Re: CULT:TB: Keppel irises in Region 7
- To: i*@onelist.com
- Subject: Re: CULT:TB: Keppel irises in Region 7
- From: S*@aol.com
- Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 11:31:08 EST
From: StorYlade@aol.com
In a message dated 1/26/1999 8:07:40 AM Central Standard Time, RYFigge@aol.com
writes:
<< I'm from zone 7 in Maryland and have no trouble with Keith Keppel's irises
and I have a lot of his. Rosalie NR Baltimore ryfigge@aol.com
>>
I'm jealous.
Apparently it's a microcosm thing. Several of the great things from the West
coast don't grow around here. Something to do with Mesopotamian ancestry?
Don't know for sure. Maybe it's our roller coaster temperatures with very
little white mulch. Sometimes, I can hold them the first winter and get 1st
year bloom (get pollen if I'm wanting to use it) and then it's down hill.
There are famous irises that we don't get to see in our shows because they
don't grow in our local area. (Not just me.) It's definitely not exclusive
to Keith's irises. I meant no personal disparagement. (Keith knows of the
problem.)
Garden's in other parts of Region 7 do grow some of these irises without
problems--further south, and west in particular. I shouldn't have said Region
7. I should have said South Central Kentucky.
Now that I have less space and fewer irises to care for, maybe I can give
special attention to this irises and make a difference. Years ago, I
experimented and found that I could grow many of the fussy ones by putting
extra lime in the planting hole below the rhizome. But I have to KNOW they
are fussy before I plant them.
Most of the California hybridizers know there are areas of middle U. S. that
can't sustain growth on their irises. Their climate is not condusive to
detecting what is hardy in more harsh areas.
No one person can be all things to all people. Unfortunately, that seems to
be true of hybridizers too. I've got a feeling it's suppose to be that way.
I'm also fairly sure that the new cultivars Keith is developing in Oregon will
grow differently than those he hybridized in California.
Beautiful work Keith. Keep it up!
Betty in Bowling Green, KY.
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