by
Mike Lockatell

Unseasonably warm daytime temperatures led to December median bearded iris rebloom in Metro Richmond. My North Chesterfield display planting at BP Market (9200 Midlothian Turnpike) in South Richmond saw flowering on intermediate and standard dwarf bearded selections from mid-December until a snowstorm and bitter cold on January 3^rd. An amazing sight to see bloom during the Christmas holidays.

Due to dry soil conditions in late summer and early fall during 2021, flower bud development was delayed. Warm daytime temperatures in late November set the stage for the December flower parade on medians in the BP planting.

Spring bloom on the “little guys” usually occurs at the Midlothian Turnpike location during the final week in March. A complete surprise was finding an open flower on  Lockatell SDB 21620-01Re at BP Market on March 5^th. A bloom was found the very next day on SDB Re Baby Blessed (Zurbrigg, 1979) in a 4” pot residing on my gravel driveway. Wow!!

Lockatell SDB Re 21620-01Re had another bud on the same bloomstalk getting ready to open on March 14^th. Temperatures the following morning dipped into the high twenties to destroy any chance for flowering. Developing bloomstalks were found on SDB Teagen (D. Spoon, 2009), Baby Blessed and Sailboat Bay (Zurbrigg, 2004) at the same time. These buds however aborted due to the cold. It would have been great fun to see bloom and collect pollen for  possible cross pollinations.

 A walk through the potted irises on my driveway found Lockatell SDB 21620-01Re  flowering in a shallow two-quart pot on March 22^nd. The yellow with maroon thumbprint on each fall had somehow managed to withstood recent cold to flower. “Hooray.”

Even though some early standard dwarf bearded iris bloom has been lost, the good news is the rebloom trait allows the gardener a second chance to see flowering in the same growing season. It is never an “all or nothing” proposition with these valuable plants. Color diversity and patterning is still an issue, but fall flowering is always a nice alternative to brown tree leaves.