Re: REB: bloom report & companion plants

Hi Cindy,

Right up my alley with this one.

Here's a few thoughts.  I'll try not to write a book here.

I've got lots of things growing around my Iris.  I tend to stick the Iris all
over the place between everything else.  They mostly aren't lined out in
dedicated beds.  As you said, the ones in the clean beds are cooking, and the
others are much happier looking.  I'm piling dried grass loosely over the soil
around my new plantings (dried grass that I pulled out to make the plantings
in the first place, and should have just left there).  The added shade seems
to be helping.  Most of my Arilbreds & kin (what few I have) and my SDBs are
planted right into native grassland (up here by the Manzanos that's mostly
Black Grama, Blue Grama, Vine Muhly, and assorted "weedy" annual grasses).  I
have one area that was overrun with Black-eyed Susan this year, and it doesn't
seem to hurt the Iris, but the Susans are so dense that I worried about the
Iris, and they were choking out other things. However, the valve on the
sprinklers to that area died and in a few days without watering and the leaves
all shrivelled up on the Black-eyed Susans.  While it is a bit ugly there now,
the shading seems just about right for the Irises.  The Grass works well, but
I think it competes too well with the Iris for nutrients, and the Iris don't
grow as well as in tilled soil.  I've been getting a good crop of
pink-flowering ornamental Strawberries in some beds (they spread like crazy
and thrive in full sun), and they are working out well (lots of sweet little
strawberries from May to October too - if the rabbits and birds don't beat me
to them).  I think what's working best for me is Mexican Hat or Prairie
Coneflower (Ratibida columnifera),  These are pretty, they reseed like crazy,
the leaves are finely divided so they make some shade but not too much.  They
are short-lived, but there are always new replacements coming on.  They come
in everything from pure yellow to deep red-brown.  The annual Larkspur and
Dill seem to work well too, but they're annual and die as soon as they finish
flowering, and tend to be gone by July.  I've got some Fennel among some of
the Iris, which is perennial, and which also reseeds, and while it gets really
large, it doesn't seem to bother the Iris any; you can see right through it
too.  I like the one with brown leaves best.  Rue is really drought tolerant,
and it makes a good durable crop too.  I like the Rue, Dill and Fennel also
because I get lots of Dill Worms and the adult Black Swallowtails in the yard.
On the Rue I often get Giant Swallowtails and their "Orange Dogs" too.  I have
some Sedum telephium and Sedum spectabile here and there in the yard (there
are lots of cultivars with white to deep pink flowers, and green to purple or
variegated leaved), and they seem to work well too.  They are dense plants,
but they never overtop the Iris, and I never plant them closer than about a
foot apart.  They reach their peak size and start to bud out right when it
gets the hottest in late July or August, and they melt away with the first
frost in October or November (but they come right back the next year).  They
get about a foot tall for me, but will do double that easily if the fertilizer
is increased (or if the soil is richer).  The Rabbits like them though, and
the really chew them down sometimes.  Some of the mints won't choke out the
Iris and make good groundcovers, but they are somewhat pervasive, and they
tend to spread all over the place.  They smell good when you walk on them.
Oregano seems to do well at this and doesn't spread like some of the others,
but it does reseed like crazy.  I have Oregano coming up all over, and if
varies from light to dark leaves, and has white, pink, or purple flowers.
Gaura lindheimeri gets tall, but again it is rather airy, and it is rather
attractive.  Problem with "Whirling Butterflies" as they like to call the
Gaura now, is that the Flea Beetles and White-lined Sphinx Moth hornworms tend
to swarm all over it.  Monarch and Queen Butterflies really like the flowers,
but no other butterflies seem to ever visit it.

I've had Chives reseed all over the place in one Iris planting, and while I
don't like the way it looks, it seems to work too.  It also smells good when
you walk on it.

I have an outbreak of Horseweed this year too, and it is perfect for the task,
it is just a bit TOO weedy for my tastes though.  If you ever let one go to
seed, you have ten million every year there after.

Iris grow well in groundcover type Junipers too (I found out by accidentally
letting some of the Junipers swallow up an Iris planting).  However, it is
really difficult to divide and replant Iris in a cover of prickly four inch
tall Juniper, at least not without chopping up the Junipers.  Mine aren't in
the Junipers anymore!

I'm sure there are thousands of other plants that should work, but I know the
ones above all do well in our area, and I've had good luck with them.

Dave
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: grower
  To: iris@hort.net
  Sent: Friday, August 15, 2003 6:11 AM

  Precious Little Pink-IB finished blooming a week or so ago.

  I've decided I'm not going to weed in July and August anymore. As Dave
  mentioned the heat, dry and sun have been intense this year in NM. Again I
  decided to start weed clean up too soon and the iris in the nice clean beds
  torched and I lost alot of the SDBs. So I think someone is telling me to
  leave the weeds as the iris in my weedy beds are very happy.

  I think I'll sow lots of wild flower seeds between the iris rows to shade
  the iris. Does anyone have any suggestions for tall dense xeroscape wild
  flowers?

  Cindy Rivera
  Los Lunas, NM

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