CULT: Performance of Award Winners
- To: iris-talk@onelist.com
- Subject: CULT: Performance of Award Winners
- From: w*
- Date: Sat, 21 Aug 1999 15:01:36 -0500
- Priority: normal
From: "wmoores" <wmoores@watervalley.net>
On 21 Aug 99, at 9:58, Jeff and Carolyn Walters wrote:
> From: "Jeff and Carolyn Walters" <jcwalters@bridgernet.com>
>
> For what it's worth here are my
> observations on the '99 award winners that I have grown long enough to be
> able to evaluate:
>
I am comparing notes with Jeff. Our climates vary
considerably, so the following is how Jeff's list of award winners
grows in Mississippi....damp, humid climate vs. high, dry desert-
like. These are just the facts and are not meant to be
argumentative.
> HELLO DARKNESS - very prone to Botrytis rot - lost it once, and this year
> had one stalk on a 4-year clump with barely enough increase left over to
> replant. (It did not receive my vote)
>
HD in MS does not exhibit any of the problems you mentioned.
It is fully deserving of its awards as it grows locally. Outstanding!
> YAQUINA BLUE - also prone to Botrytis, but not as bad as HD. Beautiful
> flower and stalk, but not as generous with its bloom as many others (Also
> did not receive my vote) y4treooooooooooo |,f,lllllhuy (Didn't get
> Tigger's, either)
>
Excellent here and grows like BREAKERS. No problems with
it. Guess it will always be too late for the shows.
> DARK WATERS - very reliable and prolific performer; long blooming (a full
> month in bloom this spring) with beautifully formed dark blue-violet
> flowers. (Did get my vote)
>
Don't grow this one and don't know who does locally.
> STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN - my opinion is on record that this one is a Dykes
> candidate, so naturally it disappointed this year by exhibiting
> scorch-like symptoms and putting up one scrawny, undergrown stalk (Still
> got my vote - one is supposed to evaluate a cultivar over a number of
> bloom seasons)
>
Stellar performer in both the show and garden. If there is a fault
with this iris, I have yet to find it. It won QOS in our show this
year. Four stars every year I have grown it. Should be the Dykes
in 2000!
> BOOGIE WOOGIE - quite distinctive appearance, but a mediocre performer;
> smallish flowers,shortish stalks, and not many of them. (No cigar)
BW, I agree with the above. It is an IB locally if you can get it
to bloom. The only time it bloomed well for me was on a first year
plant, and it won QOS for me. I started dividing it yearly, but that
hasn't caused it to do any better either. No, I will not vote for it.
>
> BEWILDERBEAST- not my personal favorite among the Kasperek intros;
> Botrytis took it to the great iris garden in the sky this spring. (Not
> marked on my ballot)
>
> BRINDLED BEAUTY - reliable and bloomable; maybe just a bit too much -
> didn't find a whole lot of increase when I went to replant it a few weeks
> ago. (Got my vote, anyway)
>
I cannot get any of the usual broken color things to perform well
here and, therefore, do not vote for them. Only occasionally has
MARIA TORMENA strutted her stuff, and I really liked her when
she did. I am looking forward to blooming Keith Keppel's BROKEN
DREAMS and Virginia Keyser's ZIGGY and hope to mate these
two for a completely different set of broken color genes. Neither of
these is out of traditional broken color lines.
> FANCY WOMAN - a non-starter here; grows but hasn't bloomed and I know of
> many better foliage plants (Can't vote for what you don't see)
>
Our late cold snaps get this one every year. Its bloom season
is much too early for this climate. I have not seen this one bloom
locally.
> PACIFIC DESTINY - an iris to cry for - absolutely the most gorgeous flower
> I can imagine- form, substance, proportion, color saturation, you name it
> - combined with abysmal branching that hugs the stalk like an anaconda
> (Couldn't squeeze a vote out of me)
>
Agreed! I threw this out a long, long time ago. I really didn't
think the bloom was that pretty either.
>
The jury is still out on most of the other '99 award winners I grow.
>
If you can grow all of these up to the optimum, please chime in.
Walter Moores
Enid Lake, MS 7/8
>
>
>
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