CULT: Grubs...was % of losses

MastrGardn@aol.com wrote:
> 
> I, too, have trouble with varmits eating my TB's.  They seem to like the
> under side of the rhizomes, and often I dont' realize that it has been eaten
> until new growth starts in the spring and that rhizome fails to thrive.  We
> have many moles, but I am told that moles do not eat iris. I would like to
> have suggestions as to what is eating the rhizomes.  This year, as I have
> been cleaning the iris beds, I have found leaves chewed at the outer edges
> about one to two inches above the ground. This is the first that this has
> happened.  What did it?  Do dear like iris leaves?

Dear MG,

If you have identified yourself to the iris-l my apologies for missing
this,h owever I have about 50 messages to wade thru and maybe you are
one of them.  Anyway,  the damage you describe is similar to what I
experienced when I lived in Arizona.  The grubs of a June beetle got so
prevalent one year the garden was infested with them.  They would eat
the roots completely from the rhizome and not being satisified would
continue on with the rhizome.  Of course you could tell that something
was amiss and a gentle tug of the plant would confirm your suspicion.  A
diazinon drench was the cure for them.     

Rick Tasco
Superstition Iris Gardens
Central California
Zone 8
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