Iris Reversion

Discussion in 'Other Plants' started by noisette47, May 3, 2013.

  1. noisette47

    noisette47 Total Gardener

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    Has anyone experienced large bearded Iris reverting to dwarves with purple flowers? It's bizarre...I've got a fair collection of colours but several clumps each year turn into these little purple blighters! I've never bought a dwarf purple in my life. Either the fancy named varieties aren't stable (something the nurseries keep very quiet about) or, just maybe, it's because I wander round snapping off spent flowers and leave them on the border so they may be seedlings? I find the second theory hard to believe, as wouldn't have thought that viable seeds would have formed before the pods dissolve.
    If anyone would like several kilograms of rhizomes, please do let me know :) :scratch:
     
  2. longk

    longk Total Gardener

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    Do you have any "before and after" photos?

    I have the variegated form of I.japonica which I keep hoping will revert, but no luck so far.............
     
  3. noisette47

    noisette47 Total Gardener

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    Have got some photos of what they started off as, but the petit purple peskies are finished. They're very early flowerers! I've had the same problem in the past with oriental poppies...they reverted to the standard scarlet. A nurserywoman told me that they must be seedlings, but as I dead-head most flowers regularly, I'm sceptical!
    photos 178.jpg Beverley Sills.JPG Codicil.JPG Copper Classic.JPG
     
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    • ARMANDII

      ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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      As far as I know Bearded Irises don't revert. Bees can cross pollinate affecting future generations colours but the corm itself won't produce a different colour than that it originally was.:dunno::coffee:
       
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      • longk

        longk Total Gardener

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        This is one of the early blooming Iris's as I know them...................
        [​IMG]

        I'm not try to teach you to suck eggs or anything....................
         
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        • noisette47

          noisette47 Total Gardener

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          Hiya:) Back from Paris......
          If only the dwarves were that pretty, longk! My purple blighters are definitely dwarf bearded, or possibly intermediate, so earlier than the biggies:)
          If it's cross-pollination, Armandii, that suggests that these interlopers are the result of seeding, yes?
          The latest puzzle is that what started out as 'Champagne Elegance' with cream standards and apricot falls is now largely a bluish white on the standards. And I've got a clump of plain, small-flowered purples that weren't there last year!
          Time to write to Cayeux, methinks.....
           
        • ARMANDII

          ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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          I would say so, Noisette, to be honest it's the only logical conclusion:snork:
           
        • noisette47

          noisette47 Total Gardener

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          That'll teach me not to be an untidy madam (not the original word, Big Brother is a bit sensitive:roflol:) when dead-heading
           
        • ARMANDII

          ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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          There ain't no such thing as the perfect gardener!!:lunapic 130165696578242 5:
           
        • noisette47

          noisette47 Total Gardener

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          or the perfect garden, but yours comes pretty close
           
        • ARMANDII

          ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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          Now you're making me blush, but thank you. There is one thing that would make my garden perfect..........my wife being here.
           
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          • noisette47

            noisette47 Total Gardener

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            I am sorry to hear that she isn't:sad: I've found over the years that tending a garden is pretty good therapy for most unhappiness. Can only hope that you find comfort in your beautiful creation...
             
          • ARMANDII

            ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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            Thank you, and it probably is as it has kept me going for sure.:snork:
             
          • Kristen

            Kristen Under gardener

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            No, but "The Well Tempered Garden" by Christopher Lloyd is an excellent read :)
             
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            • noisette47

              noisette47 Total Gardener

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              Ahhhh yes....my first serious gardening book. Full of sound advice with caustic wit thrown in!
               
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