Iris ensata Sue Jo

 So Iris ensata Sue Jo is one of my new cultivars, flowering this year for the first time. It was bred by Donald Delmez, and was registered in 2003. It is a double flower with flattish ruffled, flared petals which have striking blue veining on a white background, with yellow signals. This year it had a flower head of about 5 inches across, and grew to about 20 inches; it can grow up to 39 inches. The style arms are a dark blue/purple and are slightly ruffled on my plant. It has received several awards including an Honourable mention in 2006, Award of merit 2008 , and the prestigious Payne medal in 2010. It is a striking plant, which I think will form an impressive clump over time.

Iris ensata Sue Jo. It's quite a show-stopper! 

Currently this plant is in a raised bed in the side garden where it seems quite happy. Unfortunately, a neighbouring Lupin is crowding it out a bit, so some re-arrangements will have to be made in the Autumn (Fall). Iris ensata are greedy feeders and like plenty of sun and water, so if your garden is designed to show off their ephemeral beauty, then you have plan around those considerations. So, aggressive perennials have to be located at a suitable distance, and a strategic use of annuals planned to fill in the gaps when these lovelies have finished flowering. 

In my old age I am embracing quite a vulgar taste for colour (very Non -U q.v). So the green foliage of Iris ensata, whilst quite lovely, does not satisfy my requirement of continuous colour and interest in the garden. This year, I have relied on Cosmos 'Sonata' to fill the gaps, which have certainly ticked the box as far as colour is concerned. However, these are quite big plants requiring quite a bit of space, and a lot of watering. I suspect they are competing with the Iris ensata for both nutrients and water. The other good value 'annual' (seems to be perennial in my garden) is Nicotiana mutabilis, which has airy pink fronds of white flowers, which turn pink after pollination. Unlike the stately Nicotiana sylvestris, N. Mutabilis appears to have no discernible scent. Again, it maybe a to much of a greedy feeder to continue using it in subsequent years. 

More research and planning to be done!

Iris ensata 'Moonlight Waves'

 This is an old and much beloved cultivar of Iris ensata. It was registered by R, Wallace and Co.  in 1910. It is a flattish double white, with greenish yellow signals and creamy white style arms. In my garden it grows about 18 inches high and the flowers are about five inches in diameter. It is a reliable bloomer, even when young, and it is one of the specimens I managed to relocate from my old garden. I'm glad I did. It is one of my husband's favourite Irises - it just looks right anywhere you put it!

The exquisite flower of Iris ensata 'Moonlight Waves'.

Copyright © Bernadette Adams 2022

I managed  to find a reference to R Wallace and Co, and as far as I can make out, they appear to be long gone, but I will do a little more digging to see if I can find out a bit more. Below is the entry in Grace's Guide to British Industrial History:

'R. Wallace and Co of Kilnfield Gardens Colchester

Jump to:navigation, searchof Kilnfield Gardens, Colchester.

Specialists in Bulb Culture, Landscape Gardeners, &c.

Established in 1878 by Dr. Alexander Wallace.

1914 Present Principal: Robert Whistler Wallace, J.P., F.R.H.S. Premises: Cover twenty acres. Fully stocked. Staff: Forty. Specialities: Choice Bulbs, Lilies (chiefly), New and Rare Hardy Plants and Bulbs, Landscape Rock and Water Gardening.'

Iris ensata 'Moonlight Waves' in the foreground. As you can see it makes a lovely border plant.

Copyright © Bernadette Adams 2022

So this gorgeous Iris has been available to the public for a hundred and twelve years! My mind wanders as to which gardens it might have graced in that time. This is what I call the 'Romance of Gardening' - all those varied people, with different stories to tell, all fixing on the same plant as me, in different places and different times. More research needed!

As this particular specimen is now getting quite large, I will will probably have some divisions available for sale in August (UK only). Drop me a message if you are interested, in the comment box below!

Happy gardening!

Iris ensata Azuma Kagami

This is yet another new addition to my Iris ensata collection. (To be honest, not many survived the move from our last home. I had planned to dig them all up and split them, but then the purchasers wanted an early completion of the Sale, and I never got round to it. It's a great pity, in that I had most of the Rowden Garden cultivars, which are now quite difficult to source). But I digress. Back to the current collection. 

Iris ensata Azuma Kagami.  Copyright © Bernadette Adams 2022

From its name, I assume that this cultivar came from Japan originally. There is no listing on the wiki.irises.org website.  It is a flat double form standing about 20 inches (50 cms) high, and striking indigo blue stripes(veins) on the white fall. The flowers this year were about 6 inches across (15 cms), and flowered from the middle of June to early July - about three weeks. The style arms (the three central, triangular arranged bits) are a deep intense blue. It currently resides between Aquilegias and a Veronica, neither of which complements it particularly. I think the Aquilegias will have to be moved (The Veronica provides summer colour when the Iris ensata have finished), and I have just acquired a lovely new Campanula percicifolia alba, which I think will look fabulous alongside it. Next year's photos will reveal all!

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So though I mainly buy my Iris ensata from specialist growers, there are some of the larger garden centres which do sell a few of the more rarer types of iris. Barton Grange near Preston Lancashire is one such. I bought Iris ensata Azuma Kagami there, but did not take a picture at the time. However, I did buy Iris ensata Gusto there as you can see from the pictures below.

Iris ensata Gusto

The Plant Hall at Barton Grange.

A few photos from Barton Grange, near Preston. It is well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Copyright© Bernadette Adams 2022

Barton Grange may not sell many irises, but they are always top quality plants. It's also a great place to visit, whether you're a plantsperson, someone looking for garden accessories, tools, materials, home furnishings, and they even have a restaurant, cafe and food-hall. 

We don't have many places which sell Iris ensata in the UK, so I will eventually make a list of those which I have used and found satisfactory.

Iris ensata 'Rivulets of Wine'

This beauty was the first post on another blog that I started, and then decided that I just didn't have the time to run a few separate blogs. This beauty is Iris ensata 'Rivulets of Wine'. I love this one because people think that Iris ensata are white or Purple. Not so - there are pinky shades in many.

Iris ensata Rivulets of Wine

copyright © Bernadette Adams 2022

My affair with Iris ensata, started about twenty years ago, when I bought my very first specimen, Iris ensata 'Pinstripe', from Ashwood's Garden centre near Wolverhampton. Sadly, I don't even seem to have a picture of it, and the plant succumbed a long time ago - I am quite ashamed of that, and annoyed, as it is proving quite difficult to find a replacement. My excuse is that life was very busy at the time - it is marginally less so, now. However, I have a new garden which has rekindled my interest in the Species and its gorgeous cultivars. Today, I'm going to talk about Iris ensata 'Rivulets of Wine'

Iris ensata 'Rivulets of Wine'

Iris ensata Rivulets of Wine (left) in the border with a double purple Iris ensata and Iris ensata Moonlight Waves. Copyright © Bernadette Adams 2022

This is one of my favourite new Iris ensatas (on the left in the picture above) - mainly because its colour palette tends more towards the pink than the purple. I also love its veining, which is wine based on an almost white fall (large petals). It is double, and in its first year here the diameter of the flower is about 15 cms, or 6 inches for those who prefer Imperial measurements. Currently it is standing at about 50 cms (20 inches and does not have much of a spread. Next year, I will be expecting a much larger plant growing up to 1 metre tall (40 inches) with multiple stems and blooms. Here in Cumbria it started flowering on the 20th of June, and is still in flower.

Iris ensata Rivulets of Wine was bred by Terry Aitken, whose Salmon Creek Garden in Vancouver, Canada, is famous for its irises. He registered it in 1999, and it has won the Award of Merit Award in 2006, and an Honorable Mention in 2002. 

It really is an eye catching gorgeous Iris, which will attract the enquiries of any visitor to your garden when it is in bloom. I bought my bareroot division from the Gobbett Nursery, who produce many wonderful plants. Their main outlet is through plant fairs but you can order plants for delivery, which they will send to you when the season is over in October or thereabouts. 

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