Borers again (sorry to be boring)

	Ian Efford wrote:

> (snip)       you are right in saying that borers are very
>tolerant of cold and apparently less so of heat.  Following Kay's
>comments, I believe that versicolor is a (the?) natural host of borers
>as wild specimens from around here are infected and sometimes heavily
>infected.

	A few comments: I must have misread Kay Cagemi's post since I took it
	to say that even though she was in a wild-growing I. versicolor area,
	she *didn't* have any borers. She also mentioned that they were feral
	pseudacorus populations in the vicinity. Her garden of irises remains
	borer-free without spraying Cygon. Why? (that is my query, not Kay's)
	I don't think it is enough to say that she has been 'lucky' (also my
	comment).

	I have deleted Kay's and most posts re this thread so am doing this
	from memory....either Ian or Kay posed the theory that I.versicolor
	*might* not be the original host plant....the versicolor range is
	where we find the borer. Since I have no borers, (not yet anyway)
	I challenge anyone to find more I. versicolor growing in the wild
	anywhere and I have never seen a sickly-appearing one.

	BTW, do not have feral pseudacorus around here - only in my garden
	and two others that I have noticed.

	I must revamp my 6-months of frozen gardens to a full 8-months after
	counting on my fingers. :-) Zone 3a is considerably colder and inhospi-
	table to many pests that are found elsewhere. Unfortunately, not the
	iris bud fly ....could that be the enemy of the borer? :-)) I just
	read Linda Mann's post re borers.....

	Ellen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ellen Gallagher  / e_galla@moose.ncia.net
Siberian iris robin   /   sibrob@ncia.net
Northern New Hampshire, USA / USDA Zone 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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