Dry leaf tips

Here's a puzzlement aimed especially at those iris-gardeners in the arid 
West -- how dry is dry? Over the years in my dry garden I have learned 
to expect & tolerate dry leaf tips on my old reliable heirloom TB irises 
after bloom -- probably a fourth to a third of all the leaves on each 
plant turn tan or brown & crispy at the top, (& sometimes whole leaves, 
especially those at the outside of the fan.) I've never thot much about 
it, figured it was par for course on "dormant" iris in this climate. I 
have always watered them anyway thru the balance of the summer but not a 
whole lot since (a) watering doesn't seem to affect the drying leaf tips 
one way or the other & (b) why waste precious water on what's "asleep"?

However, the past couple of years I've been acquiring some modern 
hybrids, including some rebloomers. All these iris are incorporated into 
perennial beds rather than growing in beds alone, which is how I used to 
always plant iris, & I  keep these reasonably well-watered. What has 
just dawned on me is that none of these new iris are showing dry leaf 
tips as yet this summer even tho it's been devilishly dry & hot 
recently.

So what does this mean? Should I water *all* my iris more -- or am I 
seeing one of the differences that hybridization makes? (BTW, my old 
heirlooms are I. variegata & I. pallida plus a few I can't name but that 
all have smallish, simple flowers, mostly selfs. Some are no doubt BB's 
or IB's, rather than TB's.)

I have a good-producing well but can't bear to waste water. Also, due to 
a whole bunch of factors too complicated to go into at the moment, I 
have to water with a hose & wand, nozzle or sprinkler, can't even make 
good use of soaker hoses. But I sure like having iris leaves that look 
green & healthy & am willing to keep all the irises moister if it's 
warranted.

Would appreciate your thots on this.

Marte in the mtns	Zone 4/Sunset 1  Evergreen, Colorado
Soil is basically disintegrated granite & pine duff which I amend as 
best I can with homemade & purchased compost & soil conditioners.
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index