Re: CULT: Drought measures
- To: iris-talk@onelist.com
- Subject: Re: [iris-talk] CULT: Drought measures
- From: J* C*
- Date: Sun, 01 Aug 1999 19:05:05 PDT
From: "Jan Clark" <janclarx@hotmail.com>
> > Question: If I cut back foliage by half, would that
> > reduce the plants' need for water?
> > Janet
> >
> V. sez:
> It may - the idea of cutting the leaves back when
>digging/transplanting bearded irises is that the plants
>will lose less water through transpiration at a time when
>they don't have established roots to take in as much water.
>It may not be necessary, though - I know of one commercial
>garden that never waters any bearded irises, including new
>ones just planted in the garden.
I always understood that the leaves were cut back when transplanting, so
that the rhizome wouldn't be so affected by wind. Wind blowing on the leaves
causes the rz to rock in the soil, thus slowing down, or preventing the
establishment of roots.
I would leave the leaves alone in summer unless transplanting. TB's should
survive with minimal watering. The reason I started growing them was their
drought tolerance.
Jan Clark
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