Bloom/Weather Report

The promised followup report on weather damage:

The snow is still glistening on the mountain peaks, but the sunshine has
returned.  We did get the predicted freeze, but it wasn't quite as hard as we'd
feared.  There was ice on the  porches and the stock tank froze over, but the
grape vines didn't freeze, so there probably won't be any long-term damage to
the iris plants themselves. (Grape leaves are more tender than iris leaves).

The bloom was another matter, of course.  Most of the visible damage was to
flowers fully opened. Some buds were frozen, but others went ahead and opened.
So far, the seed pods I'd already set seem to be O.K.  As for the buds not yet
showing color -- I guess time will tell.

A bloom-season frost is normal here.  We have wide temperature swings (often 30
to 40 degrees between the day's high and low) so the iris start their spring
growth when it starts to warm up -- well before all danger of frost is past.
Bloom season starts around mid-March and the last killing frost is usually in
early April.  Summer usually hits in May -- before bloom season is over -- and
the hot winds dessicate buds before they can open. 

That's one reason for growing as many different types of iris as possible.  Some
years the early bloom is spectacular, but the midseason bloom gets wiped out.
Sometimes there's little early bloom but midseason and late bloom is good.
Once in a while (1993 was the last example) almost everything does well.  I even
got a reasonable amount of TB bloom that year.

Have I exceeded Tom's Length Limits yet???

Sharon McAllister
Southern New Mexico
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