Iris unguicularis Hardiness test
James Waddick (Sun, 12 Feb 2012 09:42:57 PST)

Dear Friends,
We have just had 2 nights where the temps went down to 6 F
(-14 C) and yesterday barely made it up to freezing. My Iris
unguicularis has/had one flower open and 3 buds showing full color
and emerged from their sheaths/bracts. The last two days had warm
sun. I had covered the plant with a clear plastic bell jar for the
first time, ever.

Today the plant looks essentially unchanged, but the flowers
and buds are totally frozen, collapsed and lost. So clearly the
flowers cannot take this extreme, but the plant looks ok.

So 6 degrees is too cold for the open and opening flower
buds. I am hoping the more buds are deep within the plant's crowen
and later buds will emerge and bloom unharmed. Stay tuned.

Best Jim W.

--
Dr. James W. Waddick
8871 NW Brostrom Rd.
Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711
USA
Ph. 816-746-1949
Zone 5 Record low -23F
Summer 100F +