Re: CULT:TB: A Whole New List - The Hardiest of the Hardy

Oh Laurie

Your dedication to growing irises (or anything) in your climate amazes me.
So sorry to her of your losses. Sometimes we in easy climates don't realize
the the dedication (madness) required to garden in such areas.

When we were in NZ we crossed the 45th parallel. (you can only do it in the
southern hemisphere in NZ, Chile and Argentina) and we were complaining
about how early it got dark, and my husband grizzled about the cold. It's
hard to get our heads around how many people live north of the northern 45th
and what your climate is like.

Colleen Modra
Adelaide Hills
South Australia
zone 8/9
irises@senet.com.au
----- Original Message -----
From: laurief <laurief@paulbunyan.net>
To: <iris-talk@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2002 6:20 AM
Subject: [iris-talk] CULT:TB: A Whole New List - The Hardiest of the Hardy


> Hello, All,
>
> First a bit of background - I've been working very hard to determine how
> to keep TBs happy and healthy up here in zone 3b.  My first attempt was a
> miserable failure - killed almost everything.  My second attempt was
> nearly as bad. - rampant rot again that wiped out about 2/3 of my iris
> beds.  Then I found iris-talk and read and read and read until I
> understood what I was doing wrong and how to correct all the errors.
> Attempt number three ('00 planting) was extremely successful - minimal
> losses and 50% bloom in '01 on first year plants (not so hot for CA,
> maybe, but darn good up here!).  Which brings us up to this year, the
> spring that never was.
>
> Bad, BAD iris year!  Maybe it was the prolonged, cold winter-spring
> transition that refused to allow the irises to get growing.  Maybe it was
> the soil compacted by deer traffic all winter over the iris beds.  Maybe
> it was over- or under-fertilizing.  Maybe it was the moldy condition of
> some of the new TBs received last summer.  Maybe it was any or all of 100
> other variables.  Whatever the cause(s), my main bed of 200+ TBs now
> contains only about 30 living plants.  Of those, the following 22 are the
> only ones that survived the winter with more than 3 fans per clump.
> Among the victims were almost all of last year's 104 TB acquisitions
> along with quite a few established, 2 yr old clumps.
>
> And so, my list of the hardiest of the hardy TBs ...
>
> BLUE SHIMMER (hasn't bloomed yet - likely to be misidentified)
> ENGLISH COTTAGE
> GALLANT MOMENT
> GETUP AND GO
> GOTHIC
> IMMORTALITY
> JESSE'S SONG
> LOS ANGELES
> MISTY TWILIGHT
> NIGHTSHADE
> OLYMPIAD
> PROUD TRADITION
> PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE
> RAIN CHECK
> RAMESES
> ROYAL CHANT
> STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
> STARSTRUCK
> STEPPING OUT
> SUPERSTITION
> TAMARISK ('01 acquisition that may turn out to be another mislabeled
> TANTARA)
> ZURICH
>
> There were additional established TB survivors in my rebloomer beds which
> are located in a much more sheltered location on the south side of the
> house, but again, almost all new acquisitions planted in those beds
> perished this year.
>
> At least now I know who the parents will be if I should ever get bitten
> by the hybridizing bug.
>
> Laurie
>
>
>
> -----------------
> laurief@paulbunyan.net
> http://www.geocities.com/lfandjg/
> zone 3b northern MN - clay soil
>
>
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Will You Find True Love?
Will You Meet the One?
Free Love Reading by phone!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/Deo18C/zDLEAA/Ey.GAA/2gGylB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index