Shade vs. Sun Quandary

Donald Eaves wrote:

> Not a chance.  I'm at that stage of summer where plants are dying
> from heat and lack of water, including some irises.  Unfortunately
> this stage means that extra supplemental watering will help some
> irises, but will cause others to die overnight.  I'm never sure exactly
> what to do.  What most of my irises need right now is shade; lots
> of it since cooler weather is not likely.  I can't provide that, so am
> stuck in the usual summer quandary of how best to take care of
> those being blasted by the sun and heat.

Then Chris Darlington wrote:

> I have Monarda that grows out of control in my rebloomer bed , it's
> messy but gives plenty of shade. I noticed a stalk of ISTANBUL a few
> days ago that I planted out in the garden in late April after keeping it
> alive in the windowsill this winter.  I don't know if this is considered
> rebloom or just confused since it didn't bloom in June for me.

I think that's the difference between the deep South/Southwest
and the more moderate continental climes :-)  I have had the
opportunity to watch both iris and daylilies perform in a number
of varied shading conditions.

Anything that is fast growing here is going to either be
fairly horizontally invasive or evergreen.  We don't get
many gracefully arching perennials or anything pretty
that grows quickly.  In this category I put my
loquat (Erytroba? japonica).  I was cussing at it in
the spring, both because a late frost wiped out its
fruit (fairly common here) and because it had grown
so much that it was shading my iris.  They weren't
blooming properly, and if they got a bit damp and
cool, would rot.

BUT -- now, those irises still in that shade are looking
fine -- still green, no rot, though it's dirt dry out.
The ones in the full sun, however, look awful -- more
yellowed foliage, sunburn, and rot.

The ideal, I have discovered, is to be planted under
a spreading deciduous tree.  However, we do not have
many trees like that that aren't already understory
trees -- and the ones that exist take YEARS to reach
any size.  In Dallas they would do better than in
Austin because of greater rainfall and less rocky
and alkaline soil, but would still take a while.
I am mourning the loss of one of my post oaks.  It
was hundreds of years old and provided beneficial shade
to many things which are now looking pretty sad.

I am mulling over whether to limb up the loquat or
not.  I can't limb it up enough to really get a lot
of light under it, and if I limb it up too much,
it will not be able to shade its own roots and could
itself suffer a bit.  

--Amy (Austin, TX, zone 8b)


--------------------------------------------------------------------<e|-
Get a NextCard Visa, in 30 seconds!
1. Fill in the brief application
2. Receive approval decision within 30 seconds
3. Get rates as low as 2.9% Intro or 9.9% Fixed APR
http://click.egroups.com/1/6631/0/_/486170/_/965104310/
--------------------------------------------------------------------|e>-
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index