RE: AB dormancy

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>Donald, do you water these at all in the summer?

No.  Water is expensive and the solutions I've come up with are beyond my finances at the moment.  An attempt for a well busted, so what is left is capturing and using what falls from the sky.  Putting together what it would take to do that doesn't come cheap.  It may never happen.

>  I treat my arilbreds the same as my TBs, and they don’t go >dormant.  They don’t rot either.  They get along just fine.

They vary on the dormancy here.  Rainfall into the summer is certainly one of the factors on whether they go dormant or not.  If our rain patterns cease early, they go dormant much quicker.  Another factor is soil type.  Mine go dormant in the red clay much quicker than in soil with more organic material and tilthe.  That's been interesting to me since in either case they are dependent on the same rainfall.  Dormancy can also be an advantage for them.  Last year more than one that was reluctant to go dormant were consumed in their entirety by grasshoppers.  There were holes in the ground where they continued eating the top and kept on with the rhizome.  The grasshoppers also seem to prefer the ABs.  At least they are usually the first to show major damage of the bearded types.  Perhaps because they are naturally smaller plants the munching is just more damaging.

I'm ambiguous about dormancy.  At times I think it is beneficial to the survival of the plants.  On the other hand, I don't know 'til they reappear in the fall whether they have survived or not.  I pretty much operate on the theory that the plants know what is best for them to do under trying conditions and hope for the best.  Under really good conditions, I'd think the longer the growing season for the plant, the better bloom and increase you'd have.  In that scenario dormancy is a liability.

Donald

Francelle Edwards    Glendale,  AZ   Zone 9 

-----Original Message-----
From: Donald Eaves [mailto:donald@eastland.net]
Sent: Saturday, August 23, 2003 6:56 AM
To: iris-photos@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [iris-photos] AB dormancy

Here's a photo of what nearly all the arilbreds look like this year.  TABRIZ
in the back still has some green on the fans, but ZERZURA is in complete
dormancy (I hope).  Every year I wonder if they are dormant or dead.  So far
the rate of survival has been high on those that go dormant.  The earliest
ones that reached dormancy have essentially lost any sign of leaves.  Either
I've cleaned, they've rotted naturally or the wind has blown it away.  They
were much later going into the dormant stage this year.  There are quite a
few with TABRIZ-like green still showing that usually are completely dormant
(no green).

Donald Eaves
donald@eastland.net
Texas Zone 8, USA

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