Re: Re: New member/Mesmerizer

In a message dated 1/21/2004 10:42:04 PM Central Standard Time, gerrysnyder@comcast.net writes:


And the only time I have had a horizontal stalk was when a rhizome tried
to bloom before the roots were firmly established, and the whole thing
tipped over.


I have for some time now suspected good irises started with the size and orientation of the root mass at time of bloom. You perhaps put your finger on another necessary quality of a good iris. I too have observed this "tilting" phenomenon in irises. Mesmerizer as well as others. It does occur more here in soils of good tilth, dry, and of high sand content as opposed to more compact soils. Nor does the tilting appear to occur as much in cultivars that have retained gentle curves in their stalks. Perhaps the curve allows the centroid of the bloom and stalk mass to be directed through the center of the root mass to achieve balance.

Smiles,
Bill Burleson
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