Re: ot-bio carol
- Subject: Re: [iris-talk] ot-bio carol
- From: W* W*
- Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2002 07:02:45 -0500
Carol,
I live in Missouri, too (though further south in the Ozarks) and my yard
is all reclaimed pasture as well. I am sure that your irises will do
fine....you will just have to be a bit more patient, though ;-)
With irises, you have to view things in the long term, years not weeks.
20-30% of the irises I plant in late summer generally will bloom the
next spring. However, the bloom will usually be just one bloomstalk. The
70% that don't bloom the first year will make more increase than those
who do, and will bloom the second year. The second, third, and fourth
year will be the best for bloom, then I will have to lift and divide. I
don't fertilize except for a little top dressing of alfalfa pellets and
I never water except when planting. That may mean my plants aren't quite
as lush as others, but I have few problems with rot, etc.
The brown spots come and go for me. I just try to keep old foliage
cleaned out of the bed as much as possible.
Everyone is right about sources. Don't buy from discount houses like
Wal-Mart. Not irises, anyway. ( I do buy daffodil and lily bulbs and
such from them. You can see in the mesh bags if they are OK) Get your
irises from a local iris grower or order from the many great mail order
sources online. Go to the AIS links page and there are dozens of
commercial iris growers listed.
Hope this helps!
Bill Wells
Summersville, MO
carol frazer wrote:
> John, I live in Mo outside of KC. My yard used to be a
> pasture. Don't know if that means anything or not.
> Anyway, I just planted some more iris a few weeks ago.
> A couple of them have started producing some little
> leaves(2 out of 6) The rest are just sitting there and
> don't look to healthy. I plant the roots pretty
> deep(depending on the length of them)with the top of
> the rhizome on top of the soil or sometimes just
> barely covered with soil. When I plant, I usually put
> in A LITTLE plant food like miracle grow to help get
> it started. I keep looking forward to having them all
> in bloom, but so far plenty of leaves and that's it.
> Do the plants have to be a certain age before it will
> bloom? My iris patch gets plenty of sun. I might add
> that it does look like a few more of them are getting
> ready to develop buds, but just haven't yet.
> Thanks for any help you can give me-the books just
> aren't much help.
> Carol
>
> --- John Bruce <jbruce1@cinci.rr.com> wrote:
> > Carol--
> >
> > It will help in answering your questions to know
> > where (roughly) you are loacted.
> > Different climates give rise to different answers.
> > Usual causes for lack of bloom are inadequate
> > feeding, being planted too deep
> > or not enough sun. Feeding is rarely the cause for
> > no bloom, since irises will
> > perform in even poor soil. Six hours or more sun is
> > optimal, and the rhizome
> > should be plated just under the soil surface.
> > The rot problem can be caused by too much moisture,
> > too much nitrogen (over
> > fertilization), being planted too deeply, or being
> > planted too close to winter. Let us
> > know what your conditions are and maybe we can give
> > you a direction to look in.
> > jb
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > John Bruce jbruce1@cinci.rr.com
> > Hidden Acres Iris Gardens
> > http://home.cinci.rr.com/hiddenacres
> > SW Ohio,USDA Zone 5b
> > h*@cinci.rr.com
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: cjf5064024
> >
> >
> >
> > I get new rhizomes
> > every year and try to pick ones that have some
> > green on them. I get
> > them planted and some of them get really soft and
> > of course never
> > produce. How do you know a good one from a bad
> > one? If it becomes
> > really soft, does that mean it's dead?
> > Also, how long does it usually take for the iris
> > to bloom once
> > planted? I have some that are about 3 years old
> > and still nothing.
> > I know these seem like silly questions, but like I
> > said, I can't find
> > any answers. I've asked around and come up with
> > shrugs-please
> > help!
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been
> > removed]
> >
> >
>
>
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