I bought Violet Turner for my mom last year, and it is one of the loveliest irises I have ever seen. It reblooms here in CA.
Renee

Thanks Renee. The package says it is a fragrant rebloomer. Do you remember what it smells like, a strong fragrance or a light floral fragrance? Marg

Purchased some Merit at the garden center. Any ideas on when to apply in zone 5 Pennsylvania? Also should I just sprinkle around plant or do I have to scratch in?

I scratched it in a little last year. If rain is in the forecast I wd make sure to scratch it in--don't want it getting washed elsewhere!

I was just thinking about that -- I live in Washington Crossing NJ a bit north of Trenton---wondering whether it's time to do that. Then it went into the 20s last night and I said--nah!

Marg, I don't remember the scent. It was planted in August and bloomed within a month or two before winter dormancy. I'll take a look at her garden tomorrow and see if it is promising to send up early blooms, and get back with a report.
Renee

I have Jurassic Park. It's a really nice large flower. One of my favorites.

wow i was just thinking of going to the store to see what var. they had.bought some on e-bay,beautiful colors, hope they grow,havn't gotb them yet.just bought new house and have to start flower beds all over again.lots of squirrels around,don't know what all they eat.thanks for tip about store bulbs.will report on how e-bay worked out.paid 6 bucks for some tubers but they were exotic colors.there are some in my yard but just purple. can i ask if i can mix colors in one bed,a neighbor told me they would cross polinate. thanks so much

I too love Jurassic Park. Big flowers and the colors always attracts comments.
kay

My favorite of the three was JP so its nice to know how great it is. I had to start them early inside but JP is now up. Thanks for the comments everyone.
lovly_earth: I had different colors in the same bed before and they never cross pollinated. I'm just getting into irises myself so I really can't say for sure.

Marg

As far as cross pollination goes, it's not anything to really worry about. I don't often get seed pods forming naturally on my bearded irises, but when they do, they're very obvious and you have plenty of time to remove them so seeds won't set. I actually had one on my Jurassic Park last year, so I kept those seeds and planted them. But usually, they just get cut off and destroyed.