Re: CULT: Companions

From: Linda Mann <lmann@icx.net>

Jeff Walters and Anner Whitehead said:
> << I would not recommend either of these plants as companions for
>  bearded irises as they make too dense and close a cover that would shade
>  the rhizomes and promote rot in general by holding moisture close to them.
> >>
> 
> No companion plant material should ever be used so close to bearded irises
> that the rhizomes are shaded, that ventilation is impeded, that moisture
> levels in soil or air remain elevated, that pests are harbored, or that
> accomplishing normal maintenance or maintaining good garden hygiene is made
> more difficult. 

Well, it depends... some cultivars (especially pallida relatives, I
think, and maybe some rebloomers? and some others) tolerate smothering
by ground covers quite well.  I recently was given a start of GREEN EYED
LADY that had to be excavated from a thick thatch of English ivy that
had escaped from a stone wall.  The soil was clay and was pretty gooey
from the ivy.  The owner muttered something about how she really needed
to get that clump out of there, but it always blooms well and she keeps
forgetting it...

Linda Mann east Tennessee USA


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