Re: CULT:Cold in the Confederacy
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: CULT:Cold in the Confederacy
- From: s*@aristotle.net (J. Michael, Celia or Ben Storey)
- Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 13:56:27 -0700 (MST)
Walter writes:
>>Looks like somebody 'ironed' the leaves with a hot iron and
>> scorched them.
>>
Griff replies:
>After three nights in the upper 20s, a lot of center leaves have a
>whitish sheen in the middle and have buckled to the ground.
Checked my irises today (Tuesday) for the first time since our temps
rebounded out of the low 20s. We had three days of official lows in the
20s, followed by lots and lots of rain. In my yard here in the pit of the
valley it was four days including two in the high teens. The evidence is
everywhere. Most of the daylilies sprawl in their beds like so many grass
skirts, although some, the old-fashioned ditch-lilies for instance, aren't
even tip burned.
My few species irises have fared about as well as the LAs, whose conditions
vary. Some have dead white zones or white stripes on their central fronds
only above the point where the leaf emerges from older leaves (VOODOO RITE,
VOODOO QUEEN, WINTERS ENCORE, RHETT), some have dead white and wetness only
in the part of the central frond below where it emerges (SEA WISP, BRYCE
LEIGH), and some appear unharmed (NOBLE MOMENTS, LOVE YA, BUBBLEGUM
BALLERINA, WAKE UP SUSIE, RAPPORT).
WAKE UP SUSIE's central fronds are rippled as though the margins of each
leaf shrank.
I. virginica is not happy, but that may be because it gets pounded under
the rain spout and we've had torrents lately. Strangest to me is the
reaction of I fulva 'Bertha Fabel.' Bertha has lost her central fan
entirely. The poor wet mess came right off in my hand.
I noted the same damage to some unidentified "wild" irises growing in a
swampy section of the park where I jog.
Still no sign of bloom on the well-established cristata across the street.
Leaves are about three inches tall.
Fortunately, a brief cold snap two weeks ago warned me to take extra care
with I nelsonii. We dipped to 27 and the entire clump turned yellow. For
this go-round, I covered it with an upended garbage can and tucked in two
gallons of hot water. Nelsonii looks pretty good, considering its origins.
Green is reclaiming the clump.
The TBs and medians are in fairly good shape, but for an increased
incidence of leaf spot. A few fans are deeply mottled, though. The unnamed
historic TBs Mom and I transplanted from her mother's house in Newport, RI
seem oblivious to the crisis they've survived. I doubt they even noticed.
A few note-worthy observations among non-irises: Amaryllis experimently
left in the ground over winter appear to have survived, even though they
had just awakened from their naps when the cold blew in. I piled leaves
around the big bulb and its two babies. The two babies look best, but the
big bulb doesn't look any worse than the crinum lily, which was in a
similar state of emergence and left completely unprotected.
The old Mr. Lincoln hybrid tea I have mostly ignored for 10 years appears
totally unharmed, its fresh new red foliage as pliable as it was before the
cold snap. This although it stands in an unprotected space near a crape
myrtle. I did protect a Queen Elizabeth and a floribunda in the front of
the house under trash cans. They don't look as good as the independent Mr.
L.
The chickweed, hensbit and escaped grape hyacinths flourish unabated.
celia
storey@aristotle.net
Little Rock, Arkansas, USDA Zone 7b
-----------------------------------
257 feet above sea level,
average rainfall about 50 inches (more than 60" in '97)
average relative humidity (at 6 a.m.) 84%.
moderate winters, hot summers ... but lots of seesaw action in all seasons
