Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Neomarica longifolia - Yellow Walking Iris

Neomarica longifolia have yellow flowers with mottled brown markings. It can be propagated by rhizomes or from the offsets formed from the flowering stem. It can be planted in partial shade, but for showy blooms, it is best to locate under full sun.

The leaves are sword like and upright and can extend up to 2-3 feet.



FROM BUD TO BLOOM
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Fully extended petals  

The centre is mottled with brown markings.

At the end of the day, the petal closes and drop off the next day. Each flower last only one day, but the following day, another one will takes its place, ensuring that the clump is always adorned with blooms.




When flowering is done, little plantlets "pups"developed next to the spent blooms. These can be harvested and planted elsewhere. 

If nothing is done about it, the flowering stem gets weighted down to the ground allowing the plantlets to get rooted and replant themselves. Over time, the clumps will continue in all directions, änd literally walked" to a new spot.
  
However when planted in a container, the "walking" will somehow be restrained. I started planting the pups not too long ago. Now here it is rewarding me with blooms.


The denuded petiole is one of the dragonflies' favourite holding post.

The purple and red Dawn dropwing dragonfly adds another layer of colours to the image.


 
Golden dragonflies are also commonly seen on the clumps. 

A Thunbergia Erecta flower is seen in the background.



The flower fly however prefer the leaf blade 
 
 



19 comments:

  1. Those dragonflies are stunners! Wonderful close ups.

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    1. Thanks Chris. Great to have you re-visit my blog after a long absence.

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  2. Beautiful photos as always! The dragonflies are very beautiful!

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    1. Thanks, but I like your kitchen flavours even better. Like what one blogger commented: should become your neighbour.

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  3. Neomarica blooms is beautiful and looks like wild orchid but the most alluring attraction is the dragonflies. I tried several times to captured them, but failed. Yours are so close and clear. I like.

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    1. Dragonflies can be temperamental. Sometimes they stay very still, or even pose for you but more often, times remain elusive.

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  4. Great post on one of the most common plants in my garden here. I have lots of it growing throughout the shadehouse and front garden bed, as well as underneath the pergola. It's such a hardy groundcover.

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    1. It looks like your walking irises are doing marathons! Your garden must be so much enhanced by them.

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  5. Hey Elsie! Nice shots..I had to throw away this iris as it got out of control even though it was in a container. I'm taking a break from my gardening blog at the moment and quite busy with my makan blog. Do drop by at http://whiffpassion.blogspot.com/
    See ya! :)

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    1. Will definitely drop by your makan blog. I've taken a long hiatus from my own food blog. I find it so tedious typing out the ingredients. Shall go back to it later.

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  6. Great pictures of insects, especially I love this one of red dragonfly! The iris is really walking, what a wise nature, Elsie!

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    1. Hello Nadezda. Mother Nature is wise and omnipotent to handle all the intricacies and mysteries of life.

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  7. Beautiful yellow iris and great photos of the dragonflies! Thank you for sharing. Have a nice week! :)

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    1. I must say that the iris are great plants to have. A good weekend for you too!

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    2. Is walking yellow iris edible?

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  8. Hello Elsie!:) I can see what you mean about the similarity of the Golden Dragonfly to the Broad bodied Dragonfly. The other purple and red one is beautiful. The Iris plant is a good plant for large gardens, and looks
    great in your pot.

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    1. When I viewed your post, the similarity strikes me as uncannily familiar. They must be cousins!

      In fact I think this iris looks better displayed in container planting than in the ground.

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  9. Your dragonfly photos are just incredible! I need plants that walk around my garden and plant themselves. Less work for me. :o)

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    1. Ha, ha, its fine if its just a few clusters or types of plants, but imagine the chaos where there are more of them!

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