Re: AR: DORCAS AND APPIAN WAY?
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: AR: DORCAS AND APPIAN WAY?
- From: T* T* L* <t*@rt66.com>
- Date: Wed, 16 Jul 1997 13:07:18 -0600 (MDT)
Mary Forte writes
:And here's another arilbred question: I just got BIG BLACK BUMBLEBEE and IB
:MAC and the growers suggested I pot them up in sand and not plant them out
:till September. Will I need to do this every year? It seems like the
:culture information in World of Irises is very concerned with preventing them
:from getting summer rain, but I live in an area with very hot, dry, long
:summers.
I think perhaps the growers based their advice on something they'd read
regarding the culture of _pure arils_, which are totally dormant during the
summer and must be protected from rainfall. With arilbreds this is not much
of a concern, at least not in the arid west.
Sharon is right in suggesting that potting up may provide some protection
from intense mid-summer heat. However, I plant my arilbreds (and bearded
too) right in the ground when they arrive. Santa Fe is much cooler than Las
Cruces where Sharon is (typical July highs are 95 here and 110 there!).
However, even in Las Cruces many growers plant in July. It's a matter of
knowing your own garden and what kind of stress the plants are likely to
experience. If you plant TBs in July and they do fine, there is no reason
to treat ABs differently, if your climate is reasonably dry during the
summer.
And you can certainly leave the ABs in the ground from year to year, up to
whatever point you decide you need to divide them.
Happy irising, Tom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tom Tadfor Little telp@Rt66.com
Iris-L list owner * USDA zone 5/6 * AIS region 23
Santa Fe, New Mexico (USA)
Telperion Productions http://www.rt66.com/~telp/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Iris-L Web Site http://www.rt66.com/~telp/garden.htm
