Spurias in cold, wet East
- Subject: Spurias in cold, wet East
- From: D*@aol.com
- Date: Sun, 3 Mar 96 18:06:06 MST
Mike Lowe asked for folks' experiences with spurias in the East. I put in a
few in fall '94, after going to a Spuria Section meeting at the Portland
convention (which was a riot; I said to myself, "these people are nutty
enough for me to join!"). I had seen some spuria species growing in the
Royal Botanical Gardens near Hamilton, Ontario, earlier, and been impressed
with their simple, feathery beauty. Saw a few more new intros. at Portland
and decided to give it a whirl.
I ordered a few older varieties, not wanting to risk a lot of $. I got
Vintage Year, Now This, Belise (which has a reputation for succeeding in
various conditions), and Ping. I also received Wyoming Cowboys as an
incentive for joining the Spuria section. As of fall '95, Wyoming Cowboys
had actually bloomed (!) , Belise looks good, multiplying well, Ping is dead,
and Vintage Year and Now This are somewhere in between. That is, there, but
not doing that well.
I had meant to get a few more last year, but ran out ot time, energy, and
garden space. Our soil is neutral to slightly acid, so I''ve been putting
some lime (and fertilizer) around them. Last year at York, Dave Niswonger
commented that he thought the more organic material in the soil, the less
important pH was. Unfortunately, organic material is in short supply in our
gravelly "soil." We are, in fact, surrounded by gravel pits on 2 sides.
To sum up, they are mostly surviving, but not too well. I don't believe cold
is the primary problem, though. I think mostly they're unhappy with the lack
of fertility.
FWIW
Dorothy Fingerhood
Newfield, NY
Zone 4/5
