Re: deers just love iris

At 03:44 AM 2/28/96 MST, you wrote:
>Hello to you all!
>
>Here in Stockholm, Sweden, the sky is grey, and it is +2 deg. C
>
>Most gardeners in Stockholm I believe have problems with deers,
>(Roe deer) the roe deer just love to eat all the flowers.

Hello Gunnar and evryone else:

We only occasionally have deer and their behavior reflects how hungry they
are. Sadly, housing developments have stopped them here more than anything
else.  As a survival mechanism, deer habituate themselves to whatever
repellent you might try, so it is important to have a varied "bag of
tricks". All of my friends who live in areas of heavy deer population say
that the deer stay out of their rock gardens, preferring the "browse plants"
ie those which are bushy and are unwilling to negotiate a rockery or rock
garden unless they are extremely hungry.

I do not know anything about the availability of rock materials in Sweden,
but one might be able to even salvage concrete rubble from a construction
site if quarry rock is expensive. Iris thrive in rockwork. As someone else
from Ontario (my apologies, I'v forgotten the name) pointed out, sand helps
solve frost-heave problems. The grit mulch found in rock gardens also does
this. Obviously I have my bias and am crazy about this type of garden, large
or small.

Gunnar, you also asked about cold-hardy varieties and I have been meaning to
ask you if anyone in Sweden or other high latitudes had ever grown I.
missouriensis. It is difficult to germinate, but far from impossible. I do
not have mintemp data, but it grows at quite high elevations up to 3000m and
is found in continental regimes with a low mintemp (USDA Zone 4) It might be
that snow cover protects it from extreme cold though. 

I would think the Canadian folks would have good information on cold-hardy
iris. Perhaps they have a seedlist in the Canadian Iris Society. I would
think that growing from seed of varieties would be a good way of getting a
nice collection, for those who are willing to do it. Growing from seed is
very rewarding and for me easier on the pocketbook,especially when you want
to try new plants.

Best Regards, Louise
Louise H. Parsons  <parsont@peak.org>
1915 SE Stone St.
Corvallis, OR 97333  USA
USDA zone 7 (at least!) Emerald NARGS, transplanted Oregrowian
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