Re: CAT: Which ones?
- Subject: Re: [iris-talk] CAT: Which ones?
- From: D* P*
- Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 13:50:53 -0600
From: "Dell Perry" <dellp@gwmail.plano.gov>
Martha,
Welcome aboard.
I have been 'picturing' iris in my mind for years and they never come out like you 'see' the description. Oh yes, a white is white, etc., but the multicolor/bitone/bicolor/blend/plicatas, never. Sometimes you wonder if the person writing the description (the hybridizer) is wearing special glasses! ( In their defense, I will say soil make-up can affect the way colors express - so they really may see them that way.)
Don't avoid the free price lists....use the pictures online and in the big catalogs to find the iris, then order from whomever has the best price and is compatible with your growing conditions (i.e. same zone, climate, rainfall, soil type, etc). Those huge rhizomes from area A often do not perform as their appearance would indicate, and that little thing you got from Area B (it cost how much?!!) will multiply and bloom like crazy. You need to experiment to find the suppliers whose plants do well for you.
The size of the rhizome does not indicate the size of the flower, so two mature rhizomes of the same cultivar, one large and fat, and one small and scrawny, will both produce comparable flowers after the first bloom season. The bloom characteristics tend to be set by the climate where the bloom 'bud' is formed, so plants having a well developed fan will 'bloom' as though they were still in California, Missouri, Nevada, or wherever they came from. Subsequent years fans will be 'set' by your location. Baby rhizomes off the original mother may vary greatly in size from the mother (you may never see another the size of the mother), but don't think that is necessarily something you are doing or not doing - similar situation to the blooms.
I'm rambling - but these are things I stressed over for a few years before I learned.
Are you planning to come to the April 2000 AIS convention here in Dallas? It would be a wonderful opportunity to meet the hybridizers, see prior, current and future year's introductions in bloom (lots of note taking!), meet a bunch of fellow irisarians at all levels of knowledge, and just have a good time. There is an auction of rhizomes, so you might be able to pick up a few good ones. All the info you need is on the web site, http://www.destinydallas.org or e-mail me and I will get the answers.
Dell Perry
Seandel Iris Gardens - Plano TX zone 7/8
AIS, Iris Society of Dallas, Ft. Worth Iris Society
>>> "Martha Brown" <mbrown@pldi.net> 02/24/00 12:43PM >>>
From: "Martha Brown" <mbrown@pldi.net>
This has been very helpful. I don't really
understand
the descriptions well enough to picture in my mind
what an iris will look like from just a
description so catalogs with pictures are helpful
not only to
see the iris but to learn to see the iris in my
mind from the description (if that makes sense).
