Sunday, January 1, 2012

Candy Lilies 2011

Iris x norissi 2011-a pure yellow one
Iris x norissi 2011


Iris x norissi 2011--I like this pattern

Iris x norissi 2011

Iris x norissi- a late blooming self sown seedling
Iris x norissi-2011 another nice one


Iris x norissi 2011


As time goes on in my school garden, the candy lilies (Iris x norissi, formerly Pardancanda) continue growing and and adding to their numbers by self sown seed.  This year some new color combinations appeared.  Now that I have one of the ancestors of this group reaching flowering size, Iris dichotoma, I am looking forward to even more variation in both color and flower form in the future. I tried crossing I. dichotoma onto a late flowering orange and red candy lily (third pic up from above) and seed set, but it could be selfed.  I actually did not discover the Iris dichotoma flowers until they were nearly over, it blooms very late in the day and fades early the next day.  In 2012 I will be more alert, and also bank some pollen from the candy lilies if I find that they bloom before the Iris dichotoma, as most of them did this year.  The I dichotoma plants were young and flowering for the first time, hence they might not be blooming as early as older plants might.  I like plants that show variety, and endless color combinations are possible with candy lilies, and if backcrossed to I dichotoma I should also be able to get a more iris like flower as well.  These plants are very easy to grow, and set plenty of seed, and have no pests that I have seen thus far.  The biggest issue I have is controlling their numbers, removing less interesting variations, and moving plants that get too robust for more delicate neighbors.  

3 comments:

scottweberpdx said...

Those last two are my faves...especially the 2nd from last, with the alternating petals...so nice!

Unknown said...

is there any way anyone can purchase these type of seeds from your site ?

Jedediah said...

I've looked everywhere for seeds. Park's sells them, but they're out of stock. I'm looking for the mix, in particular. I want to plant 100 seeds, then pick the dozen or so I can use best. Any ideas?