Even though it has cooled off at night into the fifties, the afternoon temps. are still bumping 90o here. We really need some nice days around 75o for things to really get jumpin'. The soil is dry as dust. I have to water the area for my transplants before I can dig. The ground is like hardened cement. We are over twenty inches behind in rainfall.

Over and Over is stalkin'.

Walter Moores

We have had a couple of nice slow showers in the last couple of weeks and things are really looking much better. As a matter of fact One iris I bought named Lady Friend is about to bloom. I'm not sure that I'm recalling the name correct but I think it's that one. I noticed last week that it was sending up stalks and buds. I'll look tomorrow and see exactly what the name is. I thought I put all my reblooming irises together but maybe I didn't do as good a job as I thought I did.

Everything looks so good around here for a change. I just can't wait to see everything in bloom next spring.

Walter do you have a greenhouse? I don't remember.

I'm sorry that your area is still so dry. We have all had crazy weather/seasons this year.

Happy Gardening, Marian

Thank you Walter for giving me all the tips on the irises and controlling the weeds and so forth. It has really made a huge difference in my iris beds, besides saving me so much time from being on my hands and knees weeding by hand.

Walter, I check the radar and rainfall map on a regular basis and it looked like you were getting more rain than we have had in NE Mississippi but you must be like me and just missing the showers. We too are about 20 inches below normal for the year but what we have had has come at the right times. It really does not look that dry but some places have gotten more than others and so far I have just been unlucky. About 2 weeks ago most of Alcorn county got 2 inches but one small area that included me got less than .25 inches. I can water most of my rebloomers and as the weather has cooled off I am starting to get some rebloom. Lee Mincy

Wow, Doesn't it just figure? Last year we had no rain. It could rain within a mile of us and we still got NOTHING. This year, we got all the rain we were praying for last year. (Smile) Be careful what you pray for. Anyway, the downpours came daily for a couple of months and just about drowned EVERYTHING in the ground. Unless it was tropical and then they grew by leaps and bounds. My banana trees and elephant ears are huge this year. The cannas did very well too.

Lee, is Lady Friend a rebloomer? I have one right now with stalks and buds sticking up. They are just about to open. Needless to say I'm excited to see something going to bloom.

Thank you both again for all the help and words of advice. It's wonderful to have someone to talk to that also has a passion for irises.

Happy Gardening! Marian

Marian, Lady Friend does not say it is a rebloomer in the check list. Almost any iris can bloom and does sometimes out of season. Lady Friend is listed as Early to very early bloomer. It has been my experience that some of these do sometimes bloom in the fall even though they were not registered as rebloomers. Lee Mincy

Thanks Lee, I would have to say that stinker is a VERY EARLY bloomer. (grin) Of course that just makes my week when I have something trying to bloom for me. I really liked Lady Friend and didn't know that she was 26 years old. I just love the reds.

Right now I'm trying to find someone that would trade me a Amarillo Frills. I use to have them but they all died too. Besides that Amarillo is in TEXAS. (GRIN) I have a lot of yellows and golds but this is one I've always loved. Oh shoot, I love them all, and I couldn't really pick a favorite if I had to. (grin) Theres something special about nearly everyone of them.

Happy Gardening Ya'll, Marian