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The flower spikes which survived, however,
were of very high standard, many being 4 feet in height and of
great thickness and rigidity, the foliage also was of a good deep,
healthy green.
.....Considering all things, I am of opinion that a rather heavy
(rich) soil is preferable to a light (poor) soil, and is likely
to give the best all-round results.
.....The light and sandy soil, undoubtedly, has some advantages,
the chief of which is that the ripening of the rhizomes and consequent
good display of bloom is almost sure to be better than in the
case of the heavy, retentive, soil, and the plants probably less
liable to the attacks of disease. It is pretty safe to assert
that a well-ripened rhizome will stand almost any climatic conditions-
.....The main disadvantage, however, of a light soil is its liability
to become exhausted. This is bound to take place sooner or later,
with consequent ill effects on the condition of the plants; it
therefore requires "strengthening" periodically if anything
like decent results are to be maintained.
.....After all, Tall Bearded Irises can be grown anywhere, and
by anybody and are most accommodating plants in every way. I,
therefore, am inclined to place vigour of growth and "quality"
of bloom as the two first aims in successful culture and, given
a good rich soil, you will certainly obtain them, and with a good
hot September, you will get the "quantity" thrown in
as well.
.....In common with most of our hardy plants, the Tall Bearded
Irises should, after blooming in June, make their growth, then
rest and "die down" during the late autumn and winter
months.
.....From what we know of rhizome rot the plants are generally
attacked just before, or during, the flowering season.
.....It is fairly clear that it generally is worst following a
mild autumn when the plants continue growing late, and enter the
winter in a "sappy" state, with consequent "frosting"
of the foliage in the spring. The foliage thus frosted soon becomes
limp, and, in many cases, the central growth will be observed
to have brown markings on the leaves, the whole tuft eventually
becoming slimy, and pulling away from the thizome with ease. If
allowed to remain untouched, the rhizome itself soon becomes affected
and turns soft.
.....The autumn of 1923 was, in some parts of the country, a particularly
adverse one for Tall Bearded Irises. The weather remained very
"open," and the rainfall was above the average-in fact,
it was a "growing" autumn, certainly in the north-west
of England.
.....Irises were "growing" in the last week of October,
and the first frost did not take place until November 10 th. In
consequence, the Irises did not really rest at all, and the consecutive
weeks of hard frost in January and February found the plants in
a thoroughly unripened and unprepared condition, with the inevitable
result, rhizome rot.
.....It would be both interesting and instructive to collect annual
reports from growers of Tall Bearded Irises throughout the country
as to the incidence of this disease, giving "data" as
to soil, climatic conditions, etc., from which comparative results
could be compiled which should certainly lead to an increase in
our knowledge of this subject.
.....I am certainly inclined to believe that in cases where the
Irises had died down and rested in the normal manner, the losses
would be found to be less severe than when the reverse was the
case.
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