Re: CULT: Iris attrition
- To:
- Subject: Re: [iris-talk] CULT: Iris attrition
- From: D* E*
- Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 20:38:09 -0600
From: "Donald Eaves" <donald@eastland.net>
Kathy says:
>
>If you mean the willful removal of an iris you once loved and who has done
>you no harm, this just does not compute.
>
Not a chance! But the original plan was to acquire, and then evaluate based
on performance, preference, strength and reliability and cull most (note I'm
hedging here) of those that didn't measure up (so to make room for more to
try, natch) and to give those that succeed more space in which to strut
their stuff, so to speak. Certainly willful, but presumably with just
cause.
The problem is I tend nearly always to blame my own cultivation practices
if one doesn't/hasn't performed up to snuff. So I get caught making
excuses,
tinkering with growing conditions, adjusting locations etc. trying to make
conditions such that the sad plant will be happy and suddenly reward me
with all the above requirements. Occasionally this even works, which
causes me to expend a lot of time trying to figure out what it takes to
make the others happy (I've heard rumors that some marriages work like
this, but I wouldn't know, not ever having tried). In the meantime, in the
recesses of my often dim mind lurks the thought that I could have been
growing a happy, rewarding iris in the space I'm giving to a malingerer
and thus am being cheated of a wealth of bloom (provided EVERY rain
cloud isn't a hail storm) by working with those of a less than congenial
disposition.
The absurdity of it all is that my growing conditions vary from one extreme
to another, so it is likely foolishness to attempt any adjustments. And
why is one iris a productive, happy plant while its next door neighbor just
sits and sulks?
Which leaves the only sure way to make the attrition list - a bloom I don't
care for on a weak plant. That one is easy (and pretty rare), the rest are
more problematical.
I should also state here that I have different expectations of performance
based on iris type. I don't expect the arilbreds to perform the same as
a TB, nor the LAs to operate on the same wavelength as the SPUs. I
also make an attempt to calculate in the vagaries of our weather (insofar
as that is possible - not much). But I absolutely hate it when one takes
it on itself to rid me of its presence. I have every expectation of life
when
I plant a cultivar. That has cost me several dollars, of course, replacing
expired plants and trying again. Unfortunately, again there has been
just enough success to cause me to repeat my follies over and over.
Donald Eaves
donald@eastland.net
Texas Zone 7 - an area where one must maintain some sense of humor
or give up gardening altogether.
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