Re: To take off or not to take off!
- To: i*@rt66.com
- Subject: Re: To take off or not to take off!
- From: E* G* <e*@moose.ncia.net>
- Date: Sat, 14 Sep 1996 10:55:19 -0400 (EDT)
On Sat, 14 Sep 1996 Irisborer@aol.com wrote:
> You should wait till around T-giving to cut
> down your foliage...
Since Kim is in Zone 3 (as I am), I can't wait until late Nov.
since we have frozen ground and snow long before then....here in
the Northern mountains, our snow cover doesn't come and go or does
the ground thaw and then freeze, etc.
This is my first year with bearded iris so I cannot offer advice.
Lee D. would be able to give Kim some counsel being from Zone 3 in
Wisconsin and growing TB's for some time.
> that if you mulch too early on your beardless iris,
> critters will burrow around and eat the roots!
I mulch in October with pine needles and have never had any prob-
lems - I mulch everything in the beds...between the plants, near the
rhizomes, etc. If there are companion plants, I mulch them, too.
Nothing is safe from my pine needles...I don't mulch established
peonies or lilacs (which we have plenty - too many).
My intention was to cover all the exposed bearded rhizomes with
about one inch of top soil and then put spruce boughs *around*
the plants and between them. I think I remember correctly from
someone on the list from Zone 3/4 saying this...or I read it
in the CIS info.
Worrying about protecting my irises,
Ellen Gallagher e_galla@moose.ncia.net Zone 3 - NH, USA
