Re: REB: leaf blades per fan

The thing to check is how many rebloom children they have . The reliabilty of Rosalie Figge here is quite good. Double shot isn't reliable. Only occasionally. Cantina is reliable whren it grows well, but hasn't grown well here in past few years yet rebloomed earlier this year.
Renascent is in bloom right now. Extremly tall, about 43" and with a straight up showstalk. 10 mature leaves. So it doesn't seem to be MLC (mature leaf count) correlated with height.
When using something with a high mature leaf count, then it would need to be crossed with something with a low leaf count. For number of rebloom offspring it would still be my guess that parents with lower MLC would produce more rebloom children. I'm going to checklist to check some data. 

Chuck Chapman

Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:29:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: Robin Shadlow <rshadlow@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [iris] Re: REB: leaf blades per fan

I did go out and check more today.  Counting green and dead, Double Shot
ranged from 12-15.
Queen Dorothy had 12.  Bountiful Harvest was at 12 as well.

I have reservations about leaf count as an indicator of the quality of a
rebloomer as a parent. This is based on the fact that while Rosalie Figge may require more leaf production- she regularly pulls it off here (spring, well not always.... but I have yet to have a fall without at least one stalk of Rosalie Figge) Double Shot too has been very reliable. I wonder if the need 
for the larger trigger size of RF and DS has anything to do with their
height. They both bloom on substantially taller fall stalks here than most 
rebloomers.  Both increase rapidly here as well.
With any luck Violet Miracle and Earl of Essex may rebloom this year so I can check leaf counts. They are statistically among the best parents for rebloom 
in colder zones.
Cooler nights appear to be the strongest indicator of rebloom here. Even with Immortality, we get very little rebloom in summer. Nights generally are not cool enough until late August here. Mike Lockatell has commented to me that soil temperatures may be related and equally important as night temps. This 
does make sense.
I also wonder if the span of time that the irises are forced into dormancy by 
high temps/drought doesn't also have a significant effect.
But until we figure it out - I do watch for new stalks with great enthusiasm 
every day!

Robin Shadlow
zone 5 NE

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