Add a rainbow of color to your water-wise garden with easy-care bearded irises
This beauty is the 'Go Berserka' iris. Find rhizomes for gorgeous irises at the Sacramento Iris Society sale this Saturday. Kathy Morrison
Bearded irises rank among the best easy-care, water-wise perennials for Sacramento – and the foothills, too. (They can take winter cold and deer don’t like them.)
And now is the time to dig up and divide these beautiful bloomers – which is why it’s also perfect timing for an iris rhizome sale.
On Saturday, July 20, the Sacramento Iris Society will host its annual rhizome sale at Shepard Garden and Arts Center. These are newly dug rhizomes – fresh from the ground, divided, trimmed and ready to replant.
Mid to late summer is perfect for planting bearded iris rhizomes, so this sale’s timing could not be better – even with triple-digit temperatures forecast for this weekend. (Shepard Center is air-conditioned.)
Unlike past years, this will be a one-day sale. Shop early for best selection; sale starts at 9 a.m. and runs until 4 p.m. – or until they’re all gone. Admission and parking are free.
In virtually every color and combination, more than 60,000 cultivars of bearded iris (Iris x germanica) have been named. Commonly known as German bearded iris or German flag, the bearded iris actually traces its roots to the Mediterranean, which is why it’s so ideal for our climate.
At this sale, hundreds of varieties will be available in a rainbow of vivid hues. According to the society, each specimen will be labeled with the cultivar name and a description of the flower appearance.
Besides the traditional spring bloomers, find a large selection of “rebloomers” that extend iris season into summer and fall. Get advice on how to plant rhizomes plus year-round iris care.
Why plant irises? Besides the beautiful flowers, bearded irises are both deer- and drought-resistant; they can coexist with wildlife and need little summer irrigation.
Shepard Center is located at 3330 McKinley Blvd., Sacramento, in McKinley Park.
Details and directions: www.sgaac.org.
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.
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