Arilbreds & Humidity

Rick Tasco wrote:

:  There must be something else which prevents success with arilbreds in
:  more temperate climates.  I don't think ground moisture in the summer is
:  a deterent for the arilbreds.  I treat my aril/arilbreds just the same
:  as the other beardeds.  A good deep soaking of my deep beds once a week.
:  This insures a almost constant dampness of the beds.  I use T-tape which
:  is laser drilled drip line.  I suspect the culprit is humidity!  Here
:  during the summer the humidity averages 10-20%.  

:  Sharon, what are your thoughts here!

I think you're right about it being more than a question of ground moisture, but
I don't think that humidity is the whole answer, either.  I've grown arilbreds
in Oklahoma, where summers can be both hot and humid, as well as New Mexico
where summers are hot and dry.   I have, however, managed to kill both TBs &
arilbreds from time to time.  A few general examples:

1.	Not dividing clumps frequently enough.  In a bed of TBs the strongest
will spread out and take over, killing the weaker ones in the process.  Many of
the older arilbreds, and even some of the newer ones, grow in such tight clumps
that they choke themselves to death if left in place too long.   When my mother
was going through her chemotherapy, I left a bed of C.G. White halfbreds in
place the third year.  Some rather large clumps disappeared completely.  Others
dwindled to very few fans and when I dug them I found a layer of rhizomes with
leaves but no roots, below that a layer of rhizomes with no leaves and no roots,
and below that a third layer with roots and no leaves.  In The World of Iris,
Ben Hager recommended that "arilbreds be transplanted every year, and only the
new growth transplanted".  For many varieties, I think this advice still holds
true.

2.	Planting too soon.  Twenty years ago, I had about 10 to 20% survival of
TBs and 80 to 90% survival of arilbreds planted from late July through late
August.   I finally realized that the casualties were the imports from cooler
gardens.  They had looked like they were ready to start their fall growth, but
when subjected to our higher temperatures they were apparently fooled into
postponing it and rotted instead.  ( "Rot" may not be the appropriate term.  The
consistency is much like that of baked potatoes.)  Now I plant imports in pots
and grow them in a sheltered location until it's cool enough to transfer them to
the garden. 

3.	Trying to circumvent dormancy.  Some varieties can go partially or
completely dormant, depending on growing conditions.  Others apparently require
the dormant period.  This is something I first observed in my seedlings when I
tried to carry some over the summer using grolites in an air-conditioned room.
I tried the same thing with mature rhizomes of several named varieties with the
same disastrous results. 

4.	Choosing  a variety for its flowers, without taking its growth habits
into account.  Over the years, I've bought many arilbreds that turned out to
have unacceptably tight growth patterns.    For example, a highly-prized pattern
is that of a large signal -- which is an onco characteristic that is all too
often found on a tightly bunched, onco-like plant.

There are so many different types of arilbreds that it's difficult to
generalize, but perhaps this will provide a few clues.

Sharon McAllister (73372.1745@compuserve.com)
Southern New Mexico
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