Re: CULT: stress, pests and weather - very long
- Subject: Re: [iris-talk] CULT: stress, pests and weather - very long
- From: o*@aol.com
- Date: Thu, 8 Aug 2002 13:16:28 EDT
In a message dated 8/8/2002 11:08:42 AM Central Daylight Time,
laurief@paulbunyan.net writes:
> I agree, but from a northern perspective. With the extraordinary losses
> in my iris beds after the last winter-spring transition, and the
> continuing losses throughout this growing season (still some sickies out
> there that clearly won't make it through another winter ... if they even
> make it *to* winter), I am extraordinarily impressed with the few that
> DID survive, that HAVE put on decent increase, and a few that even
> BLOOMED! They may not be the most beautiful or modern (though STAIRWAY
> TO HEAVEN came through admirably, although no bloom), but they have
> withstood the onslaughts of horribly compacted clay soil (read
> "concrete"), less-than-optimal sunlight, rampant soft rot, fungal leaf
> spot, borers, deer trampling and grazing, cat rolling, and the absolute
> worst climatic assaults northern MN can dish out. Thank goodness we have
> very few grasshoppers here with which to contend. ;-) (wanna trade,
> Donald, borers for grasshoppers?)
>
Now if we had some way to compare those that do well for you and those that
do well for Donald and other iris people we might really have something
valuable. Especially if it were done in a way where we did not have to depend
on antidotal information extracted from a pile of notes, emails or lists of
pretty flowers. We might even form a coalition of Northern, Southern, Eastern
and Western people interested in irises that perform well under
adverse/diverse growing conditions and produce a list of such irises. I have
no idea how this might be done. Maybe a symposium or something. <g>
> I do believe genetics play a significant role. When hundreds of
> different cvs are planted in the same bed under close-to-identical
> conditions and subjected to all the same tortures, there must be some
> genetic involvement in their survival or non-survival outcomes. Of
> course, when selected plants are subjected to varying stressors - as in
> plants that are dug, divided, and relocated in similar or entirely
> different growing locations - it is not possible to make such clear
> comparisons (as, I believe, was Donald's point). It is, however, perhaps
> even more possible to identify the strongest survivors under such
> circumstances.
>
I believe you are entirely correct from a genetic prospective. While rot
itself may not be genetic, there is a wealth of antidotal information from
this list and other sources supporting the hypothesis that susceptibility to
rot is. We see this often in post concerning certain cultivars and lines of
cultivars being rot prone. It is not uncommon to read post where one comments
that they have seedlings from a notoriously rot prone parent that do not rot.
That is what would be expected if the susceptibility is a recessive trait.
Sadly it may not again manifest itself again for several generation into the
future but it ultimately will. And, that gene will always be there. But, some
very floriferous blooms will probably be developed in the interim.
I do not believe my actions are far out of line with others having
hybridizing interests. I sometimes see a trait in a bloom I want to
intensify/reduce/change. I find myself, against all reasonable standards or
intelligence, using a pollen based on that bloom characteristic. There is no
question the change takes place easier and quicker that way. When we do this
it complicates what we truly seek. That bloom characteristic in a great
plant!
I would certainy appreciate seeing a list of the "adversity" champions you
have identified.
> That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. ;-)
Ditto with two smiles,
Bill Burleson 7a/b
Old South Iris Society
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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