Re: LA: Dormancy?

From: "Patrick O'Connor" <swamp@ix.netcom.com>

Mark,

I have found that Louisianas will go dormant without sufficient water, and
sometimes even when I think they have enough.  Of the species, I.
brevicaulis is most prone to go dormant in the wild and in the garden.  It
is naturally found in low ground but not standing water like I.
giganticaerulea, I. Nelsonii and, sometimes, I. fulva.  I am not certain
about the habitat of I. hexagona.  

I have always surmised that a tendency to dormancy was partly determined by
the ancestry of the hybrid.   However, in a garden I maintain in New
Orleans that has plenty of water, even a hybrid of mine that is half I.
brevicaulis looks fine today.  A seedling plot in Baton Rouge with
insufficient water in full sun, however, has no irises visible right now.
Add water and they come roaring back, like yours.

Patrick 
At 10:30 PM 8/10/98 -0400, you wrote:
>From: "william b. cook" <billc@atlantic.net>
>
>     During the heatwave and drought of May and June of this year, some
>types of Louisiana Irises died to the ground.  I was concerned that I had
>lost them when it was 100 F + daily and we were allowed to water no more
>than twice per week.  Now that we have been getting rain, I have found
>vigorous shoots coming up.  Yesterday, I put some Acid-Based Fertilizer
>around them to give them a boost, since they have active growth.
>     The above events have led me to wonder if some types of Louisiana
>Irises have a "summer dormancy" as a natural means of preserving itself
>from an otherwise certain death?
>
>Mark A. Cook
>billc@atlantic.net
>Dunnellon, Florida.     Low 72 F, High 93 F,  Rainfall 1.47"]
>
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