Re: Hardy foliage, soil

  Robert T.  Bummer! to have all your iris rot.  After all the discussion on
this robin I realize my TBs are in the wrong spot.  I have them in
relatively heavy soil and I do have a large area of delicious light sandier
soil that would be better.  Wouldn't you know it?  That's where I have the
Siberians and Japanese.  WHOA!  musical chairs time!

Carolyn talks about soil and there is truth there.  I grew up on a farm and
one of our firlds had a ravine with what should have been RICH black bottom
soil.  Unfortunately, we plowed this every year at the same time as the
higher, loamier soil.  The result.  BRICKS and nothing much could grow... We
succeeded in destroying the soil structure every year in that area by
working it too early, too wet.

I spoke about my early spring snows and The TBS.  The snow was on them for
48 hours.

More than half show some damage but it is minor, just a little browning of
the tips of leaves.

3 turned to mush.  If you know evergreen daylilies, you know what I mean.
The leaves just dissolved into slime, almost down to the rhizome, in one
case, down to the rhizome.  Their foliage acted very differently than the
others.  For what it's worth they were (are):

HILLTOP VIEW
JESSE'S SONG
ORANGE CELEBRITY

In each case, they were not killed, they will recover, but I suspect ORANGE
CELEBRITY will not bloom this year because of this.

Several iris showed absolutely no damage.  And I was pretty picky here.  I
mean no yellowing, looks like mothing happened.  They were:

PAINTED PICTURES
PALLIDA VARIEGATA
BLUE STACCATO
CONGRATULATIONS
OLYMPIC PINK
EDITH WOLFORD
MAGIC HOPE
FEMINIST
ACCLAMATION
WAR SAILS
LORILEE
BEYOND
TIDES IN
RIVER HAWK

All the rest showed minor minor damage.  Iris are tough!

I don't have many Dwarfs but they just laughed.  Ha Ha Ha

This is only one set of observations, for what it's worth.

I planted Siberian BUTTER & SUGAR  and Iris versicolor yesterday.  Weather
here cool and springlike.

Lee DeJongh in Rhinelander WI  zone 3 (45 below was a once in a lifetime, I
hope, occurrence)  region 8
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