Iris orders, root pruning et al
- To: I*@Rt66.com
- Subject: Iris orders, root pruning et al
- From: c*@qntm.com (Chad Schroter)
- Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 10:18:20 -0700
I received my order of Rebloomers from Nicholls Gardens yesterday, everything
looks good, and they sent me E-mail when they shipped my order - nice touch.
I got my Schreiners order a couple of weeks ago, and it included a catalog and
list of iris not available this year because of "bad weather" (I presume because
of the flooding?), or might I interpret this list to be Iris which are more
susceptable to rot and/or disease ? I could post this list (about 20 cultivars)
if anyone is interested, as I assume it did not go out with the original catalog
mailings.
On another topic I notice that all of the iris shipped these days seem to be
root pruned to 6" and often much less. Most reading I have done indicates this
is very harmfull as the damaged roots are unlikely to grow much more, maybe send
out a few feeder roots, and there are a limited number of "spots" where new
roots can grow from (usually the part of the rhizome closest to the fan where I
often see the yellow root nubs) In my mild winter area I don't suffer any losses
as a result of this but my first year blooms are invariably smaller, shorter or
non-existant. For cold winter growers the lack of roots going deep down
apparently is often fatal. I know that root size is related to shipping costs,
but I for one would be willing to pay extra to get the whole plant. My own
divisions rarely seem to suffer bloomwise as I try to retain the bulk of the new
root system.
Anyone have information or comments on my assumptions about root growth ?
Chad Schroter, "rooted in Los Gatos CA"
