CULT: TB Questions

Good morning, everyone.

I mostly lurk on this list just soaking in the information but there is one
topic I haven't seen addressed here.  That would be regarding tall beardeds
and how they grow or don't grow in cold climates.  I have been wondering about
it for a long time particularly after watching how they perform over time in
my gardens.  And, I recently received the following questions from a local
club member in my area (Manitoba, Canada) with exactly the same questions.

So, I thought I would post her questions and get mine answered, too.

She writes:
My experience with TBs has been moderately successful over the years.  I say
moderately because what normally happens for me is as follows:

- buy the rhizome
- plant the rhizome
- wait 3 or 4 years to bloom
- enjoy the bloom until the first really hard rain fall
- rhizome never sends off an increase or dies  or.......
- it survives and I wait another 2 or 3 years for bloom...then it dies
- it is the very rare exception that I get any kind of real increase on them
except on the really old guys that are floating around

So my questions are:
1.  What causes increases to happen in Iris (I know how it happens with
lilies)
2.  Do TBs bloom too late for the increase to form and then grow large enough
to form a bloom next year or
3.  Are our summers not hot enough for the rhizome to form in time to be able
to get ready for winter and winter over or
4.  Something else??

Thanks in advance for any light you may be able to shed for us.

BJ in SW MB, Canadian Prairies, Zone 2b CDA/3 USDA

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index