Hortus part 4
- To: i*@rt66.com
- Subject: Hortus part 4
- From: D* S* <d*@roanoke.infi.net>
- Date: Fri, 20 Sep 1996 23:33:03 -0400
Since I'm traveling to Western New York - I thought I'd better finish
this....
Miss Phulla Woe
Phulla Woe is destined to failure. Her trials and tribulations know no
end. They are of monumental proportions. No one has ever had such
infestations of iris borer (And she has them every year!) And the iris
borers who come to Miss Woe's garden are not of the ordinary size or
typical constitution. They are so large that they could easily be
mistaken for boa constrictors. They drink Cygon cocktails for breakfest
and only grow larger. Although Phulla Woe lives on the East Coast where
scorch is virtually unheard of, her garden is periodically beset by this
ravenous disease. Every year's bloom is worst than last year's Rot is
always rampant in her irises. It is a special type of rot that has
escaped from the iris beds and attacked her old oak trees. Fungi and
blights peculiar to Central Asia have somehow made it into Phull's
garden. There are, of course, no cures for these rare diseases.
When one visits Miss Woe's garden it is always immaculately maintained.
Her irises are always grown to perfection. No one has ever seen a trace
of rust on a leaf or a hole in a rhizome. A sickly plant? Not likely.
Every year Phulla Woe wins the Swepstakes Award at the local show, and
her den is wallpapered with the Best Specimen rosettes. Obviously, her
iris diseases and pest are invisible----which makes them even more
difficult to combat. Alas, next year is sure to be even worse.
Last part - tomorrow
Dennis Stonebur.............
