Due to a very hot and long-lasting summer ... many of our reblooming iris got off to a late start this year. Unfortunately, due to an early first hard frost alot of bloom stalks ended up "blooming" inside as part of a floral bouquet rather than gracing our fall garden. I have adopted a "policy" of NOT counting late bloomers as part of our rebloom tally since they really didn't bloom in the true sense of the word. This is not "horseshoes" and close really doesn't count. I've had Spoon's excellent Wister award winning "Daughter of Stars" in my garden "almost" rebloom for the last 4 years ... but it has never been able to actually open in my garden. How can I recommend, as excellent as this cultivar is, as a reblooming iris -- when in fact it doesn't.

I got behind posting photos and then ended up loosing a bunch of photos ... so my Fall 2010 listing is somewhat abbreviated. Please click on the link below for more photos of reblooming iris in our Fall 2009 listing.

Interesting Story:
Delta Lady was planted in late July 2010 at the same time the smaller fans showing in back of it were set out. Unlike its brothers and sisters, Delta Lady, a 2009 Introduction from Larry Lauer, just took off!

It presented a very long lasting display of sea lavender flowers. (You can note a bit of red geranium flowers in the back-ground).
It was in a new bed ... with very soft soil. The plant was stepped on by deer -- a real nuisance in my garden. While they devour my daylilies to the point where I have almost given up on them, they don't eat the iris ... but do occasionally step on them.

Delta Lady was unearthed and by early spring, it looked totally hopeless. I replanted it ... only to have it unearthed again. I put it back in the ground even though all logic dictated I give up. I had already put its name on my list of definite purchases for the 2011 season.

Much to my surprise, I have found 3 sets of plantlets growing ... the return of the phoenix. While I am not counting on bloom this year ... I am delighted to have it back and going and expect great things from this one next year.

And the Winner Is ... again!
The undisputed champion for rebloom in my garden again in 2010 is Unbelievable Love by William Grise, a 1998 introduction.

As you can observe if you look closely, alot of the leaves of this, as well as in the plants in back, show signs of drying out. The dry conditions no doubt hurt the 2010 rebloom. The dry heat made it diffucult to properly water ... But in spite of the conditions, Unbelievable Love put on an amazing show.

Not only is Unbelievable Love a reliable reblooming iris (cited on pg. 68 of the Jan 2009 Bulletin of the American Iris Society as even being a reliable rebloomer in Zone 4/Minnesota) ... it also starts rebloom EARLY.

This is the ultimate combination: RELIABLE / EARLY. Because it is reliable, as the word suggest -- you can count on it. And because it is EARLY ... it will rebloom early enough in the season so that in the event you do have an early hard frost -- you will still get to enjoy it.