Re: what's wrong in my sib-JI bed?
- Subject: Re: [sibrob] what's wrong in my sib-JI bed?
- From: e*@aol.com
- Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 14:30:05 EDT
In a message dated 5/26/02 2:10:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
ellengalla@yahoo.com writes:
<< I do agree with most of even these _but_ my soil in this new place (3.5
yrs.) has got me
pulling my frizzy hair out (maybe not such a bad idea ;-). It is loaded with
calcium and
has a very high magnesium content as well as a high phosphorus level. To
wit, it was
tested to have 2280 ppm (Ca) which was cited as Very High, etc. The others
are almost as
bad. The pH here is 6.4 which can be managed. >>
Hi Ellen,
Has the snow melted for you yet - did you get the May 18 snow? Nearly 3
inches here.
Maybe you have a belt of soil where some JI's are having a problem.
I writing from this perspective- I have all kinds of irises, except the big
wormy ones, and I manage to achieve pretty good bloom on the ones I choose to
grow.
When I get into the expert category and prepare special areas for them, the
results are usually not any better. I thought, a gardener should not be
scared off iris growing because he/she thinks it requires a chemist out there
in beds.
I put the very small bearded irises into piles of rocks with virtually no
soil and have the best results I have ever had. You can't believe what
happens when you leave things alone - sometimes. I have a bunch of species
as well.
I put the Siberians directly into any bed with a a few shovelfuls of manure
under the plant and go off with a blessing. It still remains true that some
Siberians do not grow well anywhere and nobody tells you this when you buy
the pretty picture in the catalog.
I love Siberians and grow many of them but still wish that lesser plants
would be labelled collector plants for beginning growers.
I don't have so many JI's as I had a sort of an epiphany on JI's one summer
and thought them out of place in my mountain garden. Excepting the singles,
older and smaller ones, they are mostly gone. I do have the described older
plants.
The student hired to mow the lawn that summer was flabbergasted at some of
the blooms and being only a lad of 20, he declined to take any home to his
Mom as he thought them "sensual". He picked the lilies instead. I gave away
my large and showy JI's and that was that. The old ones, including some
no-name very small white do well with no help from the garden chemist (me).
Don't pull out any hair Ellen, in a few years you will want it back <VBG>
Claire Peplowski
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