Re: No. of fans and stalks? Shakespeare?
Clark Lukens wrote:
>
> 1. If a rhizome has five fans, does that mean that the iris will produce
> five stalks during one growing season or five stalks eventually? Is there
> any way to promote early stalk growth from the fans? What determines how
> soon stalks will spring from a fan? Sun, warmth, nutrient or just
> maturity? (P.S. I hope these are not dumb questions.)
>
Clark,
Thought a lot about what you said above. If you lived in a cold climate
my following explanation would be entirely different. However, since
you live in the "Eternal Springtime" of the LA basin this is what I
would say: A rhizome that has 5 fans planted in the fall normally would
produce one flower stalk the following spring, with the 5 fans maturing
during the spring and flowering the next spring. Sometimes, due to
maturity, the 1 or more fans closest to the mother rhizome will bloom
also. In some varieties, all the fans will bloom and you will
experience "bloomout". In your climate you may experience this more so
than other locations. Don't purchase these again. I know there are
plenty that will perform very well in your area.
Rebloomers are capable of accelerated growth. If conditions are
optimum, ie; warmth, water and fertilizer, they will bloom when the
rhizomes are mature. This can happen the year around in your climate.
A friend of mine in Corona has a garden of reblooming iris. His first
goal was to have an iris in bloom each month of the year. He did it.
His second goal was to have an iris in bloom each week of the year. He
did it. Now, can you guess what his third goal is?
Rick Tasco
Central California, where we just had 3.03 inches of rain the past two
days. Its coming east!
Zone 8.5
