rot, older varieties, carefree iris, HIPS, new AIS awards?



On the topic of older varieties, rot, disinterest in pesticides and other
fussin around - this is why I joined AIS several years ago - and I have been
searching for those '50 or so varieties out of many thousands of tall bearded
iris' that will do well for me ever since.  there is a ton of stuff on this
topic in the iris-l archives.

The comment about eastern iris fanatics dropping out of AIS because of rot
problems probably isn't true - the harder I look, the closer I come to
finding a FEW that meet my requirements.  It seems much more likely that we
will all become hybridizers.

The more I learn about iris varieties and where they were developed, the less
I am able to figure out which ones  are most likely to do well here in east
Tennessee in my particularly rot vulnerable site.  And the more I hear on
this list about what does well under what circumstances, the more it seems to
me that there need to be AIS garden awards based on climate zones - maybe one
for desert climates where aril breds seem to thrive but bearded iris cook,
one for cold wet regions where borers and rot are a problem, one for warm wet
regions where borers don't seem to be a problem, but all kinds of rot
thrives, and one for the fanciest best most beautiful new etc in ideal
climates with every kind of pest control available (California?).  After all,
that's the only way we can get new gorgeous genes into the rest of the gene
pool. 

Then we need a pollen exchange program.  Maybe we need another award for iris
that thrive under tremendous temperature fluctuations, but that would be way
too hard to judge (too dependent on the jet stream).  I suggest separate
awards for all of these because the physiological adaptations that make one
variety do well in cold wet soggy ground in Maine are not going to be the
same as the ones that handle dry or soggy heat in southern California or
Mississippi.  Also, if you live somewhere with a short growing season (like
some of the poor cabin bound on this list!), you may need varieties that once
it warms up some, really take off and grow; but down here, I want them to
start more slowly so they won't be fooled into starting growth too soon and
getting killed.

Someone from HIPS, the historical iris society,  chime in - I think that is
one of the reasons they formed a group - to preserve the gene pool of those
tough old varieties.  But I want to find or make some tall bearded iris with
some of the new fancy characteristics that will grow like weeds for me.  

My impression, both from reading articles in AIS bulletins, reading catalogs
(like Keith Keppel deliberately moving to a rot zone to improve what he calls
his 'biodegradeable' lines), and from purchases/swaps, that the 80's were
particularly bad for the production of the rot sensitive.  90's iris seem to
be doin a little better - anybody agree?

sorry to ramble on so much - rot is my thread.

linda mann east tennessee usa, rot capitol 
lmann76543@aol.com
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