Help us help those affected by the bushfires.  Although the closest fires to us were a little over 100km away, we all seem to know someone affected.  Being farmers, we really feel for those on the land and have therefore decided to donate $1 from every iris sold in February to BlazeAid.  

BlazeAid was started by two Victorian farmers after the Black Saturday Fires almost 11 years ago and now helps hundreds of farmers rebuild their fences following natural disaster. 

Read more about BlazeAid here. 

Sunshine Iris Nursery would like to invite everyone to our Open Days on the weekend of 12-13 October 2019.

The nursery will be open for viewing and sales from 9am until 4pm on the Saturday and Sunday.  Free tea and coffee will be available. We expect many of the tall irises to be blooming at this time and judging from previous years, it’s a spectacular show.  Below are some photos from other years.

Also available to visit on this weekend is the Spirit of the Land Festival in our local township, Lockhart just 9 km down the road.  This two day event showcases some amazing farm art from award winning artists and offers lots of street markets, farm tours and more.  It’s a great opportunity to get out into the country and take advantage of what’s to offer.  More information is available at www.spiritofthelandlockhart.com.au

If you can’t visit us on the 12-13 October, we will also be open on the first weekend in November, 2-3^rd  from 9am until 4pm.  If this weekend is also unsuitable, we can open by appointment.  Just give Mandy a call on 0429 857 085.

 We look forward to putting faces to names from people who have purchased from us already and to meeting new gardeners.

We have some special tall bearded irises celebrating significant birthdays at Sunshine iris Nursery this year.

Flaming Banner turns 40!   Described as having rich orange standards with a violet flush and red falls edged orange, and sporting a tangerine beard, it grows to a height of 86cm making it a smaller ‘tall’.  This vintage iris was registered by Edgar Sellman in 1979.  It is a mid to late bloomer. 

Also celebrating is Vibrations who turns 30  – just making it into our exclusive ‘vintage’club..  It has a plicata pattern with burgundy rose standards and a lighter heart at the base.  Deep burgundy red falls have a large white area below the tannish coloured beard. Striking white lines radiate towards the edge. It grows to a height of 86cm and is a mid-season bloomer. Vibrations was registered in 1989 by Mary Dunn and has been awarded two medals – an Honorable Mention in 1992 and an Award of Merit in 1996. 

Many other vintage irises can be found at Sunshine Iris Nursery.  Just search for ‘vintage’ at www.sunshineiris.com.au to see what is available at the moment.

Do you belong to a garden club? Have you considered visiting an iris nursery?

We were very excited to welcome Mooroopna Garden Club to Sunshine Iris
Nursery recently. They were on tour throughout the Riverina and south west
plains and decided to include us in their itinerary. 40 odd ladies and a few
gentlemen arrived in the afternoon and spent about an hour wondering
around the nursery. It’s a real thrill for us to meet some of our clients and
share our passion for irises. Noel was an excellent tour manager, and even
invited us to join the travelling gardeners for Happy Hour the following
evening.

Although Sunshine Iris Nursery is not showing her true colours at the moment,
I think the garden club still enjoyed the chance to see how we grow our many
varieties of irises, and the pride we take with our product. A sit in the
afternoon sunshine with a cuppa was also very welcome.

As well as the nursery, Mooroopna Garden Club also enjoyed the sights of the
local township, Lockhart, which boasts an excellent museum and fascinating
exhibition of wool ‘paintings’ created by local identity Doris Golder. There is
also much to enjoy in the surrounding region including but not limited to the
botanical gardens at Wagga Wagga, the breathtaking autumn colours of Tumut
and a trip to the Temora Air Show.

Sunshine Iris Nursery will be bursting with colour from October to mid
November, and open to the public on the second weekend in October in
conjunction with the Lockhart Spirit of the Land Festival. If you would like to
visit the nursery with a few friends, or a busload, at another date, just give
Mandy a call and we will endeavour to cater to your needs. All the contact
information you need is available on the website, www.sunshineiris.com.au .
There’s lots to see in our region at any time of the year – come and ramble
round the rhizomes and add a bit of ‘Sunshine’ to your trip.

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Usually it is the children that are encouraged to take on the family business, but in the case of Sunshine Iris Nursery near Lockhart in New South Wales, it was the opposite. What started as a logical step into the business world for agronomist trained Elissa Strong became problematic when she went back to study in 2017 leaving her mother Mandy to pick pack and post.

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On a cold, wet day in May, I recently had the pleasure of visiting one of our special iris breeders of Australia.

Margaret Summerill lives in Bombala in southern NSW.  She has been breeding irises for over 30 years, after her first iris was given to her in 1983.  Margaret was inspired to try her hand at breeding after reading an article by renowned breeder, Barry Blyth.  In 1986 she tried to pollinate her first flower ‘just for fun’ and made contact with Graeme Grosvener for some extra advice.

It wasn’t until 10 years after that first introduction to irises  that Margaret had one she thought was spectacular enough to register.  Proudly Mine was listed in 1993, and was followed by over 25 different flowers. Margaret says she finds it hard to pick favourites but some of her best include Fanciful Thoughts, Boys in Blue, and the more recent Spirit of Bombala.

I asked Margaret how she chose the names for her irises – something that has always intrigued me.  She related that she is inspired by places, events or people.  One iris , Mother’s Bessie, reminded her of the colour of her mother’s cow!  She also added that she had used the dictionary at times – Wily Glow meaning inquisitive or artful.

As Margaret became more adept at breeding, collecting many accolades for her irises along the way, she decided to learn more about showing the flowers.  After attending a judges’ school six times, she became an accredited Trial Garden and Show Bench Judge further increasing her already extensive knowledge of irises.

When asked for her best tips for growing strong irises, Margaret confided that she liked to use a good fertiliser such as Osmocote when she first plants out her irises and then again in August before the bloom period.

At Sunshine Iris Nursery we are proud to offer some of Margaret’s irises.  Pictured alongside is Ruby Rover, one she bred in 2012 which is available for purchase now.  We will also have Spirit of Bombala, Mother’s Bessie, Inglewood, Moselle Moon, Fanciful Charm, Fanciful Thoughts, Wily Glow, Rowes, Winsome Annie and Windana available next year. 

Check out some of our other blogs:

Vintage or Historic Irises

Different Types of Irises

Keeping Your Irises Happy Over Summer

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