First non-crocus blossom

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Author Message   Valia  Supporting Member Posted on Saturday, March 01, 2008 - 07:48 pm EST :    Iris reticulata"Cantab" first blossom 3/1/08 The color is a little more subtle than photos in the catalog; I like it even better than I thought I would. The crocus are growing a bit, but still looking sparse. Wondering if future years will see them fill in adds a fillip to the view. Valia - UT (winter) WA (summer), Zone "8 and 5"   Gardenfiend  Supporting Member My Weather My Garden Posted on Sunday, March 02, 2008 - 02:56 am EST :    Your soil looks interesting ;) Or is it mulch? What kind of soil do you have in Utah? I imagined it to be desert - but obviously not. If you want lots and lots of crocuses (and who doesn't), I can recommend tommasinianus. Not one of the named hybrids but the species. Plant a dozen or two and in a couple of years the whole area will be full. Gardenfiend - Germany, Zone "7a"   Plantynut  Supporting Member My Favorite Photo My Garden Journal My Weather My Garden My Time Posted on Sunday, March 02, 2008 - 06:24 am EST :    That's a pretty flower. Plantynut - New York, Zone "7"   Growit  Supporting Member My Favorite Photo My Weather My Time Posted on Sunday, March 02, 2008 - 08:16 am EST :    Lovely Anne Just bought three pots of this one yesterday at a craft fair/market very cheap!! Growit - Hants UK, Zone "8/9"   Valia  Supporting Member Posted on Sunday, March 02, 2008 - 09:57 am EST :    Thanks, Arlene. May "Cantab" reward you many times over, Moira. I'd love to have lots and lots of crocus, Mara. There were no flowering plants here except cholla, the least attractive of the cactus, and a couple of mammillaria. This place cries out for bulbs, but a tight budget limits what I can start with. I'll have to look for tommasinnianus. Woops! I just checked my lists and realized that the "Ruby Giant" that fills the gap between "Golden Bunch" and "Snow Bunting" is a tommasinnianus. It must be a little later than the others. The little green sprigs are sticking out, so it should be showing off its blooms pretty soon. What you see below the iris is what I think of as mulch. The developers here brought in two feet of "fill dirt" which is pure, sticky orange clay (hardpan). It sucks things in when wet and is like adobe when dry. According to a neighbor, this rests on a deep gravel bed -- believable because we are two blocks from the county gravel pit. On top of the hardpan there is a layer of heavy plastic, then about three inches (on average) of decomposing red scoria, a lightweight lava rock formed from volcanic froth. The clay is awful. I don't like using a plastic layer where I have flower beds, and removed some of it, only to learn that it was not a weed barrier but a clay barrier. The clay sucks the mulch down and uses it to make concrete. Not so bad in the front yard with the lightweight rock, but terrible in the back where the mulch is large gravel. I love the lava rock. With a little added organic matter, it makes great soil. The weeds like it, too. And the neighborhood cats. It's local material. There are several inactive volcanoes in the region. Valia - UT (winter) WA (summer), Zone "8 and 5"   Valia  Supporting Member Posted on Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 10:08 pm EST :    ... and now there are 19! Valia - UT (winter) WA (summer), Zone "8 and 5"   Growit  Supporting Member My Favorite Photo My Weather My Time Posted on Friday, March 07, 2008 - 03:46 am EST :    Wow Anne! I can just picture that lot clumping up. What a show you will have! Growit - Hants UK, Zone "8/9"   Loretta  Supporting Member Posted on Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 10:27 am EST :    I like the lava rock. I didn't realize it decomposes. Too bad it isn't local here...or maybe that is a good thing! Your Cantab just glows in the pictures! Loretta - NJ, Zone "6"

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