Re: Digging bearded iris
- To: i*@rt66.com
- Subject: Re: Digging bearded iris
- From: C*@aol.com
- Date: Mon, 8 Jul 1996 21:40:28 -0400
In a message dated 96-07-08 17:10:38 EDT, you write:
>Dennis suggests:
>Does that hold true also for Kilt Lilt, Edith Wolford, and Beverly
>Sills.
I have grown all three of these Dykes winning irises for extended periods.
None has been a great performer for me....but KILT LILT is hard to keep
alive, let alone get it to bloom well. BEVERLY SILLS is not hard to keep
alive here...but it has been one of those irises that performs well about
every 3 years...when it does perform, it really performs...sometimes two or
three good stalks per rhizome...but come on, every 3 years? EDITH WOLFORD
has had to be moved often to do well. If I do not divide and move it every
two years, it will not perform AT ALL. If it stays in the same spot more
than two years the rhizomes are dinky, and it has no bloom....but when it
does bloom it is spectacular.
Now these irises will perform differently in different soils and climates.
But that is how they do here in northern VA with clay soil, hot humid
summers, and wet winters. Of the recent Dykes winners, DUSKY CHALLENGER and
JESSE'S SONG are the most wonderful performers here....they are champions,
and better than most other tall bearded irises...VANITY is still my best
performing pink (along with J. D. Stadler's PINK CELEBRITY). SPINNNING WHEEL
is still one of my best performing plicatas. Clarence Mahan in Northern VA
