Our Cosby Farm location is both a blessing and a curse for rebloom. Summer night temperatures can be five degrees cooler than metro Richmond. These lower evening readings are an important reblooming bearded iris trigger. Results have reflected this finding. The downside however is lower temperatures in late October lead to earlier fall freezes. Plenty of developing bloomstalks never reach maturity to flower.

The Garden saw its best summer rebloom in its history. According to my records, twelve named varieties and three seedlings bloomed during June, July and August. Summer Radiance, (Wilkerson '96), Anxious (Hager '92), Pink Attraction (Hall '88), and Northward Ho (Zurbrigg '91) were the best tall bearded selections. The big surprise was the fine performance of Durham Dream (Zurbrigg '00), a tall bearded child of Moonlit X Anew that was not registered as a remontant. It however rebloomed on two summer occasions!! Results however may prove to be an aberration. We look to replicate the same results in 2009.

Median bearded rebloom varieties also deserve praise for summer flower. Midsummer Night's Dream IB (Baumunk '99) and Sailboat Bay SDB (Zurbrigg '01) bloomed twice in summer and again in the fall. These varieties matched previous results at my old garden in Flatrock. Another huge surprise was I'll Be Back IB (Aitken '04). This median rebloomer was in constant bloom throughout the growing season. Wow!!

One of the highlights of fall rebloom was having tall bearded and median varieties in flower for the Powhatan County Agri-Entrepreneurship Tour held on September 13th. Gate of Heaven (Zurbrigg '04), Clarence (Zurbrigg '91), Lunar Whitewash (Innerst '03), Just Call Me (Wilkerson '08), Sailboat Bay (Zurbrigg '01), and I'll Be Back (Aitken '04) had open blooms despite temperatures in the mid nineties during the day. Just Call Me was originally planted as Wilkerson Sdlg. No #1501-2Re. It was extremely exciting to see it in flower. Like Gate of Heaven, Just Call Me is a child of Clarence. If this Wilkerson tall bearded rebloomer with white standards and pale blue falls shows similar fall tendencies in 2009, breeding for early September bearded iris rebloom receives added encouragement in Central Virginia.

As the fall season unfolded, we saw consistency on a number of tall bearded and median varieties. Echo location (Wilkerson '07), Unchained Melody (Mahan '99), My Friend Jonathan (B. Miller '94), Northward Ho (Zurbrigg '91), Matrix (Hall '91), Rosalie Figge (McKnew '93), Renown (Zurbrigg '92), and Mariposa Wizard (Tasco '04). Echo Location was the star of the fall rebloom show. It's clump produced fourteen bloomstalks, resembling typical spring flowering habits. It also repeated its late September 2007 performance. Early fall remontancy on new varieties like Echo Location is another exciting development for further rebloom sales and breeding.

Another satisfying result was obtained on my border bearded red plicata seedling no. #2022715-RP. It repeated its prior year performance with late September bloom. It won "Best Seedling in Show" at the AIS Region 4 Fall Meeting in Hendersonville, NC. We have picked out a name and will soon register it with the American Iris Society for future introduction.

We continue to trial rebloom varieties for fall performance. Stargate (Wilkerson '05), Tara's Choice (Wilkerson '04), Again &; Again (Innerst '99), Over and Over (Innerst '01), Lilla (D. Spoon '00), Rosalie Loving SDB (D. Spoon '03) and Sweethearts Again SDB (Hill '04) did well for first year fall flower.

We however wish to evaluate another year's bloom sequence before recommending them for planting in the home landscape.

Each year is capable of providing entirely different results. Central Virginia experienced a relatively dry winter. Similar conditions in late summer would seriously affect the timing and quality of fall rebloom. It always seems to be a roll of the dice. We hope to have the winning numbers again this year.

Again & Again		Anxious		Clarence		Durham Dream
Echo Location		Gate of Heaven		Lunar Whitewash		Lilla
Matrix		My Friend Jonathan		Northward Ho		Over &; Over
Pink Attraction		Renown		Rosalie Figge		Stargate
Summer Radiance		Sunny Disposition		Tara's Choice		Unchained Melody

Baby Blessed SDB		I Bless IB		I'll Be Back IB		Mariposa Wizard IB
Midsummer Night's Dream IB		Rosalie Loving SDB		Sailboat Bay SDB		Sweethearts Again SDB