Molie, that might have been from me. I gave away some dwarf purple iris. When I bought them, they were tagged as Royal Knight, I think it was, but I don't think this ID was correct. I can't remember *why* I think it's incorrect (we're going back at least 10 years now, probably more!) but for whatever reason I've always thought the ID was wrong. Either way, I've always enjoyed them.

And yes, I have gotten blooms from them as late as November. One of the reasons I enjoy them!

If it is a dark purple bloom, it might be one of mine. They are vigorous growers. Give them room! And I'm sure you will be sharing them at the swap soon too!

:)
Dee

Wow! Thanks, Dee! I could NOT remember who gave them to me and wanted to say "thank you" as well as check to see if they are fall bloomers. For sure that's a real bonus. By the way, one of my plants has two buds!

I'll look up Royal Night and then see if mine look like them when they open. I'll let you know what happens. It will be fun to pass these along to some other CT gardener at one of our swaps.

What have you found to be the optimum growing situation for these iris? I put them in a very sunny location this spring.They're spreading---- with little babies coming up alongside--- and generally looking great.

Molie

Well, molie, I have some in full sun, some in almost full shade, and everywhere in between, as well as a big clump that I pulled out of the vegetable garden last fall (still trying to figure out how it got up into the raised cinderblock bed!) and that I just left out laying there all winter, and they bloomed just fine this spring! So I'd say pretty much anything is an optimum site for them, lol!

Seriously, I don't think you can go wrong with these. I have some along a cinder block bed and the ground is mulched with wood chips. After a few years, I'm sure the rhizomes are covered way more than they "should" be, and the soil is probably damper than it "should" be because of this mulch, but they are doing fine there as well.

By the way, for searching purposes, the name is Royal "Knight" with a "k". Now you've got me curious, and I think I'm going to look them up again as well!

Dee

P.S. Just remembered - during clean-up last fall I also literally threw a few rhizomes into the square hole of a cinderblock in my raised bed, and they took and bloomed in the spring too, after just lying there all winter. They are just a very hardy, hearty, and vigorous iris, but (IMO) not to the point of aggressiveness or annoyance, lol.