Re: CULT: Wearing Rubies

Try leaving the overhead watering sprinkler turned on for several days
at a time when the temperature is in the 80s or 90s and watch WR
disappear....

Some of the pretties selections from summer dry climates don't do all
that well in summer wet areas.  And when I say summer wet, I mean really
wet - heavy morning dew nearly every day lasting for many hours and
frequent rainfall over an inch at a time.  Throw in a few rollercoaster
freeze/cook spells in the winter (80s F one week, teens the next, with
no snow cover, but lots of rain) and that pretty much finishes them.
Locations with excellent air circulation (hill tops and slopes) do
better.  Farther east (east of the Appalachians) doesn't usually have it
quite as bad, but I think it's been worse (more wild swings up and down
with a lot of rain) a little north of here the last few winters.

Some of the problem seems to be related to naturally occuring soil
microbes- someone not too many miles from here grows all his summer dry
climate imports in a 2 ft deep bed of sterile sand!  Outdoor
hydroponics.  That's partly why I started putting all my summer dry
selections in pots of sterile "dirty" perlite.  I can avoid some of the
climate damage by bringing them indoors for rehab now and then <g>

<I am surprised at this report of Wearing Rubies.  It has been an
excellent grower here in blaizing hot Phoenix, the best Blyth iris I’ve
ever grown.  I’ve only had it two years, but it bloomed six beautiful
stalks last spring, and I harvested eight or nine big healthy rhizomes
this fall.  I sure hope it keeps it up.  In the meantime, I seem to have
lost Epicenter.  I may replace it next year.  It wasn’t growing in a
good location.

Francelle Edwards  Glendale, AZ  Zone 9>

--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
East Tennessee Iris Society <http://www.korrnet.org/etis>
American Iris Society web site <http://www.irises.org>
talk archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-talk/>
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online R&I <http://www.irisregister.com>




 
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