If Conroe is just North of Houston then I think the idea that the winters are too warm and the summers too hot is probably correct. Perhaps some shade at midday would help in the summer. Iris rebloomers in general are most active during moderate weather in the spring and fall, a long hot summer may take too much energy out of the rhizome for it to flower that fall. On the other hand in San Diego CA (also zone 9-10) many beared Iris are ever bloomers, the temperatures near the coast are more moderate and allow year-round growth. There are MANY bearded Iris cultivars so there may be some which will flower well there. Another Iris grower who moved to N. Florida reported similar problems with Bearded Iris. The very few which did OK appear to be the re-bloomers, since they are less (or more) daylength and/or temperature dependent. The best bet is to get to know your gardening neighbors and find out what works for them. Chad Schroter > At 06:34 PM 8/30/2004, you wrote: > >Hi, > > > >I have a wonderful bearded Iris called 'Victoria Falls'. It think it > was > >introduced 25-30 years ago. I grew it before in Alabama, and > enjoyed it > >because > >of the color, the rebloom, and the ease of care. It took care of > >itself--never > >seeming to need water and only a top dressing with aged manure once > or twice > >a year. > > > >Here in Conroe, zone 9a, it has been in the ground for about 2 years > in full > >sun, in good-draining not-too-rich soil. It hardly blooms and does > not > >rebloom. It grows well, and seems happy enough, except for July and > > >August when it > >seems to sulk (I suspect it is heat). > > > >So, what can I do to make this plant do better? I have a few other > >reblooming bearded Iris hybrids, and they almost never bloom. They > grow > >OK, but don't > >bloom. Do they need a colder winter? The past 2 years temperatures > have > >only > >dropped to 25 F. > > _______________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now. http://promotions.yahoo.com/goldrush/