spring cleaning
- To: i*@Rt66.com
- Subject: spring cleaning
- From: t*@Lanl.GOV (Tom Tadfor Little)
- Date: Mon, 18 Mar 1996 10:21:09 -0700
This weekend, I cleaned up some of the back garden, where most of the
irises are. Every winter, I lose a few rhizomes to a fuzzy gray rot, which
(judging from Lowell's description) I presume is botrytis. It only gets
about 2% of the plants (invariably TBs), so I just write it off as par
for the course. It shows no preference for "fat west coast rhizomes", but
seems to strike at random, probably according to microconditions of
drainage, temperature, etc.
This spring, however, I was saddened to discover the extent of damage done
by gophers last fall. (They seem to prefer dry soil to moist soil, and I
had neglected watering last October.) Since the critters don't really seem
to have a taste for irises, I didn't worry too much. However, if a rhizome
is in the path of one of their excavations, it gets destroyed (or carried
away?). They got a couple rebloomers, and (alas) Howard Shockey's 'Sheba's
Jewel', which I purchased two years ago as a brand new introduction.
I also noticed a few irises that rotted due to a gopher tunnel beneath
them. Presumably important roots were destroyed, leaving the rhizome
semi-dead and vulnerable to rot.
Those few disappointments aside, though, the back garden looks pretty
good this spring. The pure arils (especially regelias) are doing extremely
well, even those planted in the open garden with no special drainage
control. I'm very happy about this, considering how damp and cold the
backyard is during the winter here.
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Tom Tadfor Little tlittle@lanl.gov -or- telp@Rt66.com
technical writer/editor Los Alamos National Laboratory
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Telperion Productions http://www.rt66.com/~telp/
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