Re: Siberians & tall beardeds

In a message dated 11/1/02 5:27:02 PM Eastern Standard Time, Meum71@aol.com 
writes:


> <<<<<<<You need to see the plant 
>  first as any number of Siberian irises are sold with these two names.
> 
> must be some grower(s) are sell plants raised from seed as the parent 
> plant, 
> makes it difficult.>>>>>>>


Yes, Paul, that would be the major cause I believe.   There are the millions 
of Dutch plants shipped into this country and most of our growers do insist 
they are seed propagated.  

> 
> <<<<<Claire are you growing any of the reblooming types and are they "good">
> >>>
> 
> No reblooming in zone 4.  If you would get one that might do it, it would 
> not be every year.  The rebloom that I have seen achieved here is sparse 
> and hardly worth the trouble.  The plants grown in the west are where the 
> rebloom is more likely but then I have never seen a reblooming iris that 
> looks like a June plant.  TB's are not popular apart from true iris fans as 
> east of Missisippi they are destroyed by the famed iris borer.  One more 
> insect pest along with the Japanese beetle that makes decisions for Eastern 
> gardeners.

<<<<<> iris I like good foliage as much as the flowers maybe even more so 
> considering the limited space I have.  If a plant does not look good while 
> not in bloom -- it loses a lot of points with me and I do not like plants 
> that bloom all the time ether>>>>>


I am truly glad to hear you say that.  It takes a while to appreciate foliage 
as well as bloom.  Try Iris pallida dalmatica.  There are nice flowers which 
are branched and give a long season.  Several sizes and forms of this plant 
seem to be around but the foliage is icy blue green, healthy and strong.  It 
is as good a foliage plant as any and withstands the iris borer though it is 
infected same as the hybrid TB's.   A clump of this plant, the tall form with 
wide leaves, is very decorative, a favorite of mine.  You can buy them, again 
asking for a proper description of what you get.  Here in upstate New York, 
you are likely to find some in an old garden or from another gardener. Bear 
in mind that all bearded iris need drainage to grow well.

A short comment on TB's is that the older hybrids are diploid and the newer 
triploid.  There is a date, in the fifties sometime when breeders added 
Mediterranean plants to the mix and made the TB range less hardy and far more 
susceptible to disease and borers.  I have an old yellow, name forgotten this 
moment, that is common around my part of the country.  It is strong and 
flowers well despite borer damage. The newer hybrids need to be treated with 
all kinds of chemicals to stay alive.  The new hybrids are very beautiful 
with huge flowers in all colors but do not last past the first season here 
without the Cygon treatment.  So the old yellows are planted in masses in dry 
poor soil and are happy growing that way.  No beareded iris will make it wet 
soil, the Siberian will.

My comment on Siberian 'Orville Fay' should have added that it is a triploid 
and therefore a very strong plant.  The good foliage may just be the result 
of good breeding.

I cannot agree more with any perennial comment than Paul's.  There has to be 
some very good reason to keep a plant that turns brown and leaves holes all 
around the border for most of our too short season.

Claire Peplowski
NYS z4

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