CULT: Growth differences


--- Bill Shear <wshear@email.hsc.edu> wrote:
> 
> In some climates, many bearded irises have a biphasic
> growth habit, with a
> strong growth spurt up to blooming time.  Then there may
> be a period of
> semi-dormancy for several weeks before growth begins
> again, with almost an
> entirely "new" fan coming from the center of the old one.
>  That second
> growth period lasts longer if summer rains are kind, and
> often results in
> substantial increases sprouting from the sides of the old
> rhizome.  On the
> other hand, under other conditions, growth can be
> continuous throughout the
> spring and summer. This latter pattern is typical of
> rebloomers, and is in
> part what allows them a second blooming period in late
> summer or fall.
> Most medians and dwarfs also seem to be continous growers
> for me.
> 
   Is this dormancy period dependent just on cultural
conditions, or is there a genetic component that makes it
appear in some cultivars and not others? From a grower's
standpoint, is there an advantage to the plant in having
this dormant phase instead of continually growing?
   I know when we have the clubs sales, there are always
some cultivars I can't dig, not because I don't have a big
enough clump, but because each fan is down to two ratty
looking leaves and the new growth hasn't started yet.



=====
Vince Lewonski
vincelewonski@yahoo.com
Secane, Pennsylvania, USA Zone 6b
A fully owned subsidiary of the M. Susan Williams-Lewonski Corp.

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