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Elaine P. Hulbert, Floyd. VA
Region 4 (Virginia area) is a pretty good place for most iris species. The Pacific Northwest probably accommodates the less hardy species better than the Middle Atlantic States, but we can handle almost everything but the Pacific Coast Natives successfully here, and we can do better with the Eastern natives and the Louisianas. There is no iris I can think of that isn't worth at least a trial in our area.
But probably I should try to tailor my advice to the two types of grower who will be interested in this article. One group will be those who have not had any occasion to try growing irises from seed at all. Others will be planting seeds because they are unable to get the rare species (or variations thereof in any other way.) If you are a beginner at growing from seed you will probably want to start with something sure-fire, and the obvious choices are II. siberica, sanguinea, setosa, ensata and tectorum. Seed of these is usually available in quantity, germination is quick, plants mature and bloom in the second year, and they need little care in the permanent border.
Equally easy are versicolor and pseudacorus, but these have the disadvantage (if it is a disadvantage for you) of requiring a good deal of room to make a proper show. The color forms of versicolor can be a lot of fun, but even seed from segregated forms is more likely to give the familiar blue-violet than the reds, pinks and whites that add so much to a big planting of bog-irises.
You are not likely to have a wasteful abundance of seed of any species unless you can harvest your own. Thus you will probably want to plant your seed in pots rather than in the open ground. A commercial seed-starter is likely to be too light to keep the seed for the above varieties moist enough. Since iris seedlings are almost immune to damping off, they can be planted in garden loam lightened with vermiculite or pearlite to encourage root development. There is no better way to ensure germination than to put the pots out to take a winter's weather, preferably plunged in the ground and lightly mulched. You can look at them occasionally to see that they stay moist, and should see germination in April. (At this stage pots may be better protected indoors if your area is likely to get severe cold shocks at this season.)
From this point on your only really iffy decision is when to transplant. By the time the weather is really promising all seedlings will probably have at least four leaves, but two-leaved seedlings are not too small to work with. A spell of overcast damp weather any time in May, June or even July will do. Lining out is quite straightforward with these vigorous species. You can dump the pot into a bucket of water and fish out the seedlings one by one, giving the roots a good deep hole for anchorage. I don't think any fertilizer is called for in the irises' first year, but the better the ground has been dug the better the all-important root growth will be. These species all go thoroughly dormant when the cold weather arrives, and will probably manage quite well through their first winter even if you haven't got around to mulching them until midwinter.
Except for tectorum these species do best in sunny places, and they all love moisture but are very tolerant of ordinary garden conditions.
I must include a rave about seed-grown ensata. The "Japanese Irises" you know are all derived from this one species. None is actually a hybrid though we may speak of `hybridizing' when we cross ensata clones. Whether your seedlings came from named clones or not you are likely to get a wide variety of enchanting forms and colors when you raise these. All of them look "finished". It may seem impossible that so little effort-because they germinated easily and grow vigorously-could give such results but it does. Ordinary garden sites suit them very well, and if they can be planted by midsummer in their first year, most of them will bloom the next June and July. Plenty of added moisture is welcome throughout their careers (except in winter), and from the second year on, heavy fertilizing is recommended too.
Rock gardeners can have a lot of fun with seed-raised pumila and cristata, but unfortunately their seed is not so easy to come by, even though both are widely grown. When I have been lucky enough to get a good potful of seedlings of either of these, I have planted them out as early as possible. May or early June, taking hunks of two or three seedlings at a time from the pot with as much soil as possible, using a tablespoon. because the root systems are by no means as long and bushy as those of irises we dealt with earlier. Firming in with a couple of small rocks will help, on the sunny and shady sides of the rock garden respectively. It is gratifying to see pumila's extravagant bloom in its second year, when you can separate the mixed-up clones to give each one its best chance to multiply.
Louisiana irises are difficult to start from seed, sometimes taking several years to germinate. I have planted these in open ground with some success: after the long wait they are easy to spot once they do come up as the new leaves are big and quick growing. Weeding is not so difficult as it would be for the little grassy PCNIs. for example.
Those Pacific Coast Natives are tempting because the seed is plentiful and the color forms offered sound attractive. Potfuls will be germinating from midwinter on, and you have a whole lot of seedlings to find spots for by the time your ground has warmed up. This placement is the hard part of raising PCNIs; they don't like too much sun, too much shade, or too much constant moisture. For me, they seem to find themselves most at home among other smallish plants in high shade. where there is shelter from all extremes. They transplant easily in the seedling phase, but are very hard to move later. If you can get them through their first winter, they will probably bloom (and set seed) for you very nicely and make you feel that no trouble was too great. However much trouble, the results from seed are almost sure to be better than any results from importing plants from the West.
The Spurias are not difficult to raise, although germination may be quick and uniform or delayed and sporadic. Only one species can be recommended as almost automatic from seed-graminea. This is a very hardy, permanent and easy-to-place iris that everyone has room for, but unfortunately there is almost no variation to play with. The larger species whose seed is available are slower-growing, but like graminea they are practically permanent once established, and whether received as carthaliniae, notha, halophila, musulmanica or spuria itself, they will flower in some pattern of blue-violet, yellow and white with slight but pleasing variations.
To deal briefly with some other species you may be able to get seed of: lactea, virginica, prismatica and aphylla are all quite easy to start and rewarding in their maturity. But there is a special group I would like you to consider-the sino-siberians or 40-chromosome siberians. These do so much better from seed than from nursery stock that even growers who would not mess with seedlings will find them worthwhile. You may have to settle for hybrid seed because hybridization among chrysographes. clarkei, delavayi, forrestii and wilsonii happens everywhere these species grow side by side -but all the variations in flower color, leaf form and stature are nice. and some individuals will come close to the species. Blossom form is quite uniform throughout much like that of the 28-chromosome Siberians though without the fullness of, say, sanguinea. A good many clumps can be accommodated in less space than what is needed by the 28s. And although they are not proof against the severest winters or prolonged spring drought, they can, in favorable circumstances, give you charming displays of bloom in late spring and early summer, as well as the pleasure of growing some things absolutely unique.
I haven't dealt with what is for some experienced growers a favorite system of germinating seeds. the refrigerated packet of moistened vermiculite. It requires another step of transplanting to pot before the lining out, and only fills a real need if you have so much seed you want to cut down on the number of pots you are carrying, or you are trying to shorten the stratification period. However, plenty of ideas for germinating difficult seeds can be found if you search the literature.
SIGNA's seed list is available to anyone. See information elsewhere on this web site under "Seed Exchange".
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