CULT: weather, weeds, & irises
- Subject: CULT: weather, weeds, & irises
- From: Linda Mann l*@volfirst.net
- Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2002 17:40:08 -0400
This has been a wierd growing season for sure - record heat for the
summer, drought approaching the worst we have had, humidity high the
whole time, followed by 7 inches (!) of rain in the last few days and
possibly a lot more by the weekend.
The irises look better than I ever remember seeing them.
I abandoned the weeds during the worst of the summer heat, leaving a
high canopy of foxtail millet that totally took over the 'good' part of
the garden, and a mix of Sida (don't know the common name), lamb's
quarters, quack grass, and a few other nameless weeds between the gravel
rows. When it finally 'cooled' off enough to start wading thru the
weeds to spray Roundup, hand pull, and stomp down, I discovered all
these healthy happy irises underneath the shade of the tall weeds. With
all the rain and cooler temps, they have put on phenomenal new growth
(for here anyway).
Jimmy Burch tells me that the weeds help protect the irises in the
summer - I thought he was just telling me a joke among gardeners who get
chased out of the garden by prospective heat stroke, but now I wonder.
--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
Tennessee Whooping Crane Walkathon:
<http://www.whoopingcranesovertn.org>
American Iris Society web site <http://www.irises.org>
iris-talk/Mallorn archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-talk/>
iris-photos/Mallorn archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-photos/>
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