[SpaceAgeRobin] HYB:SA appendages

Chris, your valiant efforts with nutrient supply suggest that soil temperature in some critical time (probably late fall relative to your winter onset) may be either too high or too low.  The angle of sunlight may be a factor too--as this affects the level of energy available.  However..... 
 
Your latitude probably isn't much higher than what we had in Idaho.  We were almost exactly on the 44th parallel, but at 2000-2300 foot elevation 
 
The Vermont-Quebec line is about the 45th.  Christy Hensler near Newport, WA, is probably about 48.5 N as the BC/Idaho or Washington line is 49th.  East-West comparisons aren't very useful, as the causes of climate differ greatly..
 
We had the advantage, as happens to a much greater degree in Europe, of having Marine (Pacific) air upwind from us, influencing the climate.  Our summers were HOT--sometimes reaching 110 to 115 degrees, although that didn't happen more than about once in a decade at most.  The Columbia Basin in central and eastern Washington has similar extremes.  However, by Thanksgiving in the third week of November, it was not unusual for us to have our soil frozen at least four inches deep.  The shift from summer to winter happened too fast for my liking.
 
Our soil temps dropped fairly rapidly from mid-September to the first of November.  The leaves had turned by mid-October, and fell before the end of the month with few exceptions.
 
Soil pH is a critical factor, it seems.  I suspect you have difficulty getting yours to neutral and keeping them that way for the irises.  Bearded irises have a high Calcium demand and really sufffer if they don't get it. 
 
According to the Sutton's experience, they didn't know, per Mike, that DEVONSHIRE CREAM had SA character until they moved some stock into a new area higher in pH than where it had been growing previously.  Suddenly--horns.
 
"Lazy" (Missing) Bill has a soil naturally slightly alkaline and has horns on DC regularly.  Even I had a few blossoms show them this year in a "new" bed that had been limed two years ago but not since.
 
SA's are touchy about conditions--all sorts of factors.  That's going to make interpretation of the SAGE project results difficult.
 
Neil Mogensen  z 7, 2300' elevation at about 35.5 N latitude--in California that would be about half way between San Jose and Los Angeles--roughly the same as Paso Robles--but we're on the "wrong" side of the continent--near Asheville, NC

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