Re: CULT:TB: survivors part deux

>We are lucky to have white mulch
>(snow) on the gardens usually from Nov. (sometimes
>Oct.) to May (sometime late April). We almost lost
>snow cover last January for the first time in my 16
>years of living in northern New Hampshire but it held
>on. 

We used to be able to rely on adequate snow cover, but we've had several 
winters recently with minimal snow and severely frigid temps.  Last 
winter we didn't have more than an inch or two of snow on the ground 
until almost March.
>
>We do not get the freeze-thaw cycles on USDA Zones 4-7
>but we almost did this spring but we held on to our
>frozen, snow-covered ground.

We never get freeze-thaw cycles in mid-winter, though there's plenty of 
hover-above-and-below-freezing action in fall and spring. I think the 
exceptional losses in my garden this year (and it wasn't just irises - I 
lost quite a few extremely hardy perennials that had been here for years, 
too) were largely the result of the very slow, very cold transition into 
spring.  The ground was thawing, the plants were poised for growth, but 
nothing ever warmed up, and the soil didn't dry out until it was too 
late.  That transition was the only thing that was significantly 
different than past years when I had no such losses.  My plants have 
survived winters with minimal snow and severely cold temps before, but 
they've never been through a non-existant spring like this one.

>We
>have never seen an iris borer and neither has anybody
>in this area that grows bearded irises and most
>gardeners do grow some. (Our read on this is that we
>are so darn cold in the winter they freeze OR the
>spring is much too cold for them as is the fall for
>the moths.)

Hmm.  I have borers, and I doubt my temps are any warmer - and quite 
possibly colder - than yours.  How bizarre.  Don't you live in the 
mountains, Ellen?  Do you suppose borers might not be able to tolerate 
higher altitudes?

And while we're on the topic of borers, I'm still mystified and 
frustrated by my inability to capture one in the flesh.  I see the chew 
marks, the "watery" leaves, the hollowed out rhizomes, and the secondary 
rot infections that tell of their presence, but I've never actually 
managed to catch up with one.  I can't count the number of iris leaves 
I've squeezed and rzs I've dug to do away with the beasties, but still 
nothing!  How can I possibly keep missing them?  Just how long does it 
take a borer to travel down a fan from the moment of entry to the moment 
of exit into the rz?  Does anybody know?  And if there is no leaf growth 
before temps reach 70 degrees in the spring (which often happens here - 
esp with all the deer grazing), where do the borers go when they hatch?  
Do they bore directly into the rzs under such circumstances?
>
>Things I am trying to figure out: 1) We had copious
>amounts of rainfall in May, June and July but no rot.

That falls under the category of, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth!"

>3) the TBs and MTBs were simply outstanding

same category.  ;-)

Laurie


-----------------
laurief@paulbunyan.net
http://www.geocities.com/lfandjg/
zone 3b northern MN - clay soil


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