Garden Updates. 6.26.2020

Miscellaneous notes.

I've been cleaning up my bearded iris bed.  It's kind of embarrassing how weedy and unkempt it became during the rainy season.  There was too much else to do.  Now I have a big cleanup to do.

In addition to weeding and cultivating, I'm cutting back the leaves and letting the rhizomes bask in the sun.  I have not decided yet about mulch, although in my heart of hearts I know it would help a lot with leaf spot and bacterial rot diseases.

I'm also culling,  If I think the flowers are ugly, I'm removing that clump. I'm also removing the ones that seemed highly susceptible to the cool wet season diseases, bacterial rot and leaf spot.  The newest reblooming varieties have been the most susceptible, and I culled most of them.  I kept a couple of the big lush modern non rebloomers for this time around, even though I think a couple of those are also too susceptible.  Next year...

Replacing those, are "rescues" from roadside "Free" rhizomes that I grew in separate nursery beds for a year or two, to see what they look like.  Those are nonlabeled, but one looks like Shah Jehan, another like Wabash, and there is a very nice white one and a plicata type with mauve coloration around the edges of the petals.  None of those seems particularly disease susceptible, and all are nice.  That let me decomission that bed in the easement, which I planted with wildflower mix, grass seed and clover.  I also moved into the iris bed, from a nursery bed in what is now the fenced vegetable garden, Monsignor, an apricot colored iris, and a purple one that is very large and nearly black.

Bearded Iris Bed undergoing cleanup for summer.  6.26.2020.

The chestnut trees are starting to bloom.  It's difficult to see the female flowers.  There are a few.  I'm hoping they will start to appear as the male flowers come into full bloom.

Maraval Chestnut in bloom.  6.26.2020

This is one of the chestnut grafts.  It's interesting that these grafts are blooming in their first year.

Graft of Precose Migoule chestnut on Marissard seedling chestnut tree.  6.26.2020

These are a nice summer squash. They are very good sliced, coated with little olive oil and seasoned salt, and cooked in the air fryer.

A Rescue, No-ID Iris. 5.21.19

These iris rhizomes were dumped, illegally, in the natural area where I walk Rufus.  People sometimes dump yard waste there (and also often don't clean up after their dogs, but fortunately not this spot).

The plants were alive but with the rhizomes laying in the yard waste.  So I collected some, trimmed them up, and planted them.

My experiences so far with discarded iris rhizomes is they are usually an old, probably historic type, that somebody once liked.  I think sometimes  someone will buy a home where irises were planted decades ago, and in their neglected state they survive but are not blooming and look messy.  So they pull them out.

It's interesting to see what develops. The older types have a different shape and colors, often not as bright, ruffled, or new looking but they have a nostalgic look that I enjoy.

This is a very non-ideal time to plant them but irises can be tough.  The largest might bloom next year.  Then we'll see what I brought home.

Neighborhood Bearded Irises, All Mulched. 5.17.19

 My helper, Rufus, took me around the neighborhood to look at bearded irises and check on my observation that mulched irises are healthier than unmulched irises, contrary to virtually every bit of advice in books and websites.

In this area, the main mulch used is shredded fir bark.  I think that's what I see nine times out of ten.

Around the neighborhood, there are many patches of irises, some apparently many years old and not maintained other than by mulching.  Of the ones that I saw, only the one that shares a photo with Rufus is un-mulched, and I'm not sure about that one due to the thick plantings of poppies and other flowers

 So in the end, the only irises that I've seen with disease - black spot - have been the bare-soil ones in my own yard.  And those are just about the only ones that are not mulched.

This summer after I divide and clean up the irises in my own yard, I'll put down a layer of shredded fir bark.  It certainly doesn't seem to hurt, and appears to help prevent leaf spot and other diseases.

I don't know why so many references state that irises should not be mulched.  Maybe that's the midwest, or other wet summer climates?

There are certainly some beautiful iris gardens around the neighborhood, too.  I have not ID'ed any of them, but they are very nice.

Is it Actually Better to Mulch Irises in this Climate? 4.7.19

Bearded Irises, No Mulch.  4.7.19

Bearded Irises, No Mulch.  4.7.19

 I have decided that the recommendations to never mulch irises are so much garden legend, unfounded and contrary to fact.  It could be, in most climates, and with most mulches, irises will get sick and die, like they suggest.  Rhizomes rotting due to too much moisture.

A few years ago, I basically gave up on my irises.  They repeatedly got fungal and/or bacterial leaf diseases.  Not only misshapen and ugly, but the leaves would die at their bases.

I finally gave up, planted them at the edge of the woodlot, and mostly forgot about them.  I mulched that area with arborist chips, to keep the weeds down. Interestingly, all of those irises flourished.  And no leaf diseases.  My enthusiasm returned, and I decided to move many of the clumps into a dedicated garden bed.  I kept the soil surface clean, and free of weeds.  I also added many new varieties.  However, the space was limited, so probably half of my bearded irises are still in the mulched border.

Meanwhile, I added a finely chopped fir bark mulch to those in the border.  This was the cheapest mulch I could find.  I used it to keep down weeds.

Bearded Irises, Bark Mulch.  4.7.19

Bearded Irises, Bark Mulch.  4.7.19

 Both groups of irises were doing great until this week.  We had a chill, a big rain storm, and several rainy days.

Result:  Now many of the irises that I am growing "correctly" have the leaf spot diseases again.  None of the mulched ones do.

I'm disappointed.  I really followed the instructions.  But the ones that I had "written off" and mulched regardless of the MANY reports stating not to,  look great.  MANY of the ones that I treated right, with no mulch - have leaf spot diseases.

Here is my theory.  Maybe the fir bark has antibacterial and antifungal properties.  And maybe the rain splashes spores of bacteria and fungi onto the leaves, where they grow.  Mulched soil does not allow the spread of the diseases.

As an aside, I had decomissioned some of the old raised iris beds and constructed a raised bud on top of them.  I dug out most of the irises and moved the clumps to the woodlot border, but some were too much trouble.  So I buried them, at least 6 inches deep.  DUring the next year, several bearded iris plants grew up through the soil, and did fine.

Mearded Irises, Bark Mulch.  3.7.19

Bearded Irises, Bark Mulch.  3.7.19

I dug those out and moved them.  They had constructed new, sort of vertical rhizomes, up to the soil surface.  They are growing fine.  So I'm really not convinved that the rule, never bury iris rhizomes, is universally true.  Maybe mostly true, in most places.  Garden wisdom happens for a reason.  But I have to face the facts and experience in my garden:  Not only does mulching, at least with shredded or small nougat fir bark, not damage iris rhizomes, it may well protect them from disease.

I'll continue to watch them, of course.  Maybe the ones in the mulched borders are just waiting then will burst out with devastating leaf diseases.  We'll see.

Emerging Perennials. 3.#9.19

Bearded Irises.  3.29.19

Bearded Irises in Border, Bark Mulched.  3.29.19

Itoh Peonies.  3.29.19

Euphorbias. 3.29.19

Sedum.  2.29.19

Late Maintenance of New Bearded Iris Beds. 11.1.19

Here is an update on the bearded iris garden. For the most part, bearded irises are left unattended, no maintenance, to fend for themselves.  I've seen many clumps like that around town, and they seem to grow and bloom just fine. In fact, in years gone by, I had many clumps that had about that treatment.

However, they were difficult to grow at first in the Battle Ground  garden.  So last year, I dug up my remaining clumps, and planted them haphazardly along the edge of the woods.  They were in poor soil, full sun, and had essentially no maintenance.  This year, those irises did very well, grew sturdy and strong.  A few bloomed this Spring, but most did not.

So this summer, I developed a renewed interest.  I converted two vegetable garden beds to bearded iris.  This bed has grown sweet corn (last year), and garlic and onions (this year).  It's not the best spot, and deer hang out here.  Deer do not eat bearded iris plant's but they do walk among them, sometimes smashing them or their soil.

I went around the woods edge, digging up many of the clumps that I had deposited there in past years, and replanted them into this new bed.  I also bought a number of iris rhizomes, mainly by mail order.

Here is how the beds look now.  I don't intend to over-nourish them, but I did add crushed eggshells to the soil.  That's the granular-looking white specks.   I have been hoeing weeds, using a shallow stirrup hoe.  So far, of the new plants, one developed crown rot.  I promptly removed that plant, threw it out, and replaced the soil with fresh soil from an annual flower bed.

Over the past week, I cut off all of the leaves from the "rescued" irises.  Those leaves were droopy and had brown streaks or brown spots.  For the newly purchased rhizomes, I have not cut off the leaves yet.  Those leaves look sturdy and green.  I want to give them all the chance I can to photosynthesize.  When they start to discolor, those leaves will also go.

After hoeing, there are seeds in the center of some clumps or adjacent to rhizomes.  Those will need hand pulling.

Not surprising, the last purchased rhizomes don't look like much.  There is minimal top growth.  They may still survive the winter and grow nice plants next year, but for those, flowers next spring seem unlikely.

So far, so good. 

Newly  Purchased Iris Rhizomes, Planted in July and Early August.  11.1.18

"Rescued" Clumps of Bearded Irises, Planted In August And September.  11.1.18

Newly Purchased Bearded Iris Rhizomes, Planted in September.  11.1.18

More Arborist Wood Chips. Bearded Irises. 2.11.16

Another pile of arborist chips.   2.11.16

 I heard the heavy equipment noise down the street and went to check it out.  An arborist was removing the top 15 feet or so from a long tall hedge of Leyland cyprus.  I offerred my driveway as a way to dispose of the chips, which he otherwise needs to pay to get rid of.  So here is another pile of chips.

We have a large area to mulch.  We'll get through them in a month.

I also weeded the bearded iris beds.  Weeds were minimal this time.  The irises have broken dormancy and are growing strong, although that happens each year, then there is extensive leaf spot and bacterial rot, which is frustrating.  Reading multiple sources, they state don't mulch them, that promotes rot.

Mulched Iris Beds.  2.11.16

But they were not mulched for years, and the diseases were a big problem.  I am experimenting now.  Last summer I applied an arborist chip mulch, and they grew very well with, I think, much less disease.

My working theory is the chips are open enough to prevent sogginess, they dry quickly.  Maybe - maybe - the evergrees contain substances that reduce fungal and bacterial diseases.  By applying on top of the soil, rains do not splash spores onto the plants.  If not, and they all die, that's OK - 3 years is long enough to try and be frustrated.  Darwin at work, survive or be replaced.

More chips will go onto the strawberries, and we have a lot of perennial borders and other places in need of the weed suppression and water retention effects during the summer.

Historic Iris Beds. 9.2.14

Historic - mostly - Iris Beds.  9.1.14

Recovering Iris Plants.  9.1.14

Recovering Iris Plants.  9.1.14

 This is the state of the historic iris beds.  Historic irises, not historic beds.  They have nice growth, coming into fall.  I have sprayed with neem oil weekly.  The neem does not damage the leaves.  I don't know if it helps.  Fungus spot remains on the older leaves.  Expected - fungicide does not heal old spots, it prevents new ones.  I don't mind a few, expected in an organic garden.

Established vs. New Iris Plant.  Honorabile.  9.1.14

I thought I would lose Owyhee Desert - not historic - and Gay Geisha - historic.  Both are growing.  I doubt bloom next year.  Gracchus took a big hit too, and is growing again.  All 3 of these got replacement soil earlier this year, not enriched or amended.

Flavescens is poking along.  This may not be a good variety for this area.  I bought a replacement but the  original regrew.  The replacement is smaller than the original.

Alcazar is growing again.   It's almost as big as it was last year.  I thought it might be near-dead.  I suspect it will need at least another year to get viorous growth.  Assuming the plant disease issues are not a problem.  These also got new, unamended, unenriched, replacement soil.  The same for Shannopen, not shown.  That one, formerly big stout fans, reduced to nothing, but a tiny shoot grew so I kept it.

The final photo shows the difference between 1st year and 2nd year growth, for spring planted rhizomes.  This is sold as Honorabile but may be Sans Souci.  I bought a replacement because the growth last year was so minimal.  Despite the fungal issues with other plants, the overwintered cluster has much bigger leaves and better growth, compared to the rhizome I planted this Spring.  I think this indicates the Spring planted rhizomes, even if they might bloom the first year, are more stressed and take longer to establish, compared to summer - dormant -rhizomes.  This seems more true for the ones that are allowed to bloom the first year - makes sense, but the point of the Spring planting is to get same-year flowers.

New tags for all.  These are copper, which is embossed with ball point pen.  The steel markers with laundry marker faded too fast and will be reused elsewhere.

Beared Iris Order. Traits to seek. Lessons Learned. 5.7.14

Today I added orders for 3 varieties of bearded iris.  Two are heritage varieties.  Heritage varieties are 30 years old, or older.

Beverly Sills.  1979.  Listed as vigorous.  Pink.  There are not a lot of pink heritage varieties.  The vigor would be welcomed as well.  Bloom time early midseason.

Gingersnap.  1969.  Fragrant, listed as root beer scent.  I bought this last year, but it succumbed to bacterial rot.  I am taking a change to try again due to the fragrance.

June Kraus.  2009.  Not a heritage variety.  Nice ruffled pink.  Listed as late season.

Traits to seek.  Lessons learned.

Currently the irises that were not in the raised beds, did not develop bacterial rot.  Some were in beds that had added compost.  I had over-nurtured the raised beds with dilute plant food last summer.   Ultimately, all of the irises in the raised beds had some bacterial rot.  This hear, I will not over nurture them.  Just remove weeds. remove some of the unwanted varieties and replace with new ones or others I already have.

So -

-Don't water in summer or fall.  Or be very careful.
-Don't fertilize.  Or be very careful.
-Take note of the least affected varieties.  In this case, that's Pallida dalmatica, Pallida vareigata, Germanica, and a few others.

In addition, the earliest bloomers are the most affected by rain.  It's drier here after early may.  Try to aim for late season varieties.

The tiny ones can be nice, but are so short, they are difficult to see and almost impossible to smell.  I will remove some of those to make room for later, taller varieties.

That's the plan.

Despite the bacterial rot, there are more flowers this year than next year.  The worst seems to be over.  Some references state remove all of the affected varieties, but in my case, that's everything in all of the raised beds.  So I will depend on plant hygiene and more appropriate growth conditions, and see if they grow better this time around.