Re: nasty Cygon and borer

Thank you Linda for your concern.  :)  I like the part about keeping all us iris folks
alive and kicking and posting on the iris list!  :)

We are using Cygon this year and maybe next as a preventive meassure since, due to our
own carelessness, we brought those nasty little creatures into our garden last year.  We
do use Cygon according to the directions and precautions.  We never spray any
insecticides on open flowers of any plant, that is probably why we have an overabundance
of bees.  We have so many varieties of bees that sometimes you feel as if you are risking
your health to walk into the beds when they are in bloom.  :)  As much as I hated all the
henbit we had I didn't spray an herbicide on it because it was blooming.  All was hand
pulled.

Off the Cygon Subject:  Linda and I noticed how much healthier our iris looked that had
been totally engulfed by henbit, even after the beds were cleaned and even today.  Do you
all suppose there is something to this?  (I don't mean henbit itself)  Linda and I were
visiting with a local grower yesterday and she had a similar problem this year but
instead of henbit she had clover.
We had henbit about 8 inches deep and she had clover about the same depth.  Both of these
trash plants protected our irises during the freeze-thaws we had this spring and the beds
with these plants are much healthier today than the beds without these "understory"
plants.  Have you all ever noticed how healthy and robust the iris in old farmsteads look
that are engulfed in grasses 8 to 10 inches deep?  Now I wouldn't wish henbit or clover
on anyone as both of these plants tend to wind themselves around the iris stalks and are
very difficult to get out.  But I am thinking that maybe iris beds devoid of all but iris
may not be the best thing for the iris.  Any thoughts on this from you all out there?

Glenn

Glenn & Linda Simmons
Springfield, Missouri  Zone 6

Linda Mann wrote:

> Please read the archives about using nematodes for borer control.  I
> used Roundup constantly so am not anti-spray.  But Cygon is VERY NASTY
> STUFF, but there is an expensive alternative.  All those of you who use
> the nematodes, please keep us posted about results this year.
>
> Linda Mann east Tennessee USA
> wanting to keep all the iris-list folks alive and well for a long time.
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