Re: Herbicides That Are Safe for Iris Beds

At 09:37 AM 2/27/97 -0700, you wrote:

>I am uncomfortable with pre-emergents and grass-killers such as Round-Up
>and Poast, which many people use here. I think our gardens' eco-systems are
>far more complex than is dreamt of in Monsanto's R&D labs. ("Give me spots
>on my apples but leave me the birds and the bees.")
>

>celia
>storey@aristotle.net  USDA Zone 7b
>Little Rock, Arkansas

>
I say amen! I've grown everything organically all my life, and wouldn't
consider doing it any other way. It is beyond me why anyone would want to go
spreading poison around in the place where they care to spend most of their
free time. For instance: one of the best insect controls are spiders. In
their bewildering variety, spiders have one common trait - almost all of
them eat insects or other spiders. But when we want to control insects and
spray an area, for sure the first thing we kill is the spiders. 
Herbicides? Well last summer I found a perfectly gorgeous yellow wildflower
growing that my friend Audrey said was the same plant as the little buttons
I was pulling out of the lilly bed. It's a two-year plant, whose name
escapes me now, but it grows tall and flowers the second year. For the rest
of the year I let them grow. We kill plants with herbicides we do not know.
Yeah, grasses are a pain, but wouldn't you really rather be out working on
your beds than reading 50-100 e-mails a day, about half of which have more
to do with cabin fever than info on iris?
James Brooks
Jonesborough TN 
Where I righteously spent yesterday pulling weeds.
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