Re: iris heights and the erratic weather zone

tom - i have noticed several things about heights of tb's.  the ones in my
garden are shortened by both late cold spells and unusually dry weather.  but
once again, IT DEPENDS ON THE VARIETY, as well as what part of its growth its
in.

i have some varities that always are about the same height no matter what the
weather.  others have had blooms about 2 to  6 inches off the ground (LAKE
PLACID, JESSE'S SONG to name a couple that are supposed to know better). This
is tall?  in fact, JESSE'S SONG is so sensitive to cold, i was ready to
compost it or at least dump it at our rhizome sale, until we had a spring
with weather a little more uniform (a RARE occurrance here), and i got to see
how spectacular it can be.

BUT this seems to result from temperatures jumping up and down very rapidly,
so some varieties of  the poor plants just can't cope.  unlike rot
sensitivity, i have NOT seen a trend for varieties developed in particular
climates to have this trait.  it seems to be a response to weather in march,
two months before bloom.  i don't know when flower stalk primordia get
started, and maybe that varies among varieties also, but i suspect there is a
fairly short period of time during the 'foetus' stage of bloomstalk formation
when some varieties are very sensitive. 

i also suspect that my gravelly soil warms and cools more rapidly than a
heavier soil would, which probably aggravates this response.  the poor plants
think spring is finally here.

the other condition that causes short stalks here is no rain in may, which is
often our driest month.  i do not irrigate, and suspect i would have even
more rot if i did.  i have a small, not very vigorous patch of SUPREME SULTAN
which has only bloomed once for me- it had stalks about 2 ft tall with the
cutest little flowers, much smaller than a typical tb bloom - no more than 4
inches top to bottom.  it was a very hot dry may.

as for heights reported by hybridizers, i find that mine are generally
several inches shorter and that they are taller than mine in other people's
local gardens where iris are in general happier than they are at my house.
 they also seem to grow taller in other yards where they are somewhat
sheltered (protected from some hot afternoon sun and wind).  when i order, i
always ask for talll tall, expecting to get 30 inch stalks from a 40 inch tb.
 shortnesst does not come from I. pallida - it is usually well over 3 ft tall
here, if the wierd weather lets it bloom at all.

most of the iris introduced in the wet zone seem to be described as <= 34
inches tall, which, with the shortness i get,  would be way too short for my
taste.

there is another discussion about bloom reliability (complete absence of
bloom) in the erratic weather zone and varieties.....

linda mann e tenn usa
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