1 IRIS Picador Rhizome, tall bearded, late spring blooming, fragrant

1rhizome with Budded Fan


    •   Spring Blooming
    •      purple based fans (see pic)
    •    Extremely Hardy


New growth trimmed and ready to plant.

They are some of the hardiest that grow here in Kansas.


Picador

Morrison, 1930

TB 48" EM Y9D

From National Iris Gardens catalog for 1936: "The FINEST yellow variegata. This is the brightest contrast of colors, having honey yellow S. and mineral red F. It cannot be recommended too highly, and we assure you that you will like this variety when it blooms in your garden. Hardy everywhere. One of the five best irises grown."

From Longfield Iris Farm catalog for 1936: "A large variegata with S. buff gold to a base of mustard yellow; F. Mineral Red to Dalia Carmine. A brilliant Iris. 40 inches."

From Cooley's Gardens catalog for 1937: "Standards tarnished gold, falls brilliant carmine red. A bold, strong growing and perfectly fashioned iris reaching four feet in height. Classed as a variegata it is really a blend of gold and crimson, so good that we stocked up heavily on it anticipating that our customers would welcome this opportunity to secure such an outstanding flower at so low a price."

Comments: "This is another one of those variegatas that change color with the light, and never photograph the same way twice. Very striking in a clump. It is strongly scented of cream soda, and has noticable PBF." - Mike, WA

Following is some useful information:

"Bearded irises can be divided any time after your last frost date in the spring, but many irisarians believe the optimal time to divide them is 6-8 weeks after bloom. Avoid transplanting irises in very hot weather (90+ F degrees), but do get them transplanted back into the ground a couple months before freezing weather to give them time to root in well before winter. Irises sometimes take a year off bloom after transplantation to settle into their new homes, so don't be too disappointed if you don't get bloom the spring after planting. Irises moved before bloom will often lose their bloom that season as well.

You should transplant these irises into an area providing at least 6 hrs of direct sunlight a day. Prepare a new planting area or rejuvenate an existing bed by making sure the soil is well-drained and properly fertilized. Though iris gardeners often dig a bit of superphosphate into the soil to feed the rhizomes and help promote future bloom, it's actually a wiser tactic to fertilize according to the needs of your particular soil. This can be determined through a soil test performed by your county extension agent. Avoid high nitrogen fertilizers. Excessive nitrogen can promote bacterial soft rot in bearded irises.

When you plant your irises, make sure the top surface of the rhizome is level with or just slightly below the soil surface. If you bury the rhizome too deeply, the plant may refuse to flower. Do NOT mulch directly over the rhizomes. Mulch will tend to retain too much soil moisture right around the rhizomes and promote bacterial soft rot (unless you live in a hot desert climate). If you have the room, plant your irises about 2' apart with no other plants nearby to overgrow them and compete for soil nutrients. You can also plant 3 separate rhizomes in a triangle 1' apart with the leaf fans facing outwards to produce an instant clump effect. Water the irises deeply once a week for the first month if there is not adequate rainfall. Avoid frequent, shallow waterings. Overwatering is another common cause of soft rot problems.

Just so you understand how the bearded iris life cycle progresses - each individual rhizome will only produce one flower stalk during its lifetime. After (and sometimes before) it flowers, it will turn its energy toward producing "increases" (new rhizomes growing from the sides of the "mother" rhizome). After these new rhizomes grow to blooming size and eventually flower, they will then become "mothers" and grow increases of their own. That is how single rhizomes turn into clumps over the course of a few years and why they need to be divided when the clumps become overcrowded and deplete soil nutrients."

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