Mixed questions

I am new to this group (Thank you Ellen for getting me on here) and I have a
lot of iris that I would like to
get a handle on. I love iris, all of them, German/bearded - standard
and dwarf, Siberian, Japanese, Dutch (not so much) and more.
The ones I have a question about are the Siberian.
Let me give you a little bit of back ground. I am a garden designer
in Los Angeles but I go to Ohio (N. Canton area) to work at my aunt
and uncle's house (slightly more than 2 acres of old farmland now
converted to residential) every May and September. So, as I'm sure
you can figure out, I never see the bloom on a lot of my plants. A
lot of them may clash where I have them planted but I have no idea.
I do not grow any iris here in L.A. except for a few ('Black Gamecock' - I
think, a dwarf purple labeled as Granny dwarf purple flag, and a blue
bearded German)
I have crappy luck with Siberians. The Louisianas and Japanese
are doing incredibly well. But the Siberians look like they are
barely holding on. They were planted mostly the fall of 2000 or the
Spring of 2001 from deep 5" square pots. Some were 1 gal. but very
few. All are either smaller than when they were planted or the same
size. Mostly they are smaller. Only Caesar's Brother (the one I
really am not so thrilled about and also the only one not to loose
it's label) is doing good. Is there something special they are not
getting? The soil is really good topsoil that is pretty neutral I
think. The bearded iris, Spuria, English, Louisiana, and Japanese
iris are in the same bed and do wonderfully (no they are not all
planted right next to each other, as it is a large waving bed
probably 65' long and maybe 10-12' at it's widest). I know the
Japanese need acid and the bearded need lime. I do know that I dumped
a lot of lime on everything one year (before I knew about Japanese
requirements). Could this have had an effect on the Siberian? I think
it was the year that I dumped that I got the majority of the
Siberians.
Also, I had a few Hugo Rainbow mix planted the fall of '99. They are
now HUGE. When is the best time to divide these? In the spring in May
when I am home before they flower or in September when they are
slowing down getting ready for the winter? These are my only two
options as I am not there ever any other time of the year (except
Christmas and I don't think that would work). They are all growing
into each other and are rather crowded. How often should they be
divided?
Also, I am always looking for new suppliers and a good selection. I
have eyeballed a few catalogs the past couple of years and am ready
to plant some new ones this fall so any commercial growers feel free
to contact me to get my address as I'm looking to buy some. Most that
I have picked out are from Ensata but I could get some more from
elsewhere too.
I do have Iris by Kohlein but I have yet to finish reading it.
I would like to try my hand at some of the more unusual species and
hybrids such as the arials and bucheriana type but I don't know where
to get them. Foliage to me is just as important as the flowers
are and I love variegation.
Well, I think that is enough for now. Sorry to be so verbose and I'm
sure there are typos that I won't catch.

John Ingram
jjingram@adelphia.net
www.floralartistry.org



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Free $5 Love Reading
Risk Free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/3PCXaC/PfREAA/Ey.GAA/2gGylB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

To post to Sibrob: sibrob@yahoogroups.com 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index