How to Cultivate Yellow Walking Iris

One of the great wonders in cultivating this particular plant is to become mesmerized with the human facial features that this particular blooms shows in it's appearance. I can't phantom why such a simple easy plant can portray such a unique mystery not one but many faces that indeed gives a strong credential to the evidence of the existence of fairy creatures.

Of course, I might dwell in that topic and may stretch all the means of local folk-lore and cultures pertaining it, however one thing is for sure - that my garden tiny it may be - still manage to hold all of its secrets and mysteries in a single cup of flower.

Commonly known as Yellow Walking Iris (Trimezia martinicensis) has an appearance like an iris where it can grown in water feature and also on ground like any other plant. It also does well in both shade and sun conditions where it can bloom in both conditions where it an ideal plant where it comes as a hardy plant.

After it had completed its flowering stage the pods will become heavy and fall with the flower stalk reach out and touch ground and that appears to be "walking" as it had propagated into a new ground from the flowering stalk. The new stalk will start a new plant-let set with leaves and a new rooting system. And because of this feature, these iris plant do not form fruit or seeds.

The flowers blooms for a day and closed its formation by night & do not have fragrance.
Many had mistaken this one for an orchid.

The sword-like foliage appearance is ideal for the long and tall upright fan feature plants especially for tight spaces. They are non-fussy and may able to grow very well in any nook, crook & corners. 

However I noticed that the leaves can get burned when exposed to direct hot sun and therefore it more ideal towards the shaded garden though it can tolerate direct hot sun and may bloom profusely in that condition. The best would be a good balance of shade and sun that helps on the blooming and the well balanced foliage formation.

Other than the general care of watering, feeding and pruning (dried / burned foliage) it is fairly an easy plant to maintain.

Yellow Walking Iris - Trimezia martinicensis

I'm surprised that they really do not have a common name.
I often seen them growing wildly by the roadside.
These cone-shaped flower buds - the yellow catches my attention regardless the distance.
Strange as they appear - they disappear within the season.

I also found that they are grown as ornament plant
More for their grass-like figure than the floral.
It must be the modern version of wheat-stack thing.

There are more information to be discovered about this plant.
Often mistaken as a water orchid. (some of my friends still insist they are)
Surprisingly it falls under a lily/Iris family.
And this one is truly an aquatic or water hardy one.

Regardless the character - It does bloom in shade.
Much better than Lotus and Water Lily.

Seasonal Blooms (Bush Clock Vine / Bromeliad / Golden Shower Orchid /Powder Puff Plant / Yellow Walking Iris / Blackberry Lily)

These orchids are the giant version of the normal Oncidium ones.
It was passed to me by my friend (pity his parent plant died)
I had doubts about this one as it is quite sensitive but somehow it had pulled through and gave me this enormous giant flowers!

These are the white Oncidium.
The normal ones are in yellow.
They too had started blooming during these rainy season.








These Blackberry lily had made a come back after a very long silence.
Its blooming together with my Yellow Walking Iris.









This had been passed to me by my friend and it is blooming so beautifully.




 

 I had kept it in shade earlier but it never bloomed.
And it took awhile to get adjusted after few months before all these blooming.
I just love the flower bud - it reminds me of some berries.
These Powderpuff suppose to attract the nectar loving birds - but I have yet to see them drinking from these.







Finally Bush Clock Vine (below)
Its not actually a vine more like a bush.
It had finally started to give lots of blooms.
Earlier just like the Powderpuff plant - it was kept in shade and it rarely flowered.
Now it is just give so much grace with the blue blooms.

Blooms of the Month: November 2013

Garden Update - September - Continued

Two of my Earthstar (Crypthantus) died both sides.
It shouldn't happen but I guess its the neglect due to lack of watering and feeding.
These pale brown earthstar seemed to producing lots of pups compared to the red/pink counterpart. The deep red had became dormant and the pink still holding on for now.

I need to get more of them but find them in nursery do proof a challenge as not many of them sell them or if they do - it would be very expensive. Getting a bargain is difficult when there is no competition.

I had now replaced the missing spots with Golden Hahnni 
(Sansevieria Trifasciata Golden Hahnii)
I would had preferred more of the red ruby Earthstar - if I can get my hands on them in the first place but for the moment  I think this will do.

My existing Bromeliad collection gave me an idea.
Those of with spikes, sharp edged needle points and spines at the leaf edges.
These are of the touch me not dangerous kind. 
I wished I had more of the red ”keep me away” kind of colour but the best variegated ones I have are of these yellow, lime & green shades. 

(All of these plants were rescued from dumps, burning sites and throwaways - abandoned on street side-walks)

Plants in this collection:
Top: 
1) Dwarf Gold Pandanus - 
(Pandanus pygmaeus 'Variegatus') or P. toei 'Variegatus'
2) Varigated Agave

Plants in this collection:
Top: 
1) Miniature Pineapple
2) Varigated Spider plant

Plants in this collection:
Top: 
1) Green Agave
2) Golden Hahnii

After  checking through Google - 
I now found out that Tequila are made from an Agave plant.
The Aztec people make the fermented drink from them

King's Mantel, Bush Clock Vine -  (Thunbergia Erecta)
This blue flower plant had really tested my patience. 
It rarely flower and when it does it only gives out one or two blooms. 

I got this plant from a pruned branches where my neighbours had thrown. It did took awhile to establish a lovely bush but that is the problem.
It only remained as a boring bushy shrub.

I'm still considering hard pruning and heavy fertilising for a nice lovely bloom. And if that fail too - this plant is kicking its bucket from my garden.

Earlier this place proved to be a sore-eye as I tend to get rid of all that doesn't do well in my garden. In most cases the very reason is that these are sun lovers and my garden can only accommodate shade dwellers. 
And so in this collection.

1) Dracaena marginata 'Tricolor'.
2) Yellow Walking Iris - (Trimezia martinicensis) 
3) Blackberry Lily -  (Belamcanda  chinensis)
4) Ground Orchids - (Spathoglottis X Parsonii.)
5) Screwpine Leaves - (Pandanus amaryllifolius)
6) Pineapple
7) Jewel of Opar - (Talinum paniculatum)
8) Step Ladder Ginger - (Costus malortienanus)

The champion in this collection are the Ground Orchids. 
They have been blooming continuously for about 3 months now.
I had set another pot here where once it was inside my porch area where it got limited sunlight.
Hopefully they would reset and start blooming again.

The Jewel of Opar seemed be a collateral damage when the grass cutter comes along. I guess the cutter could tell the difference and slice everything away. 

Somehow this plant comes back with a vengeance with more spikes and more blooms. I prefer not to take it for granted and place them at this drain-side where there is no weed or grass.
(And no grass-cutter to raze any weeds)

Step Ladder Ginger - (Costus malortienanus)

This plant was growing from a cement crack and was a survivor. 
In fact I did got rid of it ripping it off from the ground and this plant proved resilient by coming back again.
I pulled the root rhizome from the cracks & planted them in this pot.

There are some few other non-significant plants here which I have not put in details of which I will come back when I get a better shot on them or when the plant generate with satisfactory growth - whichever comes first. 

Come to think of it - there is so much to do now in my garden where another reset is urgently required where I really don't have the time or the energy to get myself to do it. Looks like its going to happen in a slow pace with a little a time.
It would be a nice appropriate time for me to finish by year-end holiday season.