Re: HYB: WAS I. aphylla, winter deciduous, Schreiner's; NOW Losing , Leaves in the Summer



On Fri, 27 Mar 1998, Linda Mann wrote:

   I think Lloyd Zurbrigg said that these also
> lose their leaves in hot dry summer weather.  I asked if others had
> noticed this growth habit in irises other than the ones I had.  I got
> little response, but based on those who did respond, there don't seem to
> be very many around.  Lloyd said he thought this growth trait comes from
> I. variegata, which we have heard on the list tends to produce cultivars
> that don't do well on the west coast.
> 
> Rick Tasco (California) tells me that he has noticed this growth habit
> in several Schreiner introductions.  Lowell Baumunk (Colorado) tells me
> that the only bearded irises he has that have this growth habit are I.
> aphylla cultivars.  
> 
	I am responding to that part of the above post that mentions
losing leaves in a hot dry summer.  Does this mean dormancy or 'dieback?'
I am not familiar with any bearded variety that loses all of its leaves in
a hot dry summer other than the higher percentage arilbreds, which is
natural.  

	I remember the awful summer of 1980 when the temperatures
skyrocketed to 112o in the D/FW area.  There were about sixty days in a
row with temperatures in excess of 100o and without rainfall.  Some of the
bearded fans bleached white but did not lose their leaves completely.  Of
course, in the natural order of things, there is always a dead leaf or two
in a clump, but I have never seen a bearded clump defoliate in the summer 
without having some disease cause it.

	Walter Moores
	Enid Lake, MS 7/8
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