irises – Page 4 – variegatagal

Dog-gone!

It always seems that when a new plant finds its way into my flower beds, a mischievous puppy manages to rampage through: uprooting, trampling, eating and mangling all the newcomers.

For example: barely a week into the ground, the new irises I obtained from Zebrairis.com became victims of a stampeding fur-nephew. If he wasn’t such a cutie, Dash might have gotten more discipline than he received. It’s a sore reminder for us pet-loving gardeners to take extra precautions in securing plants from rambunctious puppies.

Planting irises

I excitedly opened my package from Zebrairis.com (Zebra Gardens) last night and was exceptionally pleased with the healthy-looking rhizomes and extras that Brad and Kathie sent me. Great packaging too, and their nursery inspection sticker gave me additional satisfaction that I shopped with them. Unfortunately, it looked like they omitted 1 out of 2 Zzzanzibars that I had ordered. I emailed the Kaspereks this morning about them. Anywho, the bonuses I received: 1 Doe Z Doe and 2 Alpha Gnus. The Alpha Gnus, Blueberry Fillies, and Zzzanzibar went straight into the middle flowerbed; Doe Z Doe went into the side yard. I can’t wait to see these irises next year.

Flowers of a different stripe

Broken color irises. They’re eye-catching, they’re unique. I love their splashy looks…and I hope to enjoy them in my 2008 garden. I’ve discovered an internet purveyor of striped irises at ZebraIris.com and I’m browsing their library of dazzling bearded irises for specimens to go into my white-and-blue flower bed. It’s about planting time for the iris rhizomes…and with the Texas weather so mild this week, I can’t wait to do some digging.

In my shopping cart:
Z Z Zanzibar – I. Variegata species, 25″ rebloomer (x2)
Blueberry Filly – intermediate bearded, 23″ early bloomer (x2)

My iris show this year included the very early (Feb/Mar) dwarf irises (reticulata and danfordiae mix) and the April-blooming, 24″ Dutch Eye of the Tiger. (Here’s a basic explanation of the differences between the bulb and rhizome types.) There’s a strong need to fill in the months between February and April with color. Hopefully some irises and white daffodils will fill that gap.