{"id":4610,"date":"2022-04-20T13:12:49","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T20:12:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/?post_type=pal&p=4610"},"modified":"2024-04-11T10:04:54","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T17:04:54","slug":"neomarica-culture","status":"publish","type":"pal","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/pal\/neomarica-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Neomarica culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"I saw this plant while visiting a friend in Florida. What is it? Can I grow it in Seattle?<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is Neomarica gracilis<\/em>, a plant in the iris family that is also called walking iris or apostle plant. The common name ‘walking iris’ derives from the way the plant propagates itself: as stems mature, they bend to the ground and take root (when humans propagate plants by doing this intentionally, it is called ‘layering’). The name ‘apostle plant’<\/a> refers to anecdotal observations that Neomarica<\/em> will not flower until it has produced at least twelve leaves.<\/p>\n

It is not likely to thrive in the Pacific Northwest; its native range is from Mexico and Costa Rica south to Brazil. Pacific Bulb Society<\/a> lists it and other species, for adventurous gardeners who are eager to grow plants that stretch beyond our hardiness zone. Local botanist and gardener Sami Gray has this to report: “It’s a tender semitropical, so here it’s a house plant. It did well enough for me for years, then I despaired of getting it to bloom when I was looking: the flowers are very short-lived.” Daniel Sparler mentions growing a different species, Neomarica caerulea<\/em>, in this Northwest Horticultural Society<\/em><\/a> article: “When the mood strikes it, from tall, elegant lance-shaped foliage emerges a blossom stalk with a dozen or so coy buds that suddenly burst forth one fine morning with the most captivating purple-blue flags and falls that open to reveal intricate, internal ivory and chocolate striations. Although individual flowers last only a few hours before swooning, up to six may open at once on the same stalk.”<\/p>\n

Neomarica<\/a>, <\/span>Plant identification<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I saw this plant while visiting a friend in Florida. What is it? Can I grow it in Seattle?     This is Neomarica gracilis, a plant in the iris family that is also called walking iris or apostle plant. The common name ‘walking iris’ derives from the way the plant propagates itself: as stems mature, they bend to the ground and take root (when humans propagate plants by doing this intentionally, it is called ‘layering’). The name ‘apostle plant’…<\/p>\n

Continue reading Neomarica culture<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","keyword":[1154,386],"class_list":["post-4610","pal","type-pal","status-publish","hentry","keyword-neomarica","keyword-plant-identification"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pal\/4610"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pal"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/pal"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=4610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}