CULT: "Reversion" to White
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: CULT: "Reversion" to White
- From: S* M* <7*@compuserve.com>
- Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 17:08:14 -0600 (MDT)
Apologies if I've missed it, but
I haven't noticed anyone giving the
most common explanation for
"reversion": tiny nubbins of the
previous residents left behind
when they were ousted to make
room for new acquisitions. =
How many of you completely replace
the topsoil.... or screen it.... or let a
bed remain fallow for a year after
digging? How many of the casual
gardeners who report "reversions"
take such precautions?
We normally replace or screen our
soil, but a few years ago left several
"empty" beds in place and gave them
the same water and fertilizer as =
occupied beds to see what would
happen. You guessed it -- a high =
percentage of "volunteers". =
These were beds of recent introductions,
so I'd certainly tried to get every rhizome
out and into new beds for the next =
catalog. No seed pods had been allowed
to split and spill in those beds. So where
did those new fans come from? Tiny
increases that were broken off in digging.
Mother rhizomes that were left behind.
No, I didn't continue the experiment to see
how many years would be needed for them
to grow to bloom size -- but clearly if I had
replanted those beds without replacing or
screening the soil "reversions" would
ultimately have appeared among the new
residents.
Yes, mutations occur. But a sport is =
physically attached to a rhizome of the
original type -- I found one myself =
in the 20+ years I've been gardening with
these precautions. More often, the
phenomenon can be traced to "leftovers".
Sharon McAllister
73373.1745@compuserve.com
