Re: Cult: Killing iris in the Cold
- Subject: Re: [iris-talk] Cult: Killing iris in the Cold
- From: l*
- Date: Thu, 11 Oct 01 15:13:29 -0600
>It sounds like what you all are saying is that the heaving is the
>thing that kills an iris that is planted too late in the Fall.
In my experience, heaving is only a very small factor is killing late
planted irises, though if they are heaved entirely out of the ground, it
certainly doesn't do them much good.
>Are late planted rhizomes more suspicious to winter rot?
In my garden, definitely. Late planted rhizomes are extremely
susceptible to rot, either over the winter or the following spring. In
either event, they will most likely be dead before they have a chance to
bloom. Even if they don't rot, their growth is so stagnated by the lack
of pre-winter root growth that they take a full year or more to recover
(assuming they live that long).
>What I'd like to find out is: is it the heaving, winter rot, or just
>plain freezing a freshly planted vulnerable rhizome what would cause
>it to die??
I don't know, and in my case there were a number of other contributing
factors as well. The year I had a huge percentage of losses was also the
year I planted my TBs very late in the season in raised but inadequately
amended clay beds (amended with horse manure right up against the
rhizomes, no less). There were all sorts of reasons for those rhizomes
to rot, but I do believe late planting was the primary factor. That fall
I planted (in the same bed) about 60 TBs from MI at the end of August,
about 15 from southern MN in mid-Sept, and about 15 more from OK in
mid-late Oct. The bed was in a protected area, and I mulched it with
spruce boughs topped with straw which I removed in early spring before
active growth began. The next spring, 20-30% of the MI plants rotted and
died, approximately 50% of the MN plants did the same, and 80-90% of the
OK rzs followed suit. Only one or two of those rhizomes actually heaved
out of the ground. The others just rotted and died in place. It was a
hard-learned lesson, but I no longer plant irises up here later than
mid-August (preferably getting everything into the ground no later than
the end of July). With such early planting, I no longer suffer any
significant losses to winter/spring rot.
>If one is faced with this dilemma, and had to plant something in the
>late fall, what would give it the best chance of survival??
In my climate (or at least in my garden), late planting is a near-certain
death sentence.
Best of luck,
Laurie
-----------------
laurief@paulbunyan.net
http://www.geocities.com/lfandjg/
zone 3b northern MN - clay soil
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