TALL BEARDED IRISES IN SPRING ARRANGEMENTS

Tall bearded irises "WEDDING BELLE," "EPICENTER," and "SPECTACULAR BID" make a pleasing color co-ordinated vase arrangement for Memorial Day.

"Wedding Belle" is an extra large 6 1/2" bloom of luscious colored light peach. Ruffles and lace abound on this beauty.

Plicata "EPICENTER" is a vigorous bloom with a light peach ground color, and is always a stand-out in the garden. With deep velvety falls, "SPECTACULAR BID" is an older, but tried-and-true variety. The trio goes well together.

These vase arrangements were used to put on grave markers for Memorial Day. They were cut in the bud stage, and this is what they looked like after two days. Their life in the outside lasted another 2 days in bright sun. Being favorite colors of my dad, I wanted to use them. They were placed on his marker, which has a vase on both sides of the stone. Use a floral preservative, as always, and check on them daily, if possible, snapping off spent blooms. If kept inside, they would, of course, last longer.

TALL BEARDED IRISES AND PEONIES--A perfect match for spring arrangements!

When the peonies and irises bloom, I always have such a fun time deciding which color combinations to use for my weekly floral arrangement for a local dentist's office. Two of my favorites are in bloom now--The stunning tall bearded dark blue falls and light blue standards iris "GLOBAL CROSSING." and the beautiful, huge, very double blooms of 'MONS JULES ELLE,' and the single, bright pink blooms of peony 'DANCING FAIRIES.' I love the bright golden stamens of Dancing Fairies.

When choosing these flowers, choose flowers in the bud stage, with color showing, or buds that have just started to unfurl.This will give you at least a week's fresh arrangement. Use floral water, and keep out of direct light or drafts for optimal vase life.

Peonies are easy to harvest. If you need to keep them for a long period after cutting before arranging, just remove the leaves, and wrap the stems in wet paper towels. They can then be place in the refrigerator until needed--up to two weeks. They can also be harvested in bud stage, placed in big buckets of water and stored in a cool, dark place until needed. To bring on the bloom, just arrange using warm water.  

This picture was taken 4 days after the delivery.  There are still a few buds left, but most have bloomed. I went in and took the picture and dead headed a few of the spent irises, leaving the bud that is on the double-socketed stems.

Pink and blue have always been a favorite color combination for me--they compliment each other so well.

TALL BEARDED IRISES and ITOH PEONIES -- Never-ending floral arrangement possibilities

After the tree peonies bloom, and before the herbaceous peonies bloom, another variety of peony, Itoh (e' toe) peonies, make their appearance in the garden. These stunning flowers combine the best of tree peonies and herbaceous ones, having magnificent big blooms, and an easy growth and care feature.  Pictured here is "Hawaiian Pink Coral" peony. Paired with it are Tall Bearded Iris 'Eagle's Flight," and three different purple globe alliums in various sizes. I like the coral pink color combined with the lavender of the alliums.

Alliums are best planted in the fall. They come in all sorts of shapes, colors and sizes, as you can see in the picture. They dry beautifully and add a nice interest in the fall garden.

The lupine is just starting to bloom, and it also comes in a myriad of colors and combination colors. An interesting thing about lupine is that they readily self sow, but are not true to the parent plant, so you don't know what you're getting until they bloom, They are easy to transplant when young seedlings, but have a 95% failure rate when transplanted when they're a young full plant or older plant. Lupine are great combination plants for tall bearded irises, peonies, and poppies. Their tall spikes withstand high winds and they do relatively well in both full sun and part shade.

When cutting for a floral arrangement, cut in the bud stage, Lupine start to bloom from the bottom up, so lower ones can be in bloom, but give the top a good measure of buds for long-lasting blooms in your arrangement. By the 2nd or 3rd day, the buds should be in bloom, as you can see by the photos below. I always use a floral preservative for maximum vase life.

Because peonies and irises come in so many colors, the composition of your arrangements can be endless!

TALL BEARDED IRIS IN MY GARDEN TODAY

With 53 irises blooming as of first thing this morning, with several ready to open, I can see that iris season is in full swing here in the top of Utah.  Here are the new blossoms blooming today:

Coming Up Roses

Embrace Me

Nigerian Raspberry

Crowned Heads

Lady Friend

Bubble Bubble

Beyond

About Town

Raspberry Frills

Lullaby of Spring

Twist Of Fate

Sweet Musette

Marching To Zion

Rosy Forecast

Society Page

Proud Tradition

Electrabrite

Pink Bubbles

Into The Night

Sisterhood

Geniality

Sweeter Than Wine

Change Of Pace

Ruffled Ballet

Coffee Whispers

Tut's Gold

Boysenberry Buttercup

Flamenco

Pond Lily

TALL BEARDED IRISES IN THE 2014 BEDS--BLOOMS IN 6 WEEKS

With rain or snow in the past two weeks, the TALL BEARDED IRISES are growing nicely, with blooms expected in about 6 weeks. I will be putting on a fertilizer this week or next. Use one that is low in nitrogen--6-10-10- or 5-10-10--as irises don't like a lot of nitrogen, and you risk losing the rhizome if you use one that's higher. Companion plants lupine, peonies, poppies and others, all look good. The moisture we got has helped in their good growth. The hybrid tea roses are not doing as well. Because of several days of sub-zero temperatures without the insulation of snow this past winter, the winter kill has been devastating to them. Any roses that have new growth will be pruned hard--to that growth. This means some will be pruned almost to the ground.  Hybrid tea roses are generally grafted on a nondescript wild rose, and so if the bloom is the wild one, the rose will have to be replaced. When they bloom, if the rose is true to its name, I will keep it, otherwise, I know that it's growing below the graft, and the wild one is all I'll ever get. I'm hoping that I have some that will be viable.