Re: SPEC- Pot culture
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: SPEC- Pot culture
- From: B* S* <B*@hsc.edu>
- Date: Thu, 20 Nov 1997 07:52:36 -0700 (MST)
Ian--I might suggest that a lack of light is responsible for the
non-blooming of your Moraea and Dietes plants. These things thrive in full
sun outdoors and if you just have them in a window, they may grow beautiful
foliage but never bloom. Have you tried them outdoors in the summer?
Dietes grandiflora is very marginally hardy here in Virginia--a weak shoot
or two each year survives. It has only bloomed once. I've never tried it
in a container.
Iris japonica and Iris wattii crammed their pots within a year but no
blooms. Japonica has bloomed once in 5 years, outdoors. The foliage is
usually killed to the ground if the temperatures go below 20F (curiously,
the variegated form comes back from this with only about half the new
shoots variegated; the rest have reverted to all-green). Iris wattii does
bloom well, however, planted in the ground in a greenhouse. Stalks appear
in late February and flowers in March. The form I have is pure white, with
incredible frills.
My experience and impression is that most irises do not do well in pot
culture over the long run and definitely do not make it as house-plants.
The tropical and subtropical evansias seem to be exceptions to that rule.
Bill Shear
Department of Biology
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney VA 23943
(804)223-6172
FAX (804)223-6374
email<bills@hsc.edu>
