Thanks for the info, Sharon. Any suggestions re the AB's that
bloomed, then died the next season? Should I have transplanted and/or
divided them right after bloom?
Or perhaps it was just too rainy and cool those years. It was a bad
few years for iris here. Some iris started to rot after bloom, when I
hadn't expected it, nor checked diligently for it like I do in early
spring.
As for getting AB's any earlier than mid August, perhaps I'll have to pot
those, and overwinter them in the house, although I don't usually have great
luck doing that.
My only other thought was to try to get my hands on some seeds and give
that a try.
And thanks for sharing the photo of your iris beds.
El, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Z3
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 12:50
AM
Subject: Re: [iris-photos] Re: TB: I.
germanica
In a message dated 4/19/2010 10:04:32 AM Mountain Daylight Time,
eleanore@mts.net writes:
The first few AB's I received as gifts to
try, in 2001. I planted them on the sunny west side of my shed
slightly under the eaves, on the south side of my property, in soil that was
already sandy and gravelly; some TB's & SDB's were doing well
there. A few miles to the east, most of the area is that type of sandy
soil, but only a bit of my south side has that type of soil. The rest
of my property is the "regular" Manitoba clay, so I mostly garden in raised
beds or beds that have had the soil amended and raised slightly. My 3
main raised nursery beds are in full sun.
Most arilbredmedians have one median parent and
one arilbred parent so their cultural requirements are more like that of
their median ancestors than their TB or aril ancestors. This is the type
I normally recommend for someone who has been successful with medians but has
not tried arilbreds before -- because they can be grown alongside the
medians.
Most arilbreds with one TB parent have an arilbred as the
other parent so are predominantly TB and thus have cultural requirements more
like their TB ancestors than their aril ones. This is the type I
normally recommend for someone who has been successful with TBs but has
not tried arilbreds before -- because they can be grown alongside the
TBs.
I see examples of both types on your list, so choice of
cultivars does not appear to be the problem.
One significant challenge faced by northern gardeners,
however, is getting arilbred rhizomes in time for planting a full six
weeks before the first killing frost. If they don't have the chance to
get established during the fall growing season, they may not have the strength
to make it through the winter or if they make it through one winter they are
weakened so much that they then dwindle away.
I started growing arilbreds in the red clay of
Oklahoma. Our landscape beds were slightly raised, bordered
with a slight trench that separated them from the lawn, and served as a
moat during a heavy rain. TBs and ABs were planted in the same
beds. It sounds like your main beds are similarly
raised.
I also experimented with planting iris next to the house,
and learned the hard way that the west side of a structure was the worst place
to plant arilbreds. It shortened the spring growing season by hastening
summer dormancy, resulting in weaker clumps than those in the open beds, and
led to the highest percentage of winter losses I ever experienced.
Sharon McAllister
