CULT: winter hardiness
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: CULT: winter hardiness
- From: d*@tso.cin.ix.net (Dennis Kramb)
- Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1998 19:53:33 -0600 (MDT)
Linda Mann has requested I post a summary about how well my various
cultivars performed through the winter...including rot susceptibility...and
which ones increased like gangbusters versus which ones stayed dormant
(hibernated).
Type Cultivar Hybridizer Year Fans Rot
---- --------------------- --------------- ---- ---- --------
IB Alene's Other Lover Dean 1984 7
TB Autumn Bugler F. Jones 1986 severe
BB Autumn Orangelite G. Brown 1962 7
TB Babbling Brook Keppell 1966 moderate
BB Batik Ensminger 1968
SDB Be Happy Aitken 1990 6
TB Before the Storm Innerst 1989 2 moderate
AB Boaz Hunt 1980 severe
AB Cairo Love Song Nichols 1978 11
TB Calypso Mood Schreiner 1989 6 moderate
TB Champagne Elegance Niswonger 1987 moderate
TB Chinese Treasure Blyth 1983 light
MDB Ditto Hager 1982 7 light
AB Esther the Queen Hunt 1968 light
AB Fourteen for Rachel Hunt 1977 11
TB Gideon Victorious Miller 1985 moderate
TB Ginger Swirl Schreiner 1985 severe
TB Grand Canyon Kleinsorge 1941
TB Green & Gifted Blyth 1989 light
AB Green Eyed Sheba Boswell 1984 12
MDB Hey There Lankow 1992 6
TB Honky Tonk Blues Schreiner 1988
TB Inca Queen Blyth 1983
MDB Irish Doll A. Brown 1963
SDB Jade Jewels Aitken 1989 6 light
SDB Jade Stone Niswonger 1994
SDB Jewel Baby Hall 1984 light
AB Jewel of Omar Boswell 1986 9
SDB Kentucky Bluegrass ? ? 14
TB Lady Essex Zurbrigg 1991 severe
MTB Lodestar Hall 1925
TB Louvois Cayeux 1936 * died *
MDB Maya Mint Machulak 1986 9.5
TB Mother Earth Hager 1988 moderate
AB Opals for Ethel McAllister 1984 6
AB Satan's Mistress Seligmann 1983
AB Solomon's Shield Hunt/McAllister 1985 2
SDB Spark Plug Byers 1989 light
SDB Squiddler Innerst 1995
TB Superstition Schreiner 1977 7 moderate
TB Thornbird Byers 1989
TB Touch of Bronze Blyth 1984
TB Traitor Jameson 1994 moderate
TB Uriah the Hittite Miller 1979
TB Vitafire Schreiner 1968 severe
TB Winterland Byers 1990 moderate
MDB Zipper Zindt 1979
Fans: This number is how many fans were on the rhizome at the end of
March-1998. All rhizomes were newly planted in July-1997. If there is no
number specified, it's because there was between 3 & 6 fans and I didn't
bother to record it exactly. Fractional numbers result from taking the
average number of fans from the multiple rhizomes I planted.
I thought HONKY TONK BLUES had died of soft rot in February, but it turns
out that it was LOUVOIS instead. My mistake! HONKY TONK BLUES is
performing better than most TB rhizomes here! LOUVOIS died of just
"general" winter conditions. All the other rot damage occurred during our
freak earaly-March freeze where temperatures dropped to 7 deg F almost
every night for almost a week. Two-thirds of the USA experienced this
arctic blast, so I'd be interested to compare notes with you on that. Also
keep in mind that my rhizomes were not mulched at all...no sand, no snow,
no nothing to protect them from the cold.
Please realize that individual results are dependent on the sizes of the
rhizomes when planted. You should have very similar results, in general,
if you live around Cincinnati, Ohio or have a similar winter climate.
Feedback, both private and public, is most welcome! By the way, nothing is
ready to bloom yet here.
Dennis Kramb; dkramb@tso.cin.ix.net
Cincinnati, Ohio USA; USDA Zone 6; AIS Region 6
Member of AIS, ASI, HIPS, RIS, SIGNA, & Miami Valley Iris Society
Primary Interests: Hybridizing Arilbreds, Raising Native Ohio Species Irises
