Re: CULT: what if this were a drought?


>Where I live in Colorado, we typically get 10" to 11" of
>moisture (some of it as snow) between May 1 & Oct 31. I know there are
>even drier places in the West during these same months, but I'm here
>to tell you that this piddlin' amount does not make for lush greeness.
>
Arkansas is lush and green, the recipient this year of far more rainfall
than we normally expect in summer. Made it easy to forget that we are not
Louisiana; we do dry out. With this High stalled overhead and temps up in
the high 90s and higher for two weeks running, all that extra rain that
seeped down into our water table is being tapped back out at a right smart
clip as people run their garden hoses day and night trying to keep the lush
stuff lush.

Years like this I really appreciate the sturdy bearded iris, which has the
good sense to go to sleep until conditions for life improve. It is such a
pleasure to drag the hose past the iris bed without having to stop. Sweet
dreams, bearded sleepers.

Which brings me to my question. This isn't a drought; but if it were, would
anyone water the bearded irises in his collection after, say, a month and a
half of high-90s without rain? We had a year like that, 1980 I believe it
was. Did you folks break down and water your bearded friends then? (I am
much too young to remember, of course.) I know the historics would soldier
through without any help from humankind and thank you very much. But what
about the newer hybrids? How well would ALABASTER UNICORN, say, survive a
real Dust Bowl drought with nary a drop to drink?
Just curious.

celia
storey@aristotle.net
Little Rock




Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index