Mary Sue Ittner <msittner@mcn.org> a *crit > very helpful response from Dirk Wallace. He wrote > it seems to tolerate most soil types. Acidic soil is definitely not theirpreference but I'm sure they would still grow and flower OK if it wasn't too acidic and they received a dry Summer rest. > Transplanting usually happens in Spring, after flowering, but if you get > them at the right time in Autumn they'll still flower successfully. They > need to be planted firmly and not dried off until they have an established root system. They always do better in clumps than singularly, for me." > How hardy is it? Who else grows it? Dear all, I unguicularis (syn I stylosa) is a very popular plant here. Transplanting can be very tricky. As Dirk pointed out the bet times at the beining of their active growing season (latesummer/early autumn and late winter early spring) to ensure that they are well estyablished when the heat (or the cold comes along) The period between uprooting and planting should be kept as short as possible to prevent drying out. A dried out rhizome make take over year to generate a growing bud again. I had exprience a lot of loss by rotting of the rhizomes by applying an organic mulch. Now I use only gravel and sand to mulch the surface (also confirmed by Dirk). It is a very variable species according to its geographic origin. In UK many forms are commercialised. Here we grow the type (large pale bleu flowers), the white form and a narrow leaved form with dark violet blue flowers(ssp cretensis. Here is a posting of Jack Elliot 2/99 (our IBS friend, now incapable of participating because of ill health) Perhaps it is worth mentioning the well-known virus that affects Iris unguicularis, especially the good old-fashioned varieties which arose from N. African plants, and are now in most sunny gardens, giving lots of flowers from October to March. Some years ago I collected one or two of the beautiful Greek forms both dark blue and white, which are much lower-growing and often have very dark flowers. These flourished for a year or maybe two and then started deteriorating. They had the typical virus leaf streaking and I realised that all my old established large forms were in fact virused and had passed it on to the newcomers. As most old stocks here are virused this is worth bearing in mind. They grow perfectly well and one can enjoy the flowers but do not expect to succeed with any new varieties. I have left all my old ones behind and am starting again with my favourite Greek forms. Jack Elliott Kent UK. Kind regards -- Lauw de Jager BULB'ARGENCE, 30300 Fourques, France Région Provence/Camargue, (Climat zone 9a Mediterranean) Site http//http://www.bulbargence.com/ "GUIDE POUR BULBES MÉDITERRANÉENS" 116 pages, 400 photos, prix 10 E CATALOGUE D'HIVER (WINTERCATALOG) sera disponible en janvier; vous pouvez commander par le site maintenant pour un envoi à partir de maintenant jusqu'au fin mars. (Flowering outside at the moment Cyclamen cilicicum, Dahlia imperialis, Gladiolus dalenii, Crocus, Nerine, Narcissus tazetta 'Paperwhite', Moraea polystachya Oxalis) -