Re: Planting too soon

> Here in California our temperatures exceed 100F quite often in the
> summer, usually starting in June.  I plant all my seedlings during June
> and all my new acquisitions (sometimes hundreds and from all parts of
> the country) during June thru August.  I must keep them watered,
> sometimes watering every other day.  They always thrive, becoming full
> sized plants by the fall.  Of course our humidity is low 10-20%.
> 
> This may not work in your part of the country, but it works here.  You
> never did state how your early plantings did? I may sound like a broken
> record to some members of the list, but "clean" soil is important. 
> Continually planting iris in the same place year after year will take
> it's toll.  Solarize or rotate if you can.
	Several things here.  When I originally got into iris I planted them as
soon as I got them.  Usually late July.  Everything did well and was
happy.  Then I was told how our hot sun causes the baked potato syndrome
when you plant in July so I started waiting.  It seems that since I
started waiting I am having more baked potatos.  I am going to plant
everything in '97 as soon as possible and see what happens.  I have
definetly noticed a correlation between where they come from and % of
BP's.  Things that come in from the cooler wetter Northwest have a much
higher percentage of the BP's.  Will let everyone know how we do next
year.  
	What is a good method for storing rhizomes if you wish to keep them
until things cool off?  This would mean storing them up to 60 days down
here.
	I have planted my rhizomes in patterns for years.  All one bed facing
North, or South, etc.  As soon as the snow melts I will go check and see
if there is any discernible difference.  This year I planted two new
beds and due to some whim I planted two of everyone of my replants.  I
alternated them two facing each other parallel to the bed and two facing
each other across the bed.  This means that I have iris planted with
their toes pointed to all four directions.  We'll have to see if any one
direction does any better than another.  That's just what I need,
something else to track.


-- 
Dana Brown, Lubbock, Texas  Zone 7
Where we are 3,241 ft above sea level, with an average rainfall of
17.76"
of rain a year.  Our average wind speed is 12.5 mph and we have an
average
of 164 days of clear weather, 96 of which dip below freezing.
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