RE: Utah Stress Test

So, Jeff, how about the TBs, or weren't there any that passed the test?  The 
stresses were about the same here, with the addition of 40-45 MPH winds on 
Memorial Day Monday, the afternoon I had my open house here.  I wanted to add 
that, as your list shows, the MTBs as a class came through the whole mess in 
considerably better shape than all the others.  I'd better get some more...

Barb, in Santa Fe, where the cool part of spring is definitely over.


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From: 	iris-l@rt66.com on behalf of Jeff and Carolyn Walters
Sent: 	Sunday, May 25, 1997 7:24 PM
To: 	Multiple recipients of list
Subject: 	MED: Utah Stress Test

Hi Everyone!
     Mark Cook has turned adversity to advantage by offering us the results
of the "Kentucky Freeze Test" by reporting on cultivars that performed
normally for him in spite of repeated frosts that struck his garden this
spring. In the same spirit I am presenting the results of the Utah Stress
Test (hopefully NOT to become an annual event).

The stress factors involved include an unusually mild winter with repeated
partial thaws (atypical here), cold weather all through April (with hard
frosts on the 11th, 12th, & 13th), changing abruptly to abnormally hot and
dry weather the first half of May. 

The effects include abortive, stunted and/or distorted stalks, abnormal
blossoms with extra and/or missing parts, and abnormal texture in the
blossoms (creping or puckering). A cultivar is judged to have passed the
test if it exhibited none of these abnormalities. The severity of the test
may be gauged by comparing the number of cultivars evaluated with the
number that passed the test.

Here are the award winners (each one to be presented with a T-shirt
emblazoned "STRESSBUSTER"):

MDB (5 cultivars)
  ALPINE LAKE

SDB (18 cultivars)
  RAIN DANCE, SKY AND SNOW

IB (40 cultivars)
  CEE JAY, HELLCAT, MAUI MOONLIGHT, NEW KID, RASPBERRY BLUSH

MTB (10 cultivars)
  AACHEN ELF, JOSEPH'S COAT, PUPPY LOVE, ROSEMARY'S DREAM, TAMMIE'S TUTU

BB (4 cultivars)
  CLASSIC TREASURE

It may be observed that, relatively speaking, the MTBs came through better
than the other classes, and that the cultivars that best stood up to the
stress tended to be among the older ones that I grow.

Jeff Walters in northern Utah  (USDA Zone 4, Sunset Zone 2)
cwalters@cache.net
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