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Friday, February 17, 2012

Bearded Iris seedlings

I have to admit that I'm surprised at how many Bearded Iris seeds germinated. Last year I went to look up information on when to sow the seeds and it was pretty much agreed that the methods of winter stratification or soaking the seeds in water for weeks were the way to go. There was talk about how some of the seeds are so tough that their purpose is to take up to ten years before they burst free from the shell. Something about how they're protected in case something happens to the early birds that came up. It looks like just about every seed germinated.
Purple Mom/Black Dad

Black Mom/Purple Dad

Close-up of iris seedlings - Black Mom/Purple Dad
And for personal records, I was given a couple more plants.
Dutch Iris Miss Saigon and Garden Amaryllis Red & White
After doing a search for Dutch Iris, it appears that they're less-liked because they tend to dwindle in number instead of proliferating? The "Garden Amaryllis Red & White" looks like Minerva.

4 comments:

  1. wow .. i dun know ... can buy Amarylis Seed .. In my country , only can buy bulb... :D so can u tell me how can get there seeds?

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  2. Hi Vicky. I pollinated my flowers and harvested the seeds after. :)

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  3. I skipped the step of soaking them in water last year and none came up. I still have the untouched pots and they are now going to get their second winter. Maybe some will sprout next spring.

    However I bought lots more bearded iris seed and for the last 7 weeks they have been in my bathroom soaking in a jar of water. Every morning I would empty it and fill it back up again 1 to 3 times. They go outside Next Sunday. This time I also bought lots more -- over 100.

    I would be thrilled to get the same results as you.

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  4. @mccommas - I was surprised by how many came up, especially since it was a mild winter. Everyone pretty much said to expect only a few to come up 'next spring'. It seemed like every seed burst open. I was dealing with 50+ seedlings in each pot by the time spring was in full swing. It caught me off guard because I was expecting to transplant about two or three seedlings by that time.

    Wow! That's a lot of seeds (I should know! hehe). Lots of good luck to you with the water soaking method!

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