Re: [SpaceAgeRobin] Blyth irises
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- Subject: Re: [SpaceAgeRobin] Blyth irises
- From: o*@aol.com
- Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2005 16:37:02 EST
In a message dated 2/19/2005 8:00:33 AM Central Standard Time, neilm@charter.net writes:
It is possible Blyth things enjoy a higher lime application than we are used to. Calcium is necessary for strong cell walls. I shall remember Barry's counsel--put lime on like it were snow--twice a year!
When I first started paying serious attention to irises a portion of the current vogue of the time was devoted to "failure to thrive" issues with Blyth irises. Having a lack of knowledge, I avoided them for a while thinking discretion best for the ignorant. Now I think him a victim, at least to some degree, of the "squeaky wheel syndrome" mentality in an unfair marketplace.
More knowledgeable now but still deficient, I know it unfair for any given hybridizer to be labeled with what is likely a genetic susceptibility common to bearded irises that may be over expressed in one variety or another depending maybe on when that variety initiates one of its vital functions relative to soil temperatures in the growth cycle -- or perhaps some other trigger. Still the susceptability exists in all.
No one has ever offered a defensible answer to the question, "Tell me the name of a tall bearded iris that has not contracted rot in some garden?" Someday I hope someone does. Here the best bearded iris candidate for such "rot proof" distinction is iris Albicans. Arilbreds hold their own when compared to TBs.
Jerome may have identified an example of such a genetic phenomenon in About Town. I am confident there are many others. And, many others among a broad spectrum of hybridizers. Still like Jerome, I will likely be producing seedlings using About Town. Perhaps looking for some that are not rot susceptible. Perhaps I will find one that is an improved Louisa's Song. Maybe I'll get a new fox hound.
It takes a dreamer to think a better bloom than that of LS is plausible. Maybe new/different colors are not such a stretch though. That be the dream of the picky John Reeds. Strangely perhaps, it is Reeds I think of when LS comes to mind, not Barry Blyth. It was Reeds who first called Louisa's Song to my attention.
Over time, through swaps, bonus plants, gifts, and bargain sales I have acquired several Blyth intros. My experience has been that his intros as a group are no better or worse than those of others. I can recall losing only one completely. Others have given stellar performance.
You make a good point regarding pH, Neil. The issue/question in my mind is, "Is there an ideal pH level for iris growth? If so what might that pH be?" Arriving at a definitive answers to such simple questions is more complex than what such simple questions imply.
Always more questions than time, always more time than answers, never enough of either ... or irises. Irises are easy to purchase, time and knowledge impossible. I buy what I can. I trade one for the other among the other two.
Smiles,
Bill Burleson
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