CULT: peekaboo pee-wees, bloomout?

there has been a lot of talk about rhizome size on this group. seems 
to be a subject that comes back around about once a year <g>.  I'm 
new so I dunno much, but I think that those smaller rhizomes are at 
the very least more entertaining.  

mid july I divided a one year old clump of Beverly Sills and a one 
year old clump of Thornbird and replanted three very small rhizomes 
of each.  Admittedly I held out no hope at all for BS since I had 
heard she was a princess and didn't much care anyway since she's 
pink. Thornbird however, I love, but he had to be moved.  All of 
these puny rhizomes faded fast, BS almost as fast as the WWotW melted 
in Wizard of Oz, Thornbird more slowly.  All of their little leaves 
wilted and fell off one by one. In a week there were no signs of BS 
at all, in two weeks TB looked like he should be on life support.

Mid august I recieved a small rhizome of Green and Gifted, and a 
couple B. Wilkerson things that were also kinda small.  Again, these 
faded, withered wilted.  

But a week or so ago, I dedided to weed the iris bed one more time, 
(it hadn't rained in weeks and I thought that might do me the rest of 
the season) and as I was working over the spot where BS had been, I 
was thinking what I could order to put in that hole.  I was barely 
paying attention, you see, all the irises in that part of the garden 
have the big inch -two inch wide leaves, then just as I am about to 
twist the next victim out of the dirt, something primal within me 
says "why don't you look what you're doing, you're about to pull up 
an iris!"!  Lo! there in my grasp are three teeny tiny little iris 
leaves.  BEVERLY SILLS is ALIVE!!!! and there not three inches away 
is another tiny little BS!

oh well, so BS isn't as easy to kill off as all that, but now, as of 
a few days ago I went to the garden dispairing because from my 
bedroom window TB still looks puny and sad, and alas, G&G is nothing 
more than a wilted clump of leaves a stiff breeze might wipe out.  So 
we'll go and look, since I have to go that way to turn the water on 
for the horses anyway.  Well, no wonder TB looks puny, he's happily 
popping out increases, like three on each of the two surviving 
rhizomes, and those look great. Small but great.  Then over here on 
the far corner, where I planted the long skinny Green and Gifted 
rhizome, I pulled back the sad dead leaves and there are three or 
four small perfect leaves hidden inside, and even better over here, 
all the way down at what was the end of the GG rhizome there is an 
increase, just as happy and perky as his neighbor.

The B Wilkerson babies that I got just sat there, and refused to put 
up any new leaves,  but upon examination they each have like three or 
four new increases.  All but one, that I found in the dirt a 
collapsed shell, which had apparently rotted, and which was one of 
those generous duplications she so kindly shipped. 

Now that's why I like irises.  Even I can't kill them.

Now, however, I am wondering about the energy these rhizomes are 
using up putting up all these happy little increases.  

And as long as y'all are on the subject would someone tell me about 
this bloom out thing?  I had it in my head that that only had to do 
with rebloomers....?

Christian Ky


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