Ensata responds to March 2 ?'s
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Ensata responds to March 2 ?'s
- From: E*@aol.com
- Date: Tue, 4 Mar 1997 05:16:08 -0700 (MST)
Harry.....yes we ship to Florida. Have not heard of Japanese iris growing
south of Tampa & Orlando (heard they grow some at Epcot Center). October
planting would be advised...in organic acid soil (good luck in Fla.!).
Finding someone to water them all summer in Hot Florida while you are back
in Ohio....the biggest problem others have had who have tried them there.
Heather.....pot culture of JI on the patio. JI and Sib are killed at about 0
to 10 degrees F if left in pots above ground. We think its freeze-drying.?
They both do well in the garden down to -30F/ -35C....but then we don't know
what the soil temp was at that time! One has to sink (plant) pot and plant
in the ground for winter.
HE......for He who asked how to get free iris! He, who gave away iris so
frivolously in the spirit of friendly iris relations that he even gave away
Suky! He drained The Iris Pond of precious stock. Yeh, now HE wants some
free iris!
Niki.....Japanese iris like to have a little more water than Siberians. A
culture sheet will be in the snail mail to you soon in the catalog. The
Society for Japanese Irises will send one the same culture sheet (along with
an invitation to join ($3.50 !) for the asking....right here on the
iris-l....Bob Bauer,here at Ensata is the membership chair!
Karen.....rebloom JI? Currier McEwen in Maine has been working on this. NOT
iris for cold climate, but rebloom is best where the weather is cool (below
85F/30C) during the bloom season. His garden is on a bluff on the
coast...cool breezes!
John, in Vernon BC....so nice to read that someone else understands cold
hardiness and spring losses. We don't lose iris to -30F winters, it is
during mild winters with thawing and freezing....especially spring. The main
reason for mulching....once plants are cold and dormant, keep them cold and
dormant until spring really arrives.
Vernon in Georgia....Japanese iris will pout and turn yellow with just a
little lime! Lime is calcium carbonate. Lime raises the pH. We do not
believe that it is the calcium that harms JI, but the pH above 7. All plants
need calcium and JI (we think) use a lot of it. So, we did a test plot in
one row of the same cultivar by adding Gypsum to one area. Gypsum is calcium
sulfate which does not change the pH.
The area tested grew JI just as fine as the rest of the row. We are
convinced that calcium does not harm JI. Max Steiger was reported to be
working on calcium resistant JI (agree with Bill Shear) not on alkaline
resistant hybrids as misstated by Dorothy. Nothing came of it. And we have
read that Steiger's work may have been a hoax. Each year that we have to
irrigate heavy with our well water, that is pH 7.5 due to calcium carbonate,
we have to lower the soil pH by sprinkling iron sulfate on the beds.
Otherwise, the iris set there and sulk. pH above 7 ties up the iron and
nitrogen that JI need and thrive on.
Enough is enough for one letter. Say good-night John. Good Night John
Coble.
at Ensata@aol.com near Kalamazoo, Michigan Zone 5.
