OT-BIO ...PCN SUCCESS STORIES, ANYONE?

From: "Clemens, Robert" <rclemens@sss.sungard.com>

I am new to this mailing list after 4 years of sometimes successful iris
growing with a primary interest in beardless iris and bulbous iris . I give
some attention to IB's , MTB's, and BB's and pay little attention to a few
tall bearded iris I grow. 
I am going into my second year on several JI cultivars, Iris Missouriensis
(a species I am anxious to view), Iris Forrestii, Iris Douglasiana and a
couple of Iris Versicolor Hybrids. I've also tried a few Sino-Siberians and
Cal-Sibes beginning this year with the hopes one will make it through the
winter and adapt. 
I also have several cultivars of dwarf reticulatas, some English Iris, and
some Dutch Iris (Silvery Beauty is a particular favorite and I am anxious to
see if I can somehow perennialize it ). 
I have been happily surprised to see I CAN grow the Japanese with success
and with some fussing but the kind of fussing I don't mind. The myth is that
JI's require SO MUCH but I beg to differ. I have found very few pests on my
4 year old plants (of which I don't know the cultivar because it was my
first Iris period as part of a mix. You have to start somewhere!) and
because of common summer droughts in this particular pocket of Pennsylvania
near Philadelphia, I have to water regardless of what I plant.  I have also
found an electric leaf-blower to be invaluable in chopping leaves for
compost which I use as a winter mulch for any of my moisture loving Iris. 
If I can grow Japanese Iris in a conducive climate with minimal maintenance
(no more than MOST garden plants), anyone can who lives in a conducive
climate to JI's. They are very winter hardy here in Zone 6 and have survived
a Zone 5 type winter (freezing and thawing and blizzard conditions) and as
long as you have reasonably rainy spring weather, anyone can grow JI'S
reasonably well.

I particularly love PCN's and believe I may have a climate outside the
Northwest Coastal Range where PCN's could survive. I primarily would like to
know anyone's story who has had success with PCN's, Sino-Siberians, or
Cal-Sibes living outside their native area especially anyone in Zone 5-7 and
anyone that has successfully grown and perennialized PCN's from seed. 

Regards,
Robert
West Chester , Pa.  USDA ZONE 6, top of hilly area 5 minutes from Longwood
Gardens.  Area does not have atypical winters or summers, they frequently
vary but we are prone to freezing temperatures in day in winter and down to
0-10 degrees at night during colder winters and very prone to prolonged dry
spells to droughts from mid June to mid September.

Primary Interest (presently!) - JI, Species, Bulbous with some in SIBs and
LAs

I am also interested in talking to anyone in the Philadelphia area
particularly interested in beardless iris and not necessarily interested in
local iris society . 

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