Dutch iris requirements
Lee Poulsen (Fri, 12 Sep 2003 11:43:12 PDT)
So far we have had success reported from Australia, Texas and New Mexico.
A couple of nurseries in California say they will naturalize easily
and multiply rapidly. One of these is just north of San Francisco
in grape country.
Other successful places mentioned on the web: Las Vegas, Oklahoma.
All these places seem to me to have high summer heat in common.
Maybe digging the bulbs up after flowering keeps them warmer than
if they stayed in the ground where the soil insulates them.
OK. I'm going to experiment. I'll get back to you in a couple of years.
--
Diane Whitehead Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
maritime zone 8
cool mediterranean climate (dry summer, rainy winter - 68 cm annually)
sandy soil
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This is so interesting. I, like Paul, thought they were so easy to
grow that I never thought twice about them. They've basically
naturalized in my parents' garden and I just assumed that everyone
else in cooler climates easily grew them. I guess that since I;ve
seen the Dutch bulb companies offer them so cheaply and so massively
for years that they were one of those commonly grown temperate bulbs
and I was just lucky to get them to grow so well in Texas.
I'm going to have to send some of these newer, more interesting
looking varieties that have been offered in recent years to my mother
to have her try them as well.
--
--Lee Poulsen
Pasadena area, California, USDA Zone 9-10