Re: CULT: southern challenges - Lady Friend?

I said:
>LADY FRIEND has been erratic here - it usually tries to grow and bloom
but seems more sensitive than average to our late killing freezes and
subsequent rot.  I mean to say, it is more likely to rot than most after
a late damaging freeze.>

And Donald Eaves in Texas replied:
< Odd.  LADY FRIEND has been one of the more resistant to freeze damage
here. ...I would consider it one of the more dependable iris plants
 I grow in terms of general health and bloom production.  ...is one of
the really rare ones that gets  near the registered height.  I'm much
drier here.  Could that be the cause of the difference?  Obviously that
probably helps on the rot, but how might
  it be a benefit on the rest of the story? >

Yes, I think that moisture is a big part of the story, as Bill Shear
mentioned earlier.  There is another factor here in my garden that
aggravates the situation.  In addition to being in a general area
subject to late freezes AND in a frost pocket AND at the base of the
north side of a 'mountain' that blocks the sun till 10 AM, the soil here
is rich, gravelly loam.

Rich in this case means naturally high in organic matter and nutrients
(it's a colluvial fan = big pile of rocks & sediment that washed out of
the hills behind my house during the Pleistocene).  That, combined with
the gravel, means that every drop of rain is available for growth - sort
of like hydroponic culture.  Plus the gravel means the soil warms up
faster (mostly because it is drier - heat transfer etc), tho that may
not be a big enough difference to matter.

The moisture and nutrient availability that goes along with it are a big
deal here tho.  Think about how much water it takes to soak a potful of
clay, garden soil, potting soil versus how little it takes to wet down
sand or pea gravel.  Then think about soaking it all with Vigoro or some
other nutrient solution.  This is great for growing lush foliage :->(
And great for stressing plants between rain events :->(

I'm sure there is some optimal fertilization that would minimize the
problem, but I've not gotten that far & I don't want to irrigate.  I
have found that if I don't use ANY nitrogen fertilizer, I get very
little bloom in most cultivars, plus little growth, presumably because
the nitrogen gets sloshed out by our normal high rainfall.  A
time-released, low nitrogen fertilizer would probably work best.

Well, that's a lot of blathering on - hope that answers your question
<G>

<Based on what it does here, it's definitely one I recommend to
beginners and have given a couple of rhizomes  to others because it does
so well.>

Same here - the first iris show I ever attended (remember Betty <g>)
(Lebanon Tennessee) was after one horrendous spring freeze season.   Of
the modern irises, there were more stalks of LADY FRIEND than anything.
In fact, it was nearly the only modern TB there - lovely perfect
blooms.  I was sure I had found a real winner for my usual killer
freezes.  Oh well.

Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
where the recent rains and warmth have triggered lovely lush growth in
the irises - fans of some are almost a foot tall.  Not good.....



 

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