CULT: Iris Turned White

>My guess on this is that the white variety is simply more vigorous than the
>others and has outgrown and outcompeted them.  The seedlings option is, I
>think,less likely because of the rarity of bee pods on TBs and the
>difficulty TB seedlings would have surviving among the clumps.  The
>seedling option does seem viable, though, for "reversion" in Siberians,
>which self-seed freely.
>
As usual, what Bill says makes sense. The more I think about the menacing
white irises, the more convinced I become this rumor persists because it is
a folk legend and all folk legends per se persist. We might as well ask
ourselves how successive generations of kindergarteners seem to become
acquainted spontaneously  with the exploits of Miss Mary Mack-Mack-Mack all
dressed in black.

Do you suppose there's some deep-rooted connection between this white iris
legend and the ancient practice of planting white irises on graves?

I do wonder if we aren't overstating the "rarity of bee pods on TBs." I see
quite a few bee pods on the 300+ TBs in our display beds every year, and
there are usually enough pods on the TBs in my home garden - pods I didn't
put there - that if I didn't snap them I'd be overrun by seedlings.
Seedlings do manage to survive among established clumps of TBs. I've seen
this. All it takes is one little rogue infesting your clump and next thing
you know, you can't be sure what is who's name.

While it is difficult for bees (or whoever) to fertilize TBs, yet they do
manage. Rogue seedlings should be a concern to people who wish to protect
their named cultivars. Snap those pods.


celia
storey@aristotle.net
Little Rock, Arkansas, USDA Zone 7b
-----------------------------------
257 feet above sea level,
average rainfall about 50 inches (more than 60" in '97)
average relative humidity (at 6 a.m.) 84%.
moderate winters, hot summers ... but lots of seesaw action in all seasons
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