Re: RE: CULT: Central Indiana Rebloomer Culture

Mary Lou -- You can't beat 6-24-24. Unfortunately, we can't get it in this part of the country, and having it shipped from the midwest is prohibitively expensive. So, I have to approximate it by mixing my own ingredients. I must be getting it pretty close to right, because the irises are flourishing. It's sort of like my favorite chili flavoring, Mexene. You can't get it here, either. Andy Jacobs kept me supplied while he was in Congress by popping a case in his car, but I never asked him to haul fertilizer -- even when gas prices were reasonable!

George Sutton recommends feeding your rebloomers again immediately after blooming. Some object that while that may work in California, it might cause rot problems elsewhere. But if you're not getting rebloom, I think it would be worth trying.

I wouldn't think that you'd need to lime your beds in central Indiana.

Letting us know the timing of your re-setting of rebloomers is very elpful. -- Griff

zone 7 in Virginia


----- Original Message ----- From: "Mary Swann-Young" <MryL1@msn.com>
To: "iris" <iris@hort.net>
Sent: Friday, May 12, 2006 12:00 AM
Subject: [iris] RE: CULT: Central Indiana Rebloomer Culture


I can only speak for my own garden:

Virtually everything I grow is reported to rebloom somewhere. As much as
possible, I treat them all alike.
They all get a more or less equal shot at rebloom. Some years the weather is
much more conducive, as
it was in 2004. I currently grow about 350 named varieties.

I've added quite a bit of aged mushroom compost to my clay, so the rhizomes
sort of nestle in the ground, rather
than sit on top. Good tilth makes for a good root system. I think it also
provides a little insulation from the
sudden and dramatic temperature fluctuations in the winter.

Around April 1 and June 15, they all get a side dressing of 6-24-24.

If mother nature doesn't cooperate, I try to give them all a good soaking
every 10 days or so over the summer.
Ones with open foliage, more apt to catch and hold water, get watered by
laying the hose on the ground. I've
heard so many horror stories of summer rot, and it's so humid here that the
local joke is you have to grow gills to
breathe. Many days with humidity over 90%. In 2005, I got busy with other
things and didn't water. The
result was they all just sat there until rains came in mid-September, and many
were unable to get the job done
before killing frost, typically mid-November. Sarah's Laughter was the only
case of summer rot I've had.

I do believe it's a good idea to patrol for frozen stalks after the season
ends and cut them out to prevent rot
from forming by spring. I also believe the rot is more prevalent among new
arrivals, which have not had time to
acclimate to Indiana winters. I did not cut any of the frozen stalks out last
fall. The only rot this spring was
one out of about 30 Feedback and 2 out of about 30 Luminosity. These
cultivars are growing next to each other.
I just scooped the rot out with my finger and washed my hands with soap
containing Triclosan before touching any
others. All three dried up on their own during dry weather. If it had been wet
weather, I would have put soap on them.

I did lime my beds in 2003, but could see no difference, so have not done it
again.

Dividing and resetting rebloomers gets done ASAP after spring bloom, to allow
as much time as possible for them to
recuperate. Ones to be reset go immediately, with as much root as I can get,
into water, until they can be planted.
If I accidentally get water up in the fan, they get turned upside down and
shaken vigorously before planted. Track
history with this is rebloom delayed about 2 weeks vs same cultivar not dug.
Replanting where iris have grown before,
the soil gets "refreshed" with more compost and a sprinkling of 6-24-24.

Mary Lou, near Indianapolis, Z5.

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