Uh oh. I have the same problem. Last year I had one plant that developed a withered stalk and succumbed to gravity. This year I had 4 plants, including one far away from the other three. In 3 cases branches and/or the main stalk couldn't hold the weight of the bloom. (Although one plant managed to remain straight despite the main stalk being withered. See photo.) I dig plants for our local iris sale each year, so I would like to know if this is a disease or insect damage. If it's a disease I will destroy the plants before it spreads. I posted a question at iris-photos/hortnet but was ignored (even though I always respond to their photo requests when I have something). This is my 4th or 5th year with iris and I've never heard anyone mention this malady. Terry

My darling husband passed away 15 days ago. We knew each other for 8 years. He was very vibrant and full of life, had a good job house and car. Internally though he was suffering from chronic depression and was addicted to alcohol for many years even before i knew him. It got worse when he lost his mother 3 years ago. He would constantly talk about killing himself, praying that God would take his life. It was like seeing him die everyday. I prayed that he comes out of his depression, went to the psychiatrist to get meds for him, put him in rehab, gave him unconditional love but nothing seemed to work. He stopped eating and would just drink and watch the tv the whole day and night. Any attempt at communication was met with silence. He did not want to talk about anything. He gradually became so weak that he was bed ridden. I would coax him to eat or at least have some soup or juice but it was an uphill task. 3 years and 10 hospitalizations later he is no more. His body and organs were so weak that it could not process any medicines. I just wish that he would be alive today maybe he would have made an effort at living. People tell me that he is free from his worries and depression. I hope he is finally at peace. People say that your love was one sided but i know that he loved me and needed me. He would feel more depressed when i was not around him. I would call him my sunflower. In the end i feel he could not help himself. I miss my darling a lot.

Cat....What an amazing idea! I will check into it. I'm so sorry for you DS. What a horrible thing to have to go through. It is bothering my son so much and he didn't even know the young man that died. I am so sorry. mom of 4... I am so sorry about what you have had to go through and about your DD loosing her father in such a way. It is such a scary thing. People shouldn't sweep it under the rug even though it is so painful to talk about. How terribly sad. When I was 15 my brother and I found a woman that had committed suicide. Her little boy, 10, was friends with my little brother. He came to our house and was crying, saying that he couldn't wake up his mom. I knew that she had just gotten out of the hospital for emotional issues. My older brother went to the house and found her dead. She had shot herself in the chest. My X's best friend killed himself...my daughter's 1st boyfriend killed himself. Another friend of hers did also. It is so heartbreaking. After my daughter attempted it I couldn't sleep for a long time. I would start to hyperventilate every night being afraid of what I might find in the morning. We did counseling and it was such help. It ended up being more for me than her. She has no thoughts of it now. The people she knew that did it were after her attempt so she was able to see how much pain it caused everyone and she was so sorry. Thank you both for responding.

Yes, LOL the title of the post made me go WHAT??? and the go that's gotta be a hoax. But in fairness, the headline on the article was extremely poorly worded, albeit not unusual for the source. I suspect tabloid sensationalism. The main point to me though is that Cerniglia was on the show 3 years ago! For the sake of argument let's say he did get upset with being told he's running things into the ground. It took 3 *years* for it to be the last straw? Nothing happened in between to make him jump? I doubt it. Rachel's death came a year at least after being on Hell's Kitchen for what, only 4 or 5 episodes? I'm sure there's other shows whether they be Orca Windbag, Dr. Fail, Springer's Trailer Trash Tryouts or any number of shows where people have committed suicide sometime after their appearance and nobody suggests a connection to them. Suicide happens. Unfortunate, but it does. Some examples: ⢠Ryan Alexander Jenkins, a former participant on VH1 reality series "Megan Wants a Millionaire" and "I Love Money," was found dead in a Canadian motel room amid allegations that he had earlier murdered his ex-wife in a most gruesome way. ⢠Paula Goodspeed killed herself in front of Paula AbdulâÂÂs house after she was bounced from auditions on "American Idol.â â¢ Growing Pain's "Boner" committed suicide in a Park. ⢠Cheryl Kosewicz, killed herself after being bounced from the show âÂÂPirate MastersâÂÂ. Her suicide happened just two months after Kosewicz's boyfriend, Ryan O'Neil, committed suicide himself. I won't go on but âÂÂSupernanny", "Wife Swap", "The Contender", âÂÂCelebrity Big Brotherâ and more shows have had people commit suicide after their appearances. Anyone who watches his shows closely should see that Ramsay is a very caring and compassionate person. He harps on people to do their best but when someone is really down, he really tries to build them up. What's the first thing he does when the winner of Hell's Kitchen walks through the door? Every time I've see him grab the loser before the other is through the door and console them, tells them how well they performed and the like. Lost in the kerfuffle is that Ramsay and Cerniglia have stayed in touch since the show. I suspect people don't understand that these shows are edited. There's hours upon hours of tape cut down to a 20-30 minute show run in 1/2 hr to an hour. The editors control what you see and you need to be careful about how you base your opinions from that limited info. I went back and watched that episode again. Cerniglia is a person who probably would have been far better being an employee than a boss. He stressed out very easily at least at the time. And watching the way Ramsay handled his wife was very heartwarming, though not unusual. Here is a link that might be useful: Campania episode of Kitchen Nightmares