and they did not do so well out of the ground for so much time. So, they look rather pathetic, and their names are all unknown. I gave them a spot where I can keep an eye on them, keep them moist, and baby them if needed. We shall see if they make a comeback... All I’ve gotta do is hope for a miracle.

Now that the Phase I and Phase II sections are (mostly) done and there are over 100 iris in each section, I’m really getting excited about Spring. There are 100 or more iris in beds throughout the property and I’m having so much fun visualizing all the color, all the beauty that will erupt in March, and carry on through May, and possibly even into June. Once again, I am reminded that iris are a social plant, because they cause me to stop and talk to strangers, invite people into my garden, and even write a blog. I’ve already made some wonderful friends through iris society meetings, visiting local growers, and stopping by to chat with neighbors who have iris in their yards (that’s how I met Chris!). I am really looking forward to all the people that iris will bring into my yard this Spring. Maybe one of them will be you. All ya gotta do is come by.

*As I was going through old photos looking for a good image of Denver Dawn, I found a series of photos my mother had taken in 2010, including a series of close-ups of the names of the iris I dug up in October and just planted this week at our project property. It was such a surprise to see those photos, and it felt like a gift, and put me in tears. I am pleased to list the names of the transplanted iris:

Snowed In
Mariposa Wizard
Midnight Mink
Princess Bride
Follow That Dream
Starlight Waltz
Crowned Heads
Mild Manner
Obsidian
Expose
Alpenview
Classic Look
Whipped Frappe
Wintry Sky
April in Paris
Returning Rose
Deliciously Different

Thanks, Mom!

Gardening in the Dark, or, Too Much Fun to Go Inside

When I began this project, way back, um, two months ago, it was light well past 8pm, and I often didn’t make it home for dinner until 9pm or later. Then, a quick shower, a little couch time with my darling husband, and off to bed for me. I was happily gardening eight or sometimes nine hours a day, and it was great. I loved finishing my day, watching the sun set over my lovely garden, wearing a tank top and shorts... sigh. Those were the days.

I was also racing the calendar for planting, transplanting, separating and all the related miscellany if having blooms this coming Spring is the plan, which, yes, as I check it, that is exactly the plan. So, the long days weren’t just fun, they were necessary.

Roll out now to the weeks after we have turned out clocks back, and while I do adore waking up in the light (because, truth be told, I am clearly part bird because if my alarm goes off and it’s still dark outside, I just cannot get myself going), I do not love being shut out of my garden at 5pm. It’s just too early! I’m not done! And I’m in long pants, long-sleeved shirts, and sometimes *gasp* even a jacket. I guess I have to admit Summer is finally over. Ah, well.

So, I have re-arranged my work schedule, which I am fortunate enough to have the option of doing, and now I garden in the morning, and come home in the dark. It’s not perfect, but so far, it’s working. I feel for all my gardening friends who work full-time and only get to visit their gardens ever-so-briefly as they leave the house in the mornings. The slight silver lining is that gardens are winding down for Winter, too, and aren’t as spectacular as they are in other seasons, so, if we have to miss seeing it, we’re mostly missing leaves dying and falling off. (See? Not so bad, right?)

The longer evening also means there’s more time for me to do the paperwork portion of this project, which is my inventory, and layouts. I’m using XL for both right now, but at some point I may do something more artistic with my layouts... I can’t help it, 30 years as a designer, and just typing names into boxes lacks the verve and excitement I feel when I am standing in front of those beds, cooing over my lovely rhizomes. I know I’m not the only one who’s like this, I just know some of you doodle and sketch your gardens...

Not long after I finished the planting and paperwork of what was going to be “The Whole Project” I found myself walking around my yard and noticing named iris in pots, and remembering the names of some others that were planted in beds, and I felt the irresistible urge to expand the original project, and bring more of my iris to the Project site. I originally thought I’d bring them all over, but after digging up something like 400 rhizomes, I decided maybe to think of the project as do-able in phases. So, Phase II began.

The original layout was “U” shaped, with a large empty space in the center for admiring all the beds/pools/tires at once. That empty space became the Phase II location:

We’d had some rain, and the weeds were starting to come up by the trillions, so I had to spend some time with the hoe, and then of course I put down a generous amount of Preen in preparation for putting out the weed cloth, wire mesh, and eventually beds that will go in this space. I have several more hours of hoe-ing ahead of me, which is not my favorite, but since I don’t want to use the herbicides that are so awful for bees, doing it by hand is the next obvious way. Plus, you know, I tell myself it counts as exercise. And it does, more than blogging does...

The photo above shows the first three beds that will be in this area. The rest of the layout will be a surprise, so stay tuned. Let me just say that with about four minutes of digging up named iris that needed to be separated from my personal garden, I filled three raised beds here at the project Phase II. I still have several hundred un-named iris that I would love to incorporate into the touring area, so Phase II is not the end of the expansionist era of the project. I kind of had a feeling I’d want to just keep going, but I’m being disciplined, and not expanding into Phase III until Phase II is done, planted, and irrigation in place. 

This self-imposed “finish what you start” has been a great motivator as I’m so excited to start Phase III that I’ve got my hustle on getting Phase II finished. I can’t describe how much fun I’m having, because talking about hoeing and cutting wire mesh and bringing in wheelbarrows of dirt doesn’t sound like fun, even to other gardeners. But if you’ve been in the position of creating something beautiful to share, you probably understand that even the bits that sound like drudgery are still motivating and exciting. I’m totally in that place right now. Woo hoo!

I’m also riding on the high of having a gardening buddy. Chris and I spend most of our gardening time alone in our own gardens, but when we get the chance to share our gardens and tasks, it’s just such a hoot, and I’m really loving it. So, thanks again, Chris, for being the person who shares the fun with me.

Keep your eyes peeled for more photos as the Phases and expansion continue. Until then, keep warm out there!

And, as promised, here’s an iris from my personal garden:

'Big Bad Bob' ( Tom Burseen, R. 2004). Seedling 01-483B. TB, height 37" (94 cm), midseason bloom. Cream washed chinese yellow (RHS 20B) self, Falls slightly darker at edges, flared; beards yellow ochre, very large uplifting self flounces; ruffled. 92-282: (95-119: (92-336: (8-163: ( 'Yellow Flounce' x 'Bride's Manor') x 'Deity') x 'Air Up There') x 'Cookie Combo') X 99-288: (96-206: ( 'Part Prude' x 'Triffid') x 97-610: (95-337: ( 'Dauber's Delight' x 'Open Arms') x 'Joan's Party')). Burseen 2005.