Re: mesopotamica influence (was REB: PERFUME COUNTER)

>>However, nearly all of the ancestors of BCP had undergone 5 or more
>>generations of selection in the American Midwest, which should have greatly
>>reduced any tendencies towards tenderness derived from the mesopotamica
>>strain in their ancestry.
>>
>Jeff, LLoyd et al: Tell me if I have followed this thread: I mesopotamica
>in a plant's genetic heritage makes the iris more likely to stay green and
>continue growing in mild winters, and more likely to suffer frost damage in
>sterner winters. Is that the idea?
>If so, can we Southerners with our mild winters go out into our gardens and
>"spot" the I mesopotamica g-g-g-g-g-babies by their lavish winter growth?
>
>For instance, I am looking at a massive clump of LATIN HIDEAWAY that has
>multiplied and thickened like nobody's business since September. To trace
>its ancestry would take an hour or more of thumbing R&I checklists, which
>I'm not keen to do. Can I posit from the plant's behavior that it must have
>mesopotamica genes? Or are there other ancestors that produce the same urge
>to grow after the winter cooldown (and thus confound glib analysis such as
>I am readying myself to pronounce the first time a fellow iris lover visits
>my garden and spots that mess of LH)?
>
>
>
>
>celia
>storey@aristotle.net
>Little Rock, Arkansas, USDA Zone 7b
>-----------------------------------
>257 feet above sea level,
>average rainfall about 50 inches (more than 60" in '97)
>average relative humidity (at 6 a.m.) 84%.
>moderate winters, hot summers ... but lots of seesaw action in all seasons
Dear Celia: Latin Hideaway was outstanding at the Oklahoma Convention some
eight years ago. I ordered it at once. It has done very poorly here, and I
know of no one who has had success with it here in Region 4. That might tie
in with the thread that it would do less well farther north. I'm sure some
have had success with it; I had presumed from its color pattern that it
would favor I variegata in its growth, but that does not appear to be the
case from my limited experience with it.  Lloyd Zurbrigg Durham NC
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