Re: Notes from Keppel's Seminar

Greer Holland reported:

:  found in colder areas of Europe.  They are winter
:  dormant and summer growers.  
<snip>
:  from places like Syria and Italy.  These irises come from places where
:  there are mild winters and dry summers.  They go dormant in the dry
:  summer and grow in the winter, BUT they have much bigger flowers.
:  Some breeding breakthroughs allowed the dips and tets to get together
:  and form the basis of today's modern TBs.  So we have genes that want to
:  go dormant in winter and genes that want to grow in winter.  And we have
:  genes that want to go dormant in summer and genes that want to grow in
:  the summer.  All in the same modern hybrid!  Natural selection has been
:  bypassed.  

It seems to me that some of our modern TBs have the ability to go summer or
winter dormant when conditions warrant -- but it's not automatic.  Genes that
mandate winter dormancy and summer growth  are lethal here, as are genes that
mandate winter growth and summer dormancy.  Here, the best performers are those
that remain green-dormant through the winter and keep growing through the summer
if provided with shadecloth.  STERLING MISTRESS is a good example -- it even
managed to stay green through a mild summer without shadecloth.. 

It appears to me that some rebloomers may simply be varieties that no longer
carry the need for either summer or winter dormancy.  (I do hope Lloyd will jump
in here with an expert opinion).  STERLING MISTRESS isn't registered as a
rebloomer, but I'd be interested in knowing whether it has rebloomed for anyone
on the list.

Sharon McAllister (73372.1745@compuserve.com)
Hardly a TB expert, with less than 100 TBs surrounded by thousands of arilbreds
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