I've had good luck moving I. missouriensis at all seasons, dormant or
active, flowering or not. It reminds me a lot of Spuria types in certain
of it's requirements and behaviors, but not exactly. I have had my best luck moving them
while they are in flower, with lots of dirt and roots still attached.
However, the species does resent being disturbed, can go into a state of
shock and be very slow to reestablish, and it can be very picky about where it
grows. Where you are moving it too makes a difference on when is best.
Best to do it when it is fairly cool and the plants are active (thus
autumn to a location in the Albuquerque area would make sense). I mostly
moved them from pastures to yards in Colorado when I was a kid, and never lost
one of those (but they were only going hundreds of yards, not miles); in fact,
they usually continued flowering as if having never been touched at all.
I. missouriensis favors heavy soil and will often vanish quickly in
loose sandy soils or with too much organic material. It seems to like a
lot of lime in the soil. It resents getting too hot for too long,
especially if the nights are too warm (thus we have an easier time growing it
in the Albuquerque area than one might in an equivalent more humid climate
with warm summer nights). It likes to dry out for a time after it
flowers, but doesn't need to, and otherwise likes it rather wet. It
often grows in standing water in nature (mostly the water is there in the
spring and then it is a meadowy environment the rest of the year). It is
a very robust plant in it's native environment, and many ranchers consider it
a noxious weed. It often colonizes trail-sides within forests and the
sides of roads. It is often a serious pest in grass hay fields. It
grows over a huge region, but outside that region can be tricky to keep happy.
In the southwest it is limited to the mountaintops, but as you move
north it becomes a familiar sight from the valley bottoms up to the tree line.
They are pretty little things, and many meadows from northern New Mexico
to Alberta and British Columbia are covered in their flowers right now.
The pattern of lines and mix of colors varies a lot from plant to plant,
but from a distance most people would say "they all look alike".
However, some are noticeably darker or lighter than average, some a bit
bluer and others leaning just a bit toward red. Some are more bitoned
than others. In extreme north-central New Mexico north to about Buena
Vista and Fairplay in Colorado, there are lots of white-flowering plants.
Every now and then somebody reports a pink- or yellow-flowering plant.
While I have seen some lighter ones with a bit more reddish leanings
(making them look more nearly pink than blue, but never really pink), I've
never been able to find a yellow one. I have seen a photo one that
"looks" yellow, standing out among a sea of light violet, but it may be an
artifact of the photography itself (I expect it was really a white one).
It was taken in the Manzano Mountains, and I've never been able to find
the plant - yet.
Dave Ferguson
