Patersonia sericea
27th June 2010
I was sent this as a seedling last year and couldn't make up my mind if I should include it here yet or not.
It has ordinary leaves for an Irid and there isn't much more going on at the moment
but if it survives it might produce large three petalled mauve flowers.
The genus is concentrated in south Western Australia but this is an odd one from the east coast from south
Queensland to northern Victoria.
It probably isn't all that hardy - it came into the conservatory last winter and will be protected from frost
for as long as I can manage. In the summer it went into a greenhouse, where it appreciated the light and grew well.
Australian sources say it is tolerant of moderate frost but coming from Queensland you can take that with a pinch of salt.
I don't know if any of that adds interest to these dull leaves. It sometimes happens that the promise of things to come is the best part.