Re: New Subscriber

In a message dated 96-03-20 15:40:20 EST, Julie  writes:

>My name is Julie Greenhill and I am a new subscriber to the list, having
>been lurking here for about a week now.  I love to garden and have about 100
>tall bearded iris in my garden.  Iris are a link to my youth as we had lots
>when I was growing up.  I imagine that is why I am still so attracted to
>them.
>
>I am interested in trying Japanese iris.  Does anyone have much experience
>growing them?  Can anyone recommend a good mailorder source?  Can they be
>grown sucessfully where I live? (Cheyenne, WY)  I have started reading


Hello, Julie, and welcome to the list!   I think you're facing 2 problems
with the Japanese iris.  One is that they'll need more a lot more water than
you get rain; you'd have to water them pretty regularly.  The other is pH.
 I'll bet your soil is alkaline, and that is supposed to be fatal to Japanese
irises.  You'd have to lower the pH to the neutral or acid range with soil
amendments--peat moss, sawdust, aluminum sulphate, or a combination.  They
like a lot of organic matter in the soil, too, and lots of fertilizer.  But
it's worth a try--nothing ventured, nothing gained!

I hesitate to recommend my Eastern JI suppliers, only because of the big
difference in soil types.  

Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden, 608 NW 119th St., Vancouver, WA  98685 (color
catalog $2.00)  has sent me nice bearded iris stock, and they also have
Japanese irises.

Laurie's Garden (Lorena Reid) 41886 McKenzie Hwy., Springfield, OR  97478
(Price list for 1st class stamp) has lots of Japanese to select from.

Good luck!

Dorothy Fingerhood
DFingerhoo@aol.com
Newfield, NY  (former resident of Lander and Thermopolis, and remember those
years fondly!)
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