TB:RE:garden status

Don't know if a multiple tag (above) works.  Double Click is finally finished; I broke off the last flower just before it opened because the edges were badly sunburned.  Oddly enough, despite weeks of weather playing tag with the century mark (though today it was finally overcast and 80), none of the other 20 or so buds were damaged.  Byers' legacy is obvious; a few of my older flowers are blooming (Stingray, Eggnog, Floorshow).  Also Best Bet, Yaquina Blue, and Mabel Andrews.

Lots of rot this year (thanks to the heat); maybe I need to cut back the watering.  Most affected are Bursting Bubbles, Different Design, Afternoon Delight, Moonlit Theater, Crowned Heads, Noble Contessa, Ethereal Voices, Poem of Ecstasy, and Heartbreak Hotel.  All in one bed; I cut back the sprinkler setting today.  I use heads that have a dozen or so "finger-streams" in about a 3-foot circle.  Minimizes the overhead spray effect.  In 90+ weather, standing water in the outer leaf pockets seems to promote rot.  Also I put out the Bayer fertilizer with systemic insecticide; only saw a few ants/aphids but prophylactic treatments are good too, and anyway I hadn't fertilized in a while.  Also found some flakes in the garage that were apparently earwig/sowbug poison bait I don't remember buying.  Well, if it still has any potency maybe the damn sowbugs will eat it instead of my iris.  They're still gnawing into the fans.  Normally the rot finishes the job, but they have eaten right through a couple of rhizomes!

Lord of Letters (Blyth 200/2001) had bloomed out for me, although 2 or 3 small hard (bloomed) rhizomes remained with no leaves or increase.  Last week when I regraded the bed, I left them in the ground (they were slightly above flush) and buried them under 1-2 inches of dirt.  I soaked the area heavily to resettle the dirt in the sprinkler trenches.  Today, a sowbug-chewed leaf was sticking out about an inch.  Nice to see it revive (must be a dormant increase), though I like the sibling Painted From Memory better.  For me the color was cleaner, the substance was better, the stalks were much better, and the overall vigor was better.  In the catalog photos I liked LoL better, sure glad I broke down and ordered both.

Hope I haven't bored anyone,
John Reeds, southern California 9bGet more from the Web.  FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com


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