Re: Re: HYB: substance & rain (wind)

Interesting subject.  Rain is rarely an issue with Iris flowers here (it
happens, occasionally), but wind is.  Either way, it is interesting to see
what weather can do to a flower.  I have not really kept track of which
cultivar did best in the wind, but I've noticed that some thin textured
ones are not bothered at all, they just go with the wind, and it doesn't
hurt them at all.  Others get trashed, but it's not from mechanical damage.
Instead they seem to be dehydrating and become speckled or streaked with
translucent to transparent patches.  Some of the stiff ones take quite a
wind to destroy, but others are very brittle and break into little bits.
Of course the wind is often strong enough that there is no Iris flower that
can stand up to it, and routinely I do not get to see pristine flowers of
some cultivars for several years.

Stalks are important in this too.  The ones with flexible slender strong
stalks are the ones that handle the wind best.  I. pallida stalks almost
never break.  The thick rigid stalks of many TB hybrids often snap (usually
when about half grown), and the thin ones that tend to be brittle often
snap or kink as well.


Dave

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