Tips To Plant And Grow Louisiana Iris

One of the most attractive spring flowers that you can plant in your garden is the Louisiana Iris. It is a flowering plant that is very commonly seen in Louisiana and along the southeastern regions of the United States. It can also be easily grown in all locations in the world. This species of flowering plants are seen to grow easily along the riversides, in swamps and damp hillsides. It is a wild flowering plant, but offers great attraction in any garden. By hybridising and garden cultivation, you will now find the Louisiana Iris to be offered in a wide range of flower types and colours.

More about Louisiana Iris

The Louisiana Iris grows well all over the world as it adapts to different soils, climates, and cultures. It is better to grow these wild flowering plants in water gardens or bogs and can tolerate all kinds of moisture conditions. They belong to the Iridaceae family and the genus is Iris. They have large and showy flowers and will flower in a wide range of colours with the common color being violet and blue. These flowers grow on tall stems. There are five species of Louisiana Iris, the Iris Hexagona, Iris Fulva, Iris Nelsonii, Iris Giganticaerulea and Iris Brevicaulis. The colours of the flowers of Louisiana Iris are red, pink, gold, brown, white, lavender, yellow, pink and different shades of blue. The cultivars come with bi-coloured flowers with colour contrasts.

How to plant Louisiana Iris?

·       Louisiana Irises love to grow in areas where they get full sunlight. They can tolerate shade, but needs at least 6 hours of direct sunlight for better blooming.

·       The rhizomes of the Louisiana Iris need to be soaked in water overnight before the planting process.

·       The rhizomes should be placed in the soil in such a way that one inch of the top of the rhizome needs to be below the soil level.

·       It is better to pre-prepare the soil by adding compost, peat moss and rotted manure along with a general-purpose fertiliser before placing the rhizome.

·       The rhizome can be planted any time of the year in warmer regions. All that is needed is good watering and protection from the very hot sun to grow.

·       They will tolerate different types of soil and its varying acidic levels. It is better to avoid soils that have extreme pH levels.

·       They will also thrive in beds with plastic lining. These beds need to be six inches deep.

·       The Louisiana Irises can be divided and transplanted. It is better to avoid transplanting after blooming.

Caring for Louisiana Iris

These flowering plants can tolerate moderate dry conditions, but they should never be allowed to dry out completely. The young rhizomes need to get given water from time to time so that they are moist. This is done from the day they are planted to about a week or 10 days. Once the plant gets established, they will grow and bloom normally and they love the soil to be kept moist. They will love deep watering condition. They will grow and bloom more in standing water. It is very good to mulch the soil in which the Louisiana Iris is planted as they will help in retaining moisture. Check out our Louisiana Iris Plants we have for sale.

Why Grow Daylilies in Your Garden?

Why Grow Daylilies in Your Garden?

If you want to create a garden which has flowers all through the year, then consider planting daylilies in your garden. Daylilies are considered as the perfect perennial for any garden. They do not belong to the true lily family, but belongs to genus Hemerocallis, which produces blooms that last a single day.  They are considered

as the perfect plant for the garden because of the following reasons.

Variety of Choices

 There are 35,000 different varieties of daylilies which can be cultivated and you can find daylilies with different colours and colour combinations and surprisingly beautiful blossoms. You will be able to select the plants according to flower colour, flower type, bloom time, foliage type, height of the plant etc according to your gardening needs.  The plant height may vary from 6 inches to 4 feet, depending upon the variety.

Easy to Adapt

You cannot go wrong in growing daylilies. You will be able to plant the daylilies any time you want as they will easily adapt to the temperature changes and drought situations. They can survive under watering conditions as well as excessive watering when they are established. They can grow well in areas receiving sunlight for 5-6 hours as well as in areas receiving full day sun. If you want to have the best blooms you can plan to plant them just ahead of spring and autumn as this season will be less stressful for the plants.

Flowers Throughout the Season

The bloom time classification of daylilies varies from late spring to early summer. So, if you have a variety of daylilies with different bloom times, your garden will have flowers reblooming all through the year.  You can also opt for the ever-blooming types of daylilies for the garden. The flowers with different shapes and with multilayer petals are beautiful additions to the garden.

Easy to Maintain

One of the main reasons for people opting for daylilies in their garden is that they are easy to care for and maintain.

·       They are not much prone to diseases and pests especially if you are caring for them well.

·       You can water them once or twice in a week once established.

·       You just need to add compost and mulch to the soil to provide the nutrients and moisture required for proper growth and flowering.

·        Cutting off the flower stalk may encourages more blooms.

·       You may need to divide the clumps once in three to four years as it will become crowded.

Suited for Different Purposes

This plant variety is well suited for various uses in garden landscaping. The short and compact variety can be used as borders on the garden. It can be planted along with small shrubs and ornamental grasses in landscaping.  Daylilies are ideal for planting along a walkway or fences.  They will keep the weeds down with their dense foliage. You can get the best suited daylily plants according to your garden plan or landscaping you want to create Daylilies will help to create the perfect garden of your dreams using the gorgeous blooms of daylilies.

Daylilies are not Bulbs

Daylilies are plants that are hardy, attractive and very popular with gardeners of all levels. Not only do they require very little maintenance but they provide a great way of adding colour and beauty to your garden without having to invest huge amounts of time when it comes to planting and caring for them. However, one thing you need to remember is that although these plants are often referred to and even sold as bulbs they are actually not bulbs but plants with tuberous roots. This is something that you have to take into consideration when planting them, as the planting process differs slightly compared to lilies that do have bulb root structures as opposed to tuberous ones.

Planting your tuberous lilies

The fact that daylilies are not lilies with ‘true bulb’ structures is something that you need to take into consideration when it comes to planting. In order to get the most of these plants, you should consider the following points:

·       Plant them in a sunny area where they can get at least six hours of sun per day in order to flourish.

·       Use organic matter such as peat moss or compost in order to amend the soil, particularly in areas with a lot of clay or sand.

·       Your tuberous daylilies should be planted an inch below the soil’s surface with the bud facing upwards.

·       If you’re planting multiple daylilies, leave around two feet between them to allow for spread as they grow.

·       After planting your daylilies get rid of air pockets by tamping down the soil, which helps to reduce the risk of root rot. Also, make sure you water them after planting.

·       Apply two or three inches of mulch to your newly planted daylilies in order to help with water retention.

Making sure you plant and care for your daylilies as tuberous plants rather than bulbs will help to ensure you get to enjoy all of the benefits of these beautiful flowers.

Clivia Advice on Growing Clivias in Your Garden.

Clivia Advice on Growing Clivias in Your Garden

Clivias are proven easy to grow plants grown in many gardens around the world. They are one of the most popular plants for shady gardens displaying their green strappy leaves all year round. These lovely evergreen plants can be planted and do grow well around the house especially when planted under the shade of trees not minding the competition of the trees roots. They are also planted at the sides of houses where they will get continual shade or dappled light all day long and at the same time get some protection from heavy frosts. This plant is very tough and undemanding as well as low maintenance all they demand is acidic soil that has good drainage to grow well. The plants come in many different colours with the wider broad leaf forms, than the original orange clivia variety. The wide leaf varieties are very popular and are highly sought after from clivia enthusiast. These leaves can be variegated or plain green.

Collectors can pay hundreds of dollars for a clivia these days, not knowing exactly what colour they are buying until the clivia flowers.
 

Which Clivia have you got?

There are many hybrids,

Clivia caulescens- has soft red tubular flowers with green tips and long leaves that measure at least one metre long, flowering in the spring.

Clivia gardenia- has tubular red flowers with green tips. The leaves are also narrow and around 80cm long. This clivia flowers from autumn to spring.

Clivia Nobilis- has pendulous tubular flowers that are green tipped that flower mid winter and is also known to spot flower other times of the year.

Clivia miniata- has pale to medium orange upturned flowers with yellow throats, this variety flowering from late winter to early spring. The Belgian hybrids display rich red orange, yellow, peach and even pink coloured flowers recently.

Clivia x cyrtanthiflora has orange semi pendulous flowers pictured out of my garden these flowers have fine green edges also known in the past as clivia nobillis

Pests that Will Destroy the Clivia Plant

Snails can affect the clivia plant but there is a more serious pest that can destroy clivias in a short amount of time. This is known as the black and yellow striped amaryllis caterpillar the lily caterpillar or the lily borer caterpillar. If the clivia is seen infested with the Caterpillar on Clivias you will have to pick the caterpillars off the plant at night when they are more active, better still spray the plant to get rid of the caterpillars. You will have to watch out for the early signs of the caterpillars on the clivia. To know this you will have to read up on the life cycle of the lily caterpillar to know the early signs of the infestations, about the lily caterpillar moth laying the eggs that can be seen on the clivia leaves. When the eggs hatch then the caterpillar will be seen and this is when the plant will be attacked and on its way to being destroyed if not seen and sprayed soon enough.

Division is the easiest way to propagate them, dividing clivia clumps is best done in the cooler times of the year. Other propagation methods are planting the seed, which can take up to 5 years to produce flowers on the clivia plant.

Enjoy your CLIVIAS they are a worthwhile plant to grow in the garden.