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Xela

By Xela

Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom

Anyone growing Iris Chrysographes (black flower) ? I fell in love with this iris at Gardeners' World Live earlier this year and on reading the guidance on its label couldn't resist bringing one home. It has sat happily in its pot in a bowl of shallow water all summer but now I am wondering how to ensure it survives the winter. Should I plant it in the ground where it is (bearing in mind our soil is thin topsoil on clay) or fill the bowl with compost and put it in the greenhouse when the temperatures nears freezing? Any advice gratefully received.


On plant Iris chrysographes


Answers

 

I have mine in the ground and it does well getting bigger every year. it is fully hardy so pop it in the ground and it should be fine. personally I wouldn't grow it in the pond margins.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/96505/i-Iris-chrysographes-i-black-flowered/Details

25 Sep, 2019

 

Mine is in the garden too. It's in 'average' soil (not wet) and is extremely happy

25 Sep, 2019

 

Many thanks for both your replies, I'll release it from its pot and pop it into the soil where it is. The label suggests it likes to be kept moist and as the Chilterns have been dry and dusty for much of the summer I played safe by standing its pot in a bowl of shallow water which was topped up most evenings. The guidelines on the label suggested to me that they are not as tolerant as you have both found them to be, perhaps they are right about very young plants.

25 Sep, 2019

 

I find it to be bomb-proof in the garden! I grow it in a moderate, neutral soil in Scotland. Last summer was very dry and hot (now a distant memory) and this summer very much the opposite! It has been in situe for many years an produces more rhizomes each year so is now a large plant.

26 Sep, 2019

 

That is very reassuring Bulbaholic, thank you :-) All too often the plants I fall in love with don't care for the conditions in the Chilterns, usually it is the clay they are adverse to, so I am probably inclined to cosset even robust new plants too much ! Here's hoping my black iris does as well as yours, my fingers are crossed. ;-)

26 Sep, 2019

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