CULT: The year that was - very long

Hello Folks,

As the year winds down, I thought I'd look back at the year that was.  For
me, it was almost the year that wasn't.  After a mild winter, sufficient
moisture and some weeks of ideal growing weather from early February
throughout the month, by March the iris growth was lush.  New acquisitions
had gotten off to the best beginning I'd ever seen.  Established plantings
looked great.  Arilbreds and early TBs had buds showing and later bloomers
were clearly forming bud fans in the clumps.  Then the weather sent a long
spell of temps in the teens that settled in an stayed for a while.  When it
thawed and brought back beautiful weather, all the lush foliage collapsed.
I was looking at the worst iris damage from a freeze I'd ever seen.  Leaves
and fans were turning to mush everywhere.  I pretty much gave up hope of
seeing much bloom.

But irises will fool you.  For all that I was removing wasted fans for the
next several months - bushel baskets full of lost fans - there still was a
point in time where visitors thought they were seeing a beautiful display of
blooms.  Such is the nature of irises and one reason I'm fond of them.  Even
while many were struggling to just stay alive - and some failed - many still
went on to provide some bloom.  Much of that bloom was not up to par, but
there were exceptions.  I don't know how any managed decent bloom, but some
did.  My standout clump was a historic.  Only one other time have I had a
clump reach the level of bloom and quality it achieved this year and that
was a clump of LEMON CHESS several years ago.  This year, in spite of the
freeze, SHINING WATERS put up stalk after stalk of unblemished bloom.  This
old 1933 edition was so far ahead of anything else there was clearly not
going to be any competition for performance.  Even when high winds broke
branches and battered blooms, it was still a sight to behold.  If only I
could have at least one clump, somewhere, do this every year.

Another highlight for me wasn't to be seen in the yard.  Several years ago I
replanted an old yellow my grandmother grew.  A plant that doesn't really
like to be moved, when left alone for a time it increases rapidly.  As a
result, I was looking a good sized pile of rhizomes to discard.  Healthy
rhizomes.  Seemed such a waste to toss them on the compost pile.  So rather
than do that, I gathered them up and headed out into the middle of the 160
acre pasture and planted them along a creek bed to do what they would.
They've been ignored since.  But during bloom season (they tend to be a late
bloomer), I walked down to see what they were doing.  There in the dried
weeds, new weeds, greenbriars and leaf litter were all these yellow irises
blooming.  Even knowing I'd planted them, their appearance was so unexpected
and out of the context I'm used to seeing irises grown, the whole effect was
stunning.  I don't think they ever looked so good planted in a civilized
circumstances as they did growing like a wild plant among all the debris.
They seem to have adapted pretty well in the pasture locale.  Their sibling
clones didn't bloom at all.

As a group, my first group of seedlings from my own daubing efforts also
went on to do well.  I think it's an iris trick.  The first batch of seeds
will germinate well, grow well, bloom well and have good quality.  This
ensures that the dauber will think it can be done.  So the next bunch of
seeds won't germinate as well, won't grow as well and the bloom quality will
ensure a good compost pile.  Enough to make you quit except the first batch
will be blooming as proof that it can be done.  They will recharge the hope
and you go out daubing again.  It's another means of guaranteeing their
survival.  And for all the fans removed, the first seedlings bloomed and
bloomed beautifully.  I'm the only one who would ever have guessed at what
wasn't there.  I was impressed.  I finally took some of these seedling
stalks to work so I could have 'show and tell' on why I was so often late
during bloom season (daubing, you know).  They were a hit.  So much so I'll
probably make an effort to do it again.  It was nice to see the stalks being
fought over.

It turned out to be a year with some new ones that were notable for color
that their description didn't adequately cover.  For absolutely blinding,
vivid color, try Burseen's LOS COYOTES.  Wear sunglasses.  Another was
Shoop's CHINESE TREASURE.  It didn't sound that bright, but the intensity of
the color moved it way beyond the description.  For a unique shade try
COPPER CYMBAL.  I thought it would be along the lines of TOASTED WATERMELON
or COPPER CLASSIC, but it has intense pink undertones that give life to the
color and result in a shade that is unlike anything else I've grown.

Even before bloom season was finished, though, The Year of Stress had only
begun with the late freeze.  The usual early plague of cutworms was readily
handled by capturing and bringing home as many ugly, black beetles from
work.  They stink, they're unattractive - and they love caterpillars.  What
is unwelcome in the work place proved to be a boon for me.  The cutworms
disappeared at a surprising rate.  I hope the beetles get established here.
A box of them in the pickup cab requires all windows down.  Their
ammonia-like fumes are quite strong.  For some reason, though, they seem to
be town bugs and not out here in the boonies unless I transport them.  They
probably would eat grasshoppers if they could catch them.  I wish, because
that was the rest of the story here this year.  They are normally bad here,
but this year has been extraordinary.  I hope never, never, ever to see them
like they've been this year again.  Whole fans disappeared forever, new
increases were gone almost as soon as they pushed above the soil level.
Ultimately, some clumps were reduced to only a couple of rhizomes.  The rest
were eaten - increases, fan, rhizome and all.  Ordinarily grasshoppers don't
eat below the soil level.  Katydids, but not grasshoppers.  But their
density of numbers was so heavy this year they destroyed a lot of iris.  For
a long time I thought many cultivars had disappeared permanently.   Months
of devouring any attempt at growth should have done that.  Again, though,
the irises have surprised me.  As the chewing began to slow down, the irises
tried to recover.  This was a back and forth effort.  A few cool, damp days
and the grasshoppers would be inactive and the irises would grow.  Warm,
sunny days and that growth would again be devoured.  Even after some
freezing weather, I'm able to find grasshoppers out when it warms up.
Yesterday three of the six-legged hoppers were destroyed as they were found
laying eggs in the iris beds.  But now the irises have long since been able
to grow faster than what is left of the grasshopper population can eat them.
What has happened is an extraordinary number of increases on the damaged
rhizomes.  Some of the clumps look more like clumps of grass than iris.  The
damage seems to have triggered a defense mechanism where the irises are
compensating by more increase than normal.  In terms of iris fans, the
result is that I probably have more juvenile iris fans than I've ever had
before.  That means in terms of numbers of plants I'm probably growing more
iris than I've ever had here before even with the losses - and the losses
were pretty high.  Not as high as it once seemed they would be, though.  I
suspect bloom next spring will be considerably less than it would have been.
Most of that new increase will not make a blooming sized fan by next spring
and too many of what have been blooming fans were the main course at a
grasshopper banquet this summer.  Still, irises being irises, I'll probably
be pleasantly surprised.  Providing, of course, there isn't a couple of more
disasters waiting for them.  The apparent recovery of so many and the
current state of good growth do mean that I'm not looking at nearly as many
replacements as I'd once thought.

Hoping for a better year in 2003.

Donald Eaves
donald@eastland.net
Texas Zone 7b, USA



 

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