new lurker

Hello out there!

I just signed up with the listserv this week.  It is my first unmoderated, 
non-work related listserv, so I will probably just listen in for a while.

I recognize several names on the subscriber list, so just let me say HI 
to Clarence, Dennis, Jim, and Mike.

And here is my 2 cents' worth:  Living in a part of central Virginia hard 
hit by the ice storms of '94 and the blizzards of '96 I am well 
acquainted with the various manifestations of frost damage in iris: 
snakey stalks, short stalks, buds that never mature or that open 
upside-down on necks to weakened to hold them upright, etc.  Not sure I 
realized the 4-fall phenomenon was also related to frost.  I just 
accepted it as something they sometimes did.  I have observed that the 
last buds to open on a stalk are often more likely to be freaks.

	I also learned the hard way about Roundup.  I now use it on only 
the calmest of days to edge the outside border of my beds separated in 
most cases by 2-3 feet of chip mulch from the closest iris clumps.  But I 
no longer use it to control weeds between the rows of iris or around the 
clumps.  It seems to take only the slightest bit of drift or splatter, 
especially in the spring when the plant is starting its growth, to affect 
that year's bloom.  My experience was that the next year's bloom was 
fine.  Live and learn.

Well, having said more that I intended, I will, as Kathy said, go back to 
lurking.

Lois Rose, just an iris lover in central Virginia
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