Iris Doctor

By M. D. Faith

Dear M. D.,

“In looking for other iris for the garden other than the usual iris we normally see in gardens, I ran across iris tridentata, but can learn little about it and it’s culture from the usual sources. Can you help dispel some of the lack of information about this iris? Do you know any thing about iris tridentata? Are there any books or periodical that deal with this iris? Your help will certainly be appreciated.” … These questions from Ohio.

It has been my experience that the information available in most of the books written on iris, iris tridentata articles are very brief and contain very little cultural information. Mostly, they are confined to giving the area of native habitat and occurrence, which is in the southeastern portion of the United States, the states of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee.

There is very meager information on the Internet and in libraries on the Internet that list this species. The following quotes are good examples of what is available:

:

“The Genus Iris” by W.R. Dykes, published in 1913, on pages 94- 95, he states, “Nothing is known of it’s requirements in cultivation, but it would probably require a warm position in soil that was not too dry in spring and early summer.”

From the second printing of “The World of Iris” on page 35, “The type species is the little-known I. tridentata.”

Iris tridentata is a member of the Apogon, the beardless iris subsection, and the Tripetalae Series, it is one of two species that make up this series. Iris tridentata is the southern representative of the two species with iris setosa being native to the more northern areas of the North American Continent.

Although, iris tridentata’s native place of occurrence is in the southern areas, it is hardy and should grow well in both Arkansas and Oklahoma. My own personal experience in growing this iris in Arkansas, and trying to identify this species, confirms this.

It was quite by accident and a fortunate accident indeed, when I acquired a small piece of a rhizome of what I now know is iris tridentata. In the spring of 1993 at a regular meeting of the Central Arkansas Iris Society, the plant in question, was given as a door prize to a friend of mine. Seeing my eyes light up at this unusual iris plant, my friend insisted that she share it with me. So thanking my friend, and taking a small portion from the side of the pot, I went immediately to the donor, and question him about the iris. He told me it was collected in a swamp near Waycross, Georgia, and that it required being grown in water. He did not know any more than that about the iris. Sad to say, he must have been a visitor to our Society, since to my knowledge he has not been back to a meeting.

Proceeding with that little bit of knowledge, I potted it up in a gallon container and placed it in another container full of water up to the level of the soil in the pot. It grew slowly the rest of the year, and not knowing how hardy it would be, I placed it in a south-facing window in the garage where it would not freeze. The following spring I placed it into a two-gallon container, feeding monthly with 15-30-15 Miracle Grow, keeping it wet and in a pan of water at all times until; I moved it back into the garage for the second winter. Next spring it went into a 22 inches diameter plastic tub that was 15 inches deep that had no drain holes, this in response to having been informed that the soil had to be saturated with water. I continued to feed regularly, keeping water standing on the surface of the soil, whenever I noticed the soil surface had become dry.

By this time, I thought I had some kind of Siberian iris, maybe a seedling that had sprouted in that swamp in Georgia. For certain, I was disappointed that it had not bloomed, and began to wonder if it would ever bloom. Then after the Tall bearded and Louisiana iris had bloomed, and near the tail end of the Japanese iris bloom, it started throwing up quite a few flower stalks.

The stalks were about 22 to 28 inches tall, most had one branch, and now I think some had two branches, if my memory serves me correctly. Slender and graceful the stalks had two buds on the terminal position, as well as on most of the branches. Thank goodness patience has its reward!

When the first blooms opened the blue-purple falls with deeper veining flared open and revealing a white patch at the hafts infused with golden yellow. These were crowned with blue style arms with serrated crests, which curled up, and were about three quarter inch long. A beautiful iris but with no discernible standards. This just cannot be a Siberian; of course I was to later learn that the iris was the species iris tridentata.

Due to the heaviness of the tub, I decided to take a chance on it being hardy enough to stand our winters here in north central Arkansas. It has since been situated half buried on a steep slope with the south side of the tub exposed to the elements. Feeding it with liquid 15-30-15 on a regular basis, and supplying water with a hand held hose periodically, it has thrived, crawling out of the tub and rooting itself on the bank above the tub. It has with stood temperatures of 15(F) degrees or colder on several occasions during our last three winters.

In early summer of 1999 I sent two rhizomes of this clone to Cincinnati, Ohio where the temperatures went to 0(F) or colder last winter. The report back from my friend is that they put up fans in late April of this year. It appears it is cold hardy in that area at least with some winter protection.

Several seedlings grown from seed from this clone have shown quite a wide variation in height of foliage, from about six inches to the height of the parent clone, which averages between 16 to 20inches. The flowers were typically like the parent, but the stalks seem to lack the branching of the parent, and the vigor of the plants did not seem to be as good as the parent. So I destroyed them, but plan to retry again at some future date; on rechecking the spot where I had the seedlings, I find that I still have a little of one of the seedlings. This will be given another chance to merit staying in my garden for a while longer.

Iris tridentata or at least this clone I grow, is a good garden iris and should be more widely grown. It certainly is not as demanding of special attention as I was first led to believe. With a little information, and effort, any one can grow this iris. It would certainly be a pleasant addition to any garden.

For those with access to the Internet, there is a photo posted on the North American Native Iris web-site, which I took on May 27 of this year. The web address is:

http://molly.hsc.unt.edu/~rbarton/Iris/NANI_alpha.html .

You can also request that I send a copy by e-mail to your e-mail address by e-mailing the request to me at mdfaith@bscn.com .