I suppose it's possible that RoundUp might also affect stalk development, but that hasn't been my experience with it. Stunted stalks in my garden are usually related to late cold snaps during early stalk development, and they occur more frequently on first year transplants
Laurie

Laurie,
Thanks, but it was definitely neither freezing cold or Round Up for this particular plant. It has normal foliage. It's amazing. I've been waiting for five years for Victoria Falls to bloom, and now the fully formed buds are barely above the ground.

In my research it seems that every time this is discussed it's usually attributable to an alteration in temperature, but here it's been mild for weeks.

I'll post a picture. I tried before, but it rejected it saying that the pic was too large.

Actually, Mike, that sounds exactly like what happened in my garden with Beverly Sills. I grew her for 5 yrs before she bloomed for the first time, and when she finally did, it was on a single stunted stalk (about 2 inches tall) with a single, very deformed bloom. The next year, however, and each year after that, she has bloomed multiple stalks at full height with perfect flowers.

Who knows why irises do what they do? Just hang in there with Victoria Falls. It may just surprise you next year with a beautiful clump of proper stalks and flowers.

Laurie

I had the same problem with my yellow German irises last year. The stalks were not taller than 3-4 inches. The flower buds were there but they just dried up. Not a single one bloomed. I also noticed some of the leaves were sort of rotting at the base and dying. I thought this was because in the fall I transplanted them and amended the soil with cow manure a bit. Also I probably watered too much arould them because they are planted with other perennials. And the dog would dig around them and cover the rhizomes with extra soil.

Unfortunately, this spring I can see they are still not well. Some seem to be rotting again. I took most of the soil off the rhizomes. Their leaves are sort of lighter in color (more chartreuse) than those of other iris, which are more silvery. I have no idea what colour they should be so I don't know if this is bad news or not. I am afraid I will not see the blooms again this year but I am just hanging there, as Laurie said.

If there are no blooms this year I will transplant them to another spot. I will have nothing to lose anyway.

And a couple of years ago they were my tallest, most spectacular irises! When I first transplanted them from half-shade to a sunny location the flower stalks were almost 4' tall and visible from a distance. Then I divided them and used cow manure :-/

Actually, Laurie, it helps a lot to hear that you had success with B Sills after all that time. Victoria Falls is blooming right now, and I really like the shade of blue, the ruffling, and the white beard and white patch. I admit I'm quite partial to blues, though.

Mike,
I grew Victoria Falls a very long time ago. It did the same thing for me. After 4 or so years I gave up and got rid of it. I have no patience with them if they don't bloom right. There are too many other nice violet ones that will bloom right.

Dot

Mike, it took 3 yrs for VF to bloom for me the first time, though its first year of bloom did provide perfectly normal stalks and flowers (unlike BS). I, too, think it's a very lovely iris. Nice, clear light blue, and a vigorous clumper here, too. It's certainly worth keeping around for another year or two to see if it'll straighten up and perform correctly for you.

Laurie

LaurieF gave you excellent information and diagnosis of your problem. The stunted stalk symptoms you describe are classic winter injury symptoms. Do not be confused by thinking you had a moderate spring season and no injury could have occured. The reason shoot stunting happens is due to short periods of warm weather at any time during the winter when the dormancy mechanism of the plant is released and flower shoot initiation begins. Thereafter, any return to cold weather after shoots begin elongation, injury is likely to occur. ( January thaw is a classic ) Also, all shoots on one plant are likely to be affected because varietal response to dormancy is genetically controlled. Those varieties that do it one year are pre-disposed to repeat, because those genetics carry the trait for "rapid dormancy release". One could go on and on here, but suffice it to say some varieties, especially TB's, come out of dormancy easily. You can't observe the early stem development for some time after dormancy release, so seldom are we able to predict injury based on weather patterns. The telltale sign, after the fact, is at bloomtime when you are looking at TB blooms down by your ankles! SDB's and IB's seldom stunt because they originate from very cold areas and come out of dormancy more slowly.

Over to Roundup. RR drift is not a likely cause of stunted stalks because RR would likely show up first as a foliage problem with NO bloom stalks. Plenty of personal experience here. RR is systemic and all plant parts will collapse if RR is cause.

Credit where credit is due. My grandmother taught me much of the iris dormancy thing years ago when she was in her 80's at the time. She grew iris in the hills of northern Pennsylvania all her life and knew the subject from decades of personal experience.

Hoping this helps.
irisman646

That's very interesting information, irisman. I was wondering too, and thought maybe it was due to a weather related cause. I have quite a few with stunted stalks this year, especially the earliest TBs. The ones that started forming stalks later appear more normal. Cherry Glen formed an awful ugly stalk and bloom which I had to cut off and throw away. Last year CG was the first TB to bloom for me and was beautiful. It is now putting out a more normal stalk.

Irisman,
I appreciate that explanation. Certainly, here in SC, we have a tendency to have warm periods during the cold, some longer than others. And that is a good description, for I am looking down at my ankles at blooms of Victoria Falls.
There was no herbicide sprayed in that particular bed.

Now for the herbicide. My second bloom of the season opened today. It looked like some Frankenstein flower. What has had me depressed all day, since seeing it, is that there was no evidence whatsoever that the herbicide was even used in that particular part of the bed. Suddenly, the normal looking bud opens and voila. Now I feel certain that I am going to be repeatedly sickened throughout this entire bloom season every time this happens. In fact, I am pretty sure I am going to put my house on the market and move to a yard I control entirely.

Mike in SC

Hey Mike, the irises you sent me last summer are all doing just fine. They are blooming their little heads off. Before you move dig up some starts of each of your irises and move them with you, or you can always send them to me. LOL

Happy Gardening, Marian

Marian,
Glad to hear it! Don't worry--all my plants will be coming with me!

Happy spring,

Mike