Re: Medians
From: Marte Halleck <MorJHalleck@worldnet.att.net>
Steve Johndro wrote:
>
[snip]
> I'm trying to broaden my assortment
> of irises and would rather know which ones are suitable to colder
> climates. Where I am it get's down to -40...sometimes colder in the
> deepest of the winter. And we get tons of snow.....way too much. So far
> I have siberians, bearded in all heights, japenese irises, and the dutch
> bulbs. Is there any other type of iris that would like my cold
> winters? Thanks and have a great gardening day! Pat in northern
> Maine
Pat, I'm surprised you can grow the bulbous "Dutch" iris in northern
Maine -- they never winter over for me in the Colorado foothills, where
most years we have some nights that get down to -30 or -35F & every year
experience temps of -20 to -25F. Usually, we have good snow cover at the
time, but even this doesn't help as the Dutch iris never reappear.
However, I've become very fond of the tiny I. reticulata & I.
histrioides -- they return & bloom faithfully (in April at my altitude)
& are increasing at a reasonable rate so eventually I'll have even more
of them to enjoy. The bulbs are offered mail order by plenty of sources
now for fall planting & I certainly recommend you try some -- they make
the best impact if you plant at least a couple of dozen quite close
together. I've also scattered many thruout my small areas of lawn grass,
where they flower long before the grass greens up, the elongated,
grassy-looking iris leaves are no detriment & anyway, these die back
before the lawn really needs a haircut.
You might also consider arilbreds -- they're quite cold hardy but don't
do well where there's a lot of rain in mid- to late summer. The ABs that
are only 1/4 aril (& 3/4 TB or median) would be a good place to start.
The 1/4-breds can be grown in the same conditions as TBs, as long as the
drainage is really good.
Marte in the mtns Zone 4/Sunset 1 Colorado
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