Re: CULT - RAISED BEDS
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: CULT - RAISED BEDS
- From: "* A* M* <w*@Ra.MsState.Edu>
- Date: Tue, 25 Mar 1997 06:34:50 -0700 (MST)
On Mon, 24 Mar 1997, rimat wrote:
> I've noticed that more than one person has mentioned planting irises in
> raised beds. Is this a better thing to do than planting directly in the
> ground? I guess it's easier on the back and knees (I am not being
> facetious). But what are the benefits for the irises?
> Rima
> terra@catskill.net
>
Bearded irises demand sharp drainage. Standing water, heat, and
humidity are fatal combinations in MS and TX where I have gardened. Also,
in MS, one must constantly scrape off top-soil when it washes and covers
the rhizome. Rhizomes must be uncovered in MS but slightly covered with
soil in TX to prevent sunscald and what I used to call 'dry rot,' a weird
condition of the rhizome becoming pithy but not soft. Whatever that was
called in TX, the plant died anyway.
Ji's and LA's and some other water loving-species, of course, can flourish
in standing water but do not like to freeze in it. Pseudacorous can grow
six feet tall in S. Louisiana at water's edge, but bearded died. Dick
Goula used to try to grow bearded in pots there but the heat and humidity
were too much for them.
Walter Moores
Enid Lake, MS 7/8
