Re: tender ancestors and early bloom
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: tender ancestors and early bloom
- From: "* a* C* W* <c*@cache.net>
- Date: Mon, 24 Feb 1997 19:13:07 -0700 (MST)
Linda Mann writes (24 Feb 97):
> I was thinking about all those tender little growing shoots on my tall
> bearded irises and how the Midseason and MidseasonLate blooming irises
always
> seem to rot less and bloom more (and of course freeze less) and wondered
if
> there is any correlation between amount of warm climate (tender) ancestry
and
> tendency to bloom early. I have learned to avoid the early and even most
of
> the midseason bloomers if I want to be sure to have bloom here and I
wondered
> if there might be a link with early frost damage (and subsequent rot) and
> those warm climate ancestors.
This suggestion has sent me scurrying to my records to check season of
bloom against the area of origin of the TB iris I have grown. I find that
23 out of 75 (30.7%) of mild climate cultivars (originated in California or
Australia) are early season bloomers, while only 21 out of 120 (17.5%) that
originated elsewhere are early season bloomers. Applying chi-square testing
methods to these data yields the result that the observed differences are
less than 5% likely to be due to chance factors, so here is some evidence
that "mild climate" iris have a greater tendency to bloom early, even in
climates that are anything but mild.
A few cautionary words about season of bloom, however. Not all iris are
consistent in their season of bloom. For example, BETTY SIMON (Hamblen, 76)
has bloomed for me as follows: early - 5 times; mid-season - 5 times; late
- 2 times. Other cultivars are consistent in their bloom season, but not
with the indication given with their registration. Example: GALA MADRID
(Peterson, 68), and therefore, like B>S> above, a Utah-bred iris, was
registered as a mid-to-late season bloomer. For me it has bloomed early 12
times, mid-season twice, and late never.
Jeff Walters in northern Utah (Zone 4)
cwalters@cache.net
"This is the Place" - where early bloomers get frosted and late bloomers
get fried!
