Such beautiful flowers as irises are loved and widely cultivated by flower growers and gardeners in various natural and climatic zones of our planet. There are many varieties of this plant adapted to a wide variety of conditions, and breeders have created amazing varieties based on them.
This article will tell about the different types of this flower, the features of care and reproduction, as well as what pests and diseases of irises are found.
Who named him?
The famous ancient Greek philosopher and healer Hippocrates named this flower for its variety of colors in honor of the goddess Irida. It was she, like the rainbow, that connected heaven and earth, proclaiming to people the will of the gods. In addition, in the ancient Greek language, "iris" meant, first of all, a rainbow, and then the name of a flower. In the 18th century, the naturalist Carl Linnaeus, who created a unified system for the classification and names of plants, preservedbehind the iris is its ancient name. Before we talk about what diseases and pests can affect irises, let's briefly dwell on the biological characteristics of this plant.
Botanical description
Flowers such as Iris, better known to gardeners as pivniki or irises, belong to the Iris family. As a rule, these are perennial rhizomatous, but there are also corm plants.
In our band, the most common rhizomatous representatives of iris, rather unpretentious in care and moderately water-loving. Iris garden forms a thick rhizome, located shallow underground and quite often protruding from it, with a large number of thin thread-like roots. The flat leaves of this flower are dense and rather rigid, covered with a whitish, waxy, sword-shaped coating. In most species of irises, they grow in fan-shaped tufts. Iris flowers, planted and cared for in accordance with the characteristics of the plant, bloom from late spring to mid-June.
Features of flowers
In all types of irises, flowers are located on a strong and strong peduncle. In most cases, the flowers are solitary, but are also found in small inflorescences. Coloring can be the most diverse - from snow-white to almost black. Today there are varieties whose flowers are painted in two or even more colors. Such an iris flower consists of six, and sometimes three petals, the inner and outer lobes of which differ in shape, size and color.
After flowering, the plant forms a fruit - a ribbed trihedral elongated box, in which there are about 20 large brownish seeds.
What are the types?
Foreign breeders and flower growers subdivide all iris plants grown in gardens into 13 main groups, although some believe that there are about 17 of them.
- bearded;
- Siberian;
- Japanese;
- repair;
- arylbreda and aryl;
- spuria;
- Louisiana;
- Evansia;
- Pacific Coast plants;
- little known.
Such a classification is really needed, but in ordinary life a simpler and more understandable division of all rhizomatous irises into two groups is accepted: bearded and non-bearded. The most common in gardens are large, exquisitely colored representatives of bearded irises. These include many varieties of the so-called German tall bearded irises.
Unlike bearded irises, on the lower petals of which there is a “beard” of contrastingly colored villi, non-bearded irises do not have such decoration. This group includes the following types of irises:
- Siberian (I. sibirica);
- swamp (I. pseudacorus), it is also called false calamus;
- Japanese (I. japonica);
- Louisiana (I. Louisiana);
- spuria (I. spuria);
- Californian (I. californian).
Let's try to briefly characterize each of the listed species.
Iris barbata
Iris bearded is the most popular of the entire group of iris. Today, there are about 35,000 of its varieties, with several new ones appearing every year.
This flower got its name because of the delicate villi located on the lower petals. In many varieties, the color of the "beard" contrasts with the main color of the flower, consisting of six petals. By height, the bearded iris is divided into three groups:
- High - more than 0.7 meters;
- Medium height - from 0.4 to 0.7 m;
- Low, the height of which does not exceed 40 cm.
Coloring of flowers can be both monophonic and combined. Iris germanica also belongs to the group of bearded irises.
Siberian iris
Unlike the hardy and unpretentious species Siberian iris, the varieties bred on its basis have a higher need for heat and light. Plants of this group can grow up to 1 meter in height. Their leaves are narrower than those of the bearded ones, and have a lighter color. Varietal representatives come in various colors and bloom in late spring. You can choose varieties so that flowering will continue until the end of July. Diseases of cultivated and varietal irises are not terrible for him, and he is rarely affected by pests.
False calamus (marsh) iris
Opens its golden yellow, with small brown "strokes", flowers inend of May - beginning of June. This type of iris grows well in shallow, up to 40 cm, reservoirs, as well as on their borders. It develops well both in the sun and in partial shade.
In the middle lane, such types of irises as California, Louisiana, Japanese and spuria are rare, as there are few varieties adapted to our conditions, and they are, due to their rarity, not cheap.
Iris flowers: planting and care
When buying irises, you need to clarify what type you are getting, as this affects the choice of a place to plant. Most modern varieties of both bearded and non-bearded irises prefer sunny, warm, wind-sheltered places. However, species such as marsh, smooth and bristly are moisture-loving plants. Smooth and swamp irises, as well as varieties derived from them, are recommended to be planted in the shallow water of artificial reservoirs, and bristly - on flooded banks or in wet lowlands.
The rest of the iris species are planted in the middle zone in spring or autumn, and the most favorable period is the end of summer - the first weeks of autumn. Before planting the rhizomes of these flowers, the soil must be dug to a depth of 20 - 30 cm, and phosphorus-potassium and nitrogen-containing fertilizers and humus must be applied. After the irises have been planted, outdoor care for them consists of regular watering and fertilizing, removing weeds as needed.
It is necessary to plant these plants every three to five years, since individual fragments of the rhizome asgrowth is pushed to the surface. Because of this, the feeding area decreases and they stop blooming. It can also lead to the development of iris disease.
How to propagate?
These perennial plants can be propagated both by seeds and vegetatively. The seed method is used in breeding work and the plants obtained in this way bloom in 2-3 years.
A simpler and more affordable way of propagating irises is vegetative, in which the rhizome of the mother plant is divided, and then the resulting plots are planted in the soil. It is best to transplant and divide this perennial two to three weeks after the end of flowering. Plots are planted superficially and slightly obliquely - so that the top of the rhizome is above the ground. Too deep planting can provoke the development of the disease of irises flowers and even cause their death. Plants obtained in this way bloom in the first year after planting.
Signs of diseases and measures to combat them
Most of the plants in this group are quite resistant to diseases, but with adverse weather factors and various damage to the rhizome, the following iris diseases may occur:
- Heterosporiasis (septoria), manifested in the form of yellow spots of various sizes, randomly located on the entire surface of the leaf plate. With the further development of the disease, the spots become brown and merge into one. The plant looks weak, blooms poorly, and the leaves dry up. Heterosporiosis develops with a lack of calcium and phosphorus in the soil. Also, its development can be caused by prolonged rainy weather and the accompanying high humidity. From this disease of flowers of irises in the early stages, spraying plants with 0.4% solution of colloidal sulfur or 0.3% copper oxychloride helps.
- Bacteriosis (wet rot) is the most dangerous disease, as it develops quite quickly. The first "symptoms" of this disease are drying and yellowing of the leaves. Then the base of the "fan", and then the rhizome is affected by rot with a characteristic unpleasant odor. The cause of bacteriosis may be improper planting - excessive deepening or too dark and waterlogged place. At the first sign of damage to this disease, you need to dig up the plant and remove the affected part of the rhizome. Treat the site of the "operation" with potassium permanganate, and then with any growth stimulant. After that, the rhizome is well dried, and then planted separately from other plants in dry soil, trying not to deepen.
- Fusariosis. With this disease, the iris continues to grow and even blooms, but the leaves first turn yellow and then turn brown. To prevent the development of this disease, before planting, we disinfect the rhizome in a 0.2% solution of foundationazole for half an hour. If a flowering plant is affected, then we pour the same solution of foundationazole under the rhizome.
- Leaf spot may appear due to bad weather conditions. The first signs are spots of different colors and sizes on the leaves. Noticing them, immediately spray the diseased plant with 0.3% copper oxychloride solution or1% composition of Bordeaux liquid.
Flower pests
Irises can be affected by diseases and pests. Among insects, these are:
- Medvedka, gnawing rhizomes with pleasure. To combat it, you can use special bait pellets by digging them into the ground around the iris plantings.
- Kasatikovy (winter) scoop. Caterpillars of this insect feed on the rhizome, and adults gnaw out the bases of peduncles. Such an attack contributes to the development of bacteriosis of irises. During the period of active growth of flowers, it is necessary to spray them with an infusion of wormwood: a glass of wood ash, a tablespoon of any liquid soap and 300 g of grass are placed in 10 liters of boiling water. The container with the solution is closed and left to infuse for 5-6 hours. Immediately after that, use for spraying. You can also use various biological products sold in specialized stores.
- The iris flower girl, outwardly resembling the most common fly, spends the winter in the ground, but in the spring she crawls out and lays her eggs in the buds. This is how irises are affected. Diseases of the buds and their death are due to the larva inside and actively feeding. The affected bud rots and, of course, does not bloom. Experts recommend that plants be treated when leaves appear, as well as at the beginning of the budding stage with special insecticides. Affected buds should be cut off and destroyed immediately.
In addition to the above pests, irises can be affected by slugs, Maybugs, wireworms, various types of thrips and nematodes.
