Re: Re: CULT: Why now?

On May 26, 2007, at 2:22 PM, Linda Mann wrote:

> Hmm.. is that why so many irises hate it here?  I thought it was the 
> erratic moisture and freeze supply <g>

I'm not sure the cause of the stress is all that important.  Since both 
of our gardens are subject to wholesale rot infections, the key would 
seem to be finding irises that can outgrow rot quickly enough to 
survive.
>
> Your climate is normally so much drier than ours, not much overlap of 
> what does well,

That's not necessarily true.  HOM has always been my strongest 
survivor, and so far it's still hanging in there.  IMM is still alive 
and kicking, too, though not as convincingly as HOM.  Very few modern 
TBs are still viable in my garden, and the continuing cool temps will 
undoubtedly strike the death toll for more of them.  So far, though, 
Stairway to Heaven and Wishful Thinking still each have a small fan.  
It looks like Feedback is the only TB out of my approx. 200 (200 last 
fall, that is) that intends to bloom this year.  There are a few more 
TB survivors out there still clinging tentatively to life, but I 
haven't bothered with an inventory yet.  I won't know for sure who will 
be left standing until warm weather settles in for the summer.

I suspect that many of the TBs that do well for you could probably 
survive my conditions, Linda - at least through the winters with 
adequate snow cover and a reasonable winter-spring transition.  
However, I rarely add TBs to my beds anymore.  The dwarf and median 
beardeds are much more successful here as a rule.  All of these new, 
empty holes where once lived TBs in my iris rows will now be filled 
with smaller, stronger beardeds.

> but still look forward to seeing your list of the few extra strong 
> ones.

Stay tuned.  I'll post my list of survivors later this summer.

Laurie


---------------
laurie@lfrazer.com
http://lfrazer.com/
USDA zone 3b, AHS zone 4 - northern Minnesota
normal annual precipitation 26-27"
slightly acid, potassium deficient, clay soil

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index