Surprise, surprise! – Iris pumila
Growing from seeds is always full of surprises, especially for first time sowings, like in this case for Iris pumila.
Iris pumila – a dwarf, early spring flowering, bearded Iris with a wild distribution from Central Europe to the Caucasus. The large flowers can be violet, blue, purple, yellow, or in various combinations like it naturally happens in wild populations; it is super hardy and excellent for the rockery, or a sunny border.
For best germination, most sources suggest soaking the seeds and providing about 4 weeks warm and then a longer (few months) cold period. So, my plan was to keep the sowings the furnace room for 3-4 weeks (+/- 23C day/ 17C night) and then place the pots outside under snow for the remaining of the winter. I sowed on Dec. 19th – and a couple of days ago (Jan. 5)…surprise! I found some pots with the first shoots were out. The plan has changed of course, and my light stand will be up very soon :)
Iris pumila – seeds soaked, sown on Dec.19th at warm – first signs of germination Jan. 5th (few even sooner)
The pots contain seeds of differently coloured specimens, although this little Iris can provide even more surprises colour-wise!
I don’t know if the seeds will germinate in the same way after going into a deeper dormancy, but this is still a good time to sow – and few fresh seeds are still available in the shop!
