Re: HYB: CULT: stunted stalks

I said:
>>> What I think of as 'the west coast stunted stalk' problem.<<<

And Ellen asked:
<The west coast is loooonnnnnnggggggggg. Do you mean an "Oregon"
problem? I don't see _stunted stalks_ in West Coast irises or Western
irises (west of Mississippi) anymore than those in the Eastern U.S.
.....We don't have that awful heat + humidity summer weather. ....   33
F (1 C) degrees this morning... Ellen / Berlin, NH / Zone 3 = COLD>

Brr - that is cold!

By west coast, I meant west coast, but that's a generalization that
certainly doesn't apply to everything from California to Oregon and
certainly there are eastern bloodlines that are the same.  NIGHT GAME
comes to mind - always consistently tall here.

It's not a heat problem (that's another whole issue) but a freeze, warm
up, freeze problem.  Nice balmy highs in February in the 70s F followed
by near zero overnight temperatures; a week of highs in March in the
80s, followed by low 20s F.  Hybridizers on both coasts don't get to
experience that as often as those of us in the middle of the country, so
they just don't have the opportunity to select for seedlings that don't
stunt under those conditions.  Many of Schreiners' intros that grow well
for me DON'T stunt; the blues are an exception.  Most have trouble.

Disappointing to hear that YAQUINA BLUE has this problem elsewhere - it
sure was tall and pretty for me this spring, but this was an incredibly
good bloom season here.

PACIFIC MIST was always tall for me & if it manages to bloom at all,
pallida has always been tall.   VICTORIA FALLS is consistent also.

If the late freezes are especially bad & late, just about anything will
be damaged, but some genetic lines seem to be much more prone to
stunting from minor weather weather swings than others.  I don't know
which ones they are, but after growing (and killing) a lot of historics,
I know some of the ones they aren't.  SNOW FLURRY, for instance, did
pretty well here.

--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
East Tennessee Iris Society <http://www.korrnet.org/etis>
American Iris Society web site <http://www.irises.org>
talk archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-talk/>
photos archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-photos/>
online R&I <http://www.irisregister.com>

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index