introduction


Hi everyone,

I have been reading - and learning - for the past 2 weeks and decided it 
was 
time to introduce myself.  I am married  (as you may have guessed from the 
email address)  but my husband is not particularly interested in iris. 

I live in Poway which is a city on the northern edge of San Diego, Calif.  
Winter lows will sometimes dip to the low 20s, but usually stay above 25F.  
However, we have had a few exceptional years when it went below 20F.  
Summer highs generally range from 80F to the low 100s.  I grow in pots 
with 
few exceptions.  The soil in our yard is really terrible - rocks and a 
gray clay 
that is called "diablo clay".  Seems appropriate - when it is wet it 
sticks like 
glue to boots and spades.  As it dries it becomes as hard as concrete and 
forms 
large cracks which tear roots apart.  After a few years of trying to 
improve 
the soil, I gave up and turned to pots and a few raised beds.  The only 
exceptions are a small patch of tall bearded iris, a survivor of the early 
attempts, and a few spurias planted by our south fence.  

I started out with just Kilt Lilt and Deep Fire and I have replanted them 
in 
the same place for years.  I work in a load of compost before I replant.  
Both 
of them have done very well inspite of the fact that they get little extra 
attention.  I grow Frontier Marshall, and Dutch Chocolate, both supposed 
to 
be rebloomers here.  Dutch Chocolate never has,  but I suspect that it 
just 
hasn't gotten good enough care through the summer months.  Last fall I 
replanted both it and Malaysia in pots.  (They had been planted out with 
Kilt 
Lilt and Deep Fire.)  Frontier Marshall was originally planted in a pot 
(tub) 
closer to the house, so it gets more summer water and has bloomed in the 
fall.  

In May 1992 I purchased 2 rhizomes of Iris pallida  'Oris Root'  (that is 
how it 
was labeled) at a Huntington Botanical Gardens plant sale.  This is one of 
my 
favorites.  It grows in a tub outside my bedroom window.  

I focused on TBs because most of you seem to be interested in those, but I 
really like the species and other Iridaceae.  I have quite a few species 
iris that 
I have grown from seed that I got from SIGNA (I am a member).  I am also a 
member of AIS (Region 15), and of SPCNI.  

Lucinda Ebert                e-mail:  tebert@sunstroke.sdsu.edu
Poway, CA
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