Hello Folks,
Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season.
> <Tbird> seedlings are not always that vigorous. I have one outstanding
> seedling from it but it doesn't seem to be doing so well for Donald
> in Texas.
I'm sorry to report that Chris's seedling didn't survive this past summer.
It had lots of company. Growing next door was SOLAR FIRE which also didn't
survive. Nearly all the new Keppel cultivars perished as well as several of
my own seedlings that were valuable (to me, at least). It was, all in all,
a lethal year for many iris. I think the sun was the culpret. Probably 60%
of the iris growing in full sun didn't survive. Even more are marginalized.
The list includes many that have grown well in the past but couldn't take
the conditions this summer.
I'm going to have to revise my planting system to allow for some shade, I
think. The losses of those grown with some to full shade were small.
Mostly there was no supplemental water for any of them, so the key factor
for survival seems to have been the amount of sun or the amount of shade.
Despite competing with tree roots, those in shade - the more shade the
better - survived with only one or two exceptions. How well the others did
depended a lot on the amount of sun. One bed that stretches from one tree
to another was a remarkable example. The middle of that bed got nearly full
sun most of the day. The growth/health on the ends under the shade looks
good, but by the middle of the bed that got full sun the health has
obviously deteriorated in a progression of how much sun they got. Even in
one bed in full sun that I did provide supplemental water regularly, the
losses were still painful.
I don't see how a season could be much worse except there weren't many
grasshoppers. Three severe late freezes following a long period of warm
growing weather eliminated most of the bloom and damaged fan growth. Then a
major hail storm battered everything down to the ground including all but
one of the stalks where I did get pods. That hail proved to the last
moisture until some rain this fall. We set an astounding record for the
number of consecutive days exceeding 100F. We are still way short on
rainfall.
On the plus side, the new seedlings in the nursury bed did well. That is
located in full sun and gets supplemental water without fail. How they may
do when they get kicked out of the nursury remains to be seen. Most should
bloom this spring provided we don't get late freezes, hail etc.
My own stab at working with SAs includes half a dozen seedlings from SOLAR
FIRE X (THORNBIRD x unknown). The Tbird seedling did survive in full sun.
These seedlings didn't get in the nursury bed along with a couple of other
crosses, but they are in shade and grew well though I was late getting them
situated. May have to wait another season to see any bloom. It's a
tedious, difficult task getting a bed prepared for planting. Trying to
avoid full sun isn't going to be easy. I wonder if those that managed will
continue to survive if this coming summer provides more of the same.
Well, a new year is about to begin. Maybe it will bring better things.
Donald Eaves
donald@eastland.net
Texas Zone 7b, USA
