Re: ROT -- more questions

In a message dated 97-02-13 13:01:32 EST, you write:

Sharon McAllister asked
>When rot hits a clump, does it spread throughout the clump and kill the
whole
>thing?  Or does it merely thin the clump?

Rot seems to hit mine three different ways. 

1) Most commonly, it thins the clump - gets the mother rhizome and/or some of
the babies.  In a bad rot season, it may SEVERELY thin the clump.  Poor ol
RASPBERRY RIPPLES has been out there alternately growing like a weed and
getting creamed every now and then for ?20 years?

2) Sometimes, a variety will be totally unaffected for years, then the whole
clump gets wiped out.  This happened to SONG OF NORWAY year before last -
actually, I had never had that happen before to an established clump, though
it is has been fairly common in new rhizomes (especially common in big fat
west coast rhizomes, varieties from relatively arid/low humidity breeding
grounds).  

3) This is where the least damage to the clump occurs - one leaf may rot off
at the base, or a few leaves, or part of a rhizome.  A variant of this is the
only one that really makes me mad - if the weather is just wrong, the flower
stalks will rot off at the base at peak bloom.  I don't have this happen very
often, but it does seem to always affect the same varieties - some of the
reds do this, a few others I won't name.  Doesn't do much damage to the
increase, and does offer opportunity for cut stalks inside the house.  I have
had a lot more of the 'leaf or two' rot in the beds I mulched with horse
manure this year, especially when I let it roll up against the rhizomes - not
recommended for the faint of heart!  QUEEN DOROTHY and GOLDEN ENCORE loved it
though - first time they ever bloomed for me.

I don't treat chemically for rot (no bleach or other potions) but sometimes
do pull off rotting foliage and jab around at the base to see how rotten it
is as I enjoy a stroll around the flower beds.  Most of the time, rot doesn't
kill the whole clump.

Linda Mann lmann76543@aol.com east Tennessee
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