Re: Re: interesting AB seedling

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In a message dated 4/12/2006 5:00:29 P.M. Central Standard Time, donald@eastland.net writes:

How are those TB seedlings doing?  The orange ones and blue ones come to mind.  Did they escape the frost?

 

Just thought of something!  You aren't on Iris Talk, are you?? 

 

Last fall, I went to sleep one night thinking my rebloomers would be stripped of blooms because I'd experienced a hopper infestation late in the afternoon!  I remembered your struggle to salvage  even the rhizomes from them a couple of years ago!

 

Next morning I went out to find no further damage to the blooms and all the hoppers were gone!  What I did find were some very SMUG preying mantis.  Biggest mantis I've ever seen!  Maybe you could stock them?? 

 

I wrote about it, thinking you would see my posts but just now remembered you do not subscribe to the TALK version!  Mantis have been my friends for years but I never thought about them liking hoppers!  Normally I import both mantis & lady bugs, but this new place came fully stocked!  Still a lot of fields around. 

 

I've had several color changes through the years from maiden to second year bloom.   Of course, I work with TB's.  One had red (true tulip red) veining on the standards during maiden bloom.  It was gone there after.  Of course, I knew it would disappear.  But it was gorgeous while it lasted. 

 

I had bright purple beards on laced yellow that turned to a yellow beard with a purple flash at the end the second year.  Just recently?  I had a lavender amoena with a pink haze over the standards and falls  . . . which lost the pink haze and became just an ordinary purple amoena with outstanding rebloom! 

 

Sorry about your rebloom!  Or the lack of rebloom!  A garden FULL of reblooming seedlings is a sight to behold!  I'm giving judges training in the fall garden!  Isn't that awesome? 

 

I wasn't too thrilled with the takes I got in 2004, a rather mediocre crop, I thought.  Now, I've got LOTS of stalks on these seedlings and I just can't wait . . . tizz the season for the fever!