Page 6 - index

Musings From

Manitoba

By: B. J. Jackson

(jacksonb@mts.net)

hat an interesting iris
season 2013 has turned
out to be. A late spring,
snow on the ground until
WMay and bloom season
delayed until the beginning of June. Not an
auspicious beginning to say the least. But,
as soon as June arrived, the iris started with
wild abandon and it was a rush to record and
document everything blooming. And bloom
they did with no rhyme or reason. There was
no gentle progression from the MDBs to the
SDBs to the etc., etc., etc. It was bloom and all classes were blooming together. IBs with
SDBs, MTBs and MDBs.

The frst to bloom were actually several seedlings from 2010 in a small bed at my
new house. Nothing remarkable but they were mine. Crosses between MDBs Coral
Carpet and Puppet Pink, SDBs Live Coals and Truly and several from unknown bee pods.

Seedling bed at the new house
Of the named varieties, the frst up was I. pumilla Suslik on May 24th for the frst
time in my gardens. It was quickly followed by MDB Sleepy Time on May 25th and then
it was SDBs Death by Chocolate and Extraterrestrial on May 26th. After that it was a
blur!
4 Canadian Iris Society Newsletter