Re: CULT: performance for COLD areas

Welcome, Janice, to iris-talk!  You're among friends here, and yes, some 
us even live in cold zones comparable to yours.

>I live in growing zone 3... Yes it was -42 degrees last week....we do have
>snow cover.

Same here.  I'm in zone 3b, and thank goodness I *think* we might 
actually have enough snow cover this year (unlike the last two winters) 
to provide adequate insulation from the frigid temps of the past week.
>
>We can keep some TB's alive here... siberians, spuria, pseudacorus.....
>Versicolor grows wild...

I haven't tried spuria yet, but in addition to those you mention above, I 
have had great success with Iris setosa, Iris cristata, and the smaller 
beardeds (MDBs and SDBs).  IBs are a mixed bag of success and failure for 
me, BBs are generally as wimpy as many of the TBs, and MTBs are very 
promising as a class so far (though I've only grown a few to date).
>
>I would love to grow ensata but they are hardy enough for any thing but a
>special micro climate..... ensata X might be worth trying...

I added my first half dozen JIs this last summer, so the jury's still out 
on them here.  I'll know more about them in a few months.
>
>Is there a
>way he can match names that he has with pictures.... or pictures with
>names??

There are a number of resources on the web where he can run searches 
looking for pics of specific iris cultivars.  One is 
http://www.google.com.  Another is our own iris-photos mailing list 
archives at http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-photos/.  If he joins 
iris-photos, he can also post requests for pics of specific cultivars, 
which other members will post if they have available.

>I know most of you plant in beardeds in August....but I have the best luck
>with plants that are spring planted (i.e.. May).

I try to make sure all beardeds are in the ground no later than the end 
of July.  May would probably be even better, but I'm usually too 
preoccupied with MDB and SDB bloom at that time to worry about planting.  
The earlier the better up here in the cold zone, that's for sure!

Again, welcome to iris-talk.  I'd love to know which TBs you've managed 
to grow successfully in your garden.

Laurie


-----------------
laurief@paulbunyan.net
http://www.geocities.com/lfandjg/
http://www.angelfire.com/mn3/shadowood/irisintro.html
USDA zone 3b, AHS zone 4 - northern MN
acidic clay soil

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