Friday 20 June 2014

A Late Bloomer

I bought this flag iris for my little pond a long time ago. I waited patiently year after year for it to bloom and was disappointed each year when it didn't, it was all foliage and no flower. My hopes were raised this year when I spotted that it had produced some buds.


The sunny weather encouraged the flowers to open. I'm quite partial to yellow flowers, these are so vibrant.


The flowers don't last very long, you can see here that they're starting to fade.


Please ignore the drab fence. I was growing some morning glories to cover it but the slugs had a feast the minute they were planted out. It seems that nothing's safe this year. I need a plan B.

28 comments:

  1. It looks like my yellow iris on my garden. But yours have a wider petal.
    I think your patience is paid. The beautiful flowers look so stunning!

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    1. Definitely worth waiting for. I just hope it now goes on to produce flowers for me each year, we'll see.

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  2. AnonymousJune 20, 2014

    They're nice. Shame about the morning glories. Flighty xx

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    1. It is a shame. I've had a clematis along the fence before but it never did well, and I've had a honeysuckle but it grew too woody so I thought an annual might be better, obviously not with the slugs about.

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  3. AnonymousJune 20, 2014

    They're such beautiful flowers. We have lots near us on the canal. You might need to keep an eye on it though. A friend was telling me recently that it can be quite invasive and took over their pond. It has been a hard year with slugs and snails. I've lost quite a few plants and then have been stuck for something to repalce them with. At least we've had this long dry spell which has given us a break from slugmageddon. ;)

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    1. I'm very partial to irises in any form. I've heard it can be invasive so I'll definitely need to keep an eye on it, my pond is tiny so it definitely need keeping in check. Ha ha, slugmageddon, I love it. No let up here yet, I found one curled around a French bean seedling the other day which is still in a pot. They haven't even got the good manners to wait until I've planted them out.

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  4. The best thing about the iris flowers is, even though they only last a little while, there are more flowers on the stem so there is a show of colour even when some flowers have faded.
    Love from Mum
    xx

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    1. That's true. I don't have any other irises in my garden, apart from the reticulata, but I really should look in to getting some as they're such beautiful flowers.

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  5. Hi Jo, thanks for looking at Sammie,my little Boston Terrier on my blog! She's a joy! I then had to look at your blogs and am enjoying them both. Your yellow flowers, (are they Iris?) are lovely and I imagine they will multiply, so that next year you will have many more.

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    1. Your little Sammie is just gorgeous. They are irises, they're in my little pond so I hope they're going to multiply. It's taken quite a while to get them to bloom.

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  6. The yellow iris flowering this year is something worth waiting for. Shame about the morning glory. I know what you mean about plan B when it comes to gardening!

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    1. I've had to be very patient with the iris, but it's paid off. The fence is so ugly, it really needs covering with something but I'm running out of ideas.

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  7. I've planted flag iris in my new wildlife pond too. Was quite excited to have finally finished it, but now we're moving house... so I'll have a new garden to figure out, and a pond is definitely an early priority!

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    1. How exciting, a whole new garden to plan and grow. I think the best part of a new garden is seeing what's been left behind, you may inherit some treasures.

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  8. They do look lovely, glad they finally bloomed. I have them too as you say they certainly don't last very long do they.....what a shame about the morning glory, I do agree about the slugs, they seem to be devouring everything, they even stripped my large tomato plants I recently put out, that's certainly a first!xxx

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    1. They don't last long but they're beautiful while they're here, definitely worth having. I'm a bit fed up about the morning glories, they would have looked lovely growing up the fence. I have to say that I've never had slugs eat my tomato plants before, that really is bad luck.

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  9. Much better late than never and a nice unexpected surprise! I hope that you don't have too much more slug decimation. xx

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    1. I didn't think it was ever going to flower so it did take me a bit by surprise when I saw the buds. I'm hoping that the slugs will go in to hiding now the weather's a bit drier but I'm not holding my breath.

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  10. What beautiful flowers. I have a tiny iris that had one flower on it this year. It's slipped too deeply into the pond and needs moving, but I really don't fancy putting my hand in. There are Things in there. I ought to pull out loads of the weed that's rather taken over as well. I've been working up to it for months!

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    1. I know exactly what you mean. I love the idea of having a pond and love all the wildlife it attracts but there is no way that my hand is going anywhere near that water, that's Mick's domain. It's the marsh marigold which is taking over my pond, it needs a really good cut back, it's liking the conditions a little too much.

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  11. That first flower on a new plant is always exciting especially after a long wait!

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    1. It's been a long time coming, but definitely worth the wait.

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  12. It was worth the wait, Jo.
    I've taken to using an organic slug bait with some success. I actually have un-nibbled strawberries this year. Your strawberries in your last posting look scrumptious. P. x

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    1. As much as I don't want to, I think I'm going to have to resort to organic slug pellets too or else I'm not going to have anything to harvest this year. We've picked lots more strawberries since that first bowl, they're delicious.

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  13. The Iris is stunning. I love how the ponds give you an extension of your garden.

    Like you I am already sick of slugs eating all my young plants, pains that they are!

    X x

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    1. My pond is only tiny but it allows me to have a few water plants and brings wildlife in to the garden so it really earns its place. The slugs have devoured my beans, I'm so fed up of the things.

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  14. The other day I saw some pretty impressive Yellow Flags at West Green House - but then they were in a very extensive bog garden. Maybe yours are drier than they woud like to be?

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    1. They're definitely not dry, they're in my pond. I did wonder if the pond is too small for them though, or maybe they just needed time to get established. I bet the ones you saw looked fabulous if they were planted en masse.

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