None of my rebloomers are doing much right now (probably since they were all transplanted in the fall), but lucky Chris has a steady stream of one or two in bloom at any given time. I’d be jealous, except she’s quick to share them with me. One of the top performers for her this year has been ‘Forever Yours,’ which she wasn’t too excited about until it began blooming and reblooming and smelling so lovely... but that’s her story to tell. I’m fortunate enough to visit her iris and enjoy their beauty in this damp weather. (And you can bet I’m looking forward to my ‘Forever Yours’ blooming and reblooming this year!) The wet hasn’t stopped me from enjoying the blooms.
Midseason bloom and rebloom. Clear white; beards white, tipped yellow. #RE4839BlWh,
We recently had several days of steady, fairly heavy rain, which means that our creeks all have water and my rain gear stays by the door. I don’t make a practice of gardening in a downpour, but I will confess to doing a lot of work outside while it’s, let’s say, soggy and inclement. We don’t get snow or frozen ground, but our nights do dip down into the high teens occasionally. But this El Niño (the co-star of this post, if you haven’t noticed) brings warmer weather, and some of our recent days have been in the low 60s. This means that I can be lured our into the garden even in Winter (proper bundling required). Wet and warm... that probably means I’m outside.
I am one of those softhearted types, the sort that catches bugs inside the house and puts them back outside. And one of the hardships (for me) of rainy nights is the number of suicidal worms on my driveway and walkways in the morning. I freely admit that I go out with my rubber gloves on, picking up worms and putting them back in the beds and the lawn. Sure, I miss some, and somedays I just don’t have the 15 minutes or so that it takes to patrol all the paved surfaces... I’m softhearted, but not quite a saint. I’m betting some of you do that, too...
Another thing I’ve needed to do is monitor the drainage in the kiddie pool beds. For the first six or seven storms, they drained beautifully, and the rhizomes were in nice, firm condition. This last deluge, however, exceeded the capacity of the holes I had drilled into the bottoms of the pools, and I was met with standing water in several of them four hours after the rain had finally quit. That was a surprise, since they’d done so well up until that point. Here’s what I saw:
A pool full of ‘Ensign’ and about a centimeter of standing water. Not good!
So, on with my Wellingtons, and my barn jacket, and again with the rubber gloves. I chose the largest drill bit in my collection, mucked to the bottom of the pool in several low spots, and drilled two holes in each pool that had standing water. Presto, problem solved. Well, so far, anyhow. We are expecting storms this weekend, so continued monitoring is in order!
I have to be careful when the ground is as wet as it has been, since, as I’ve mentioned before, our soil can turn to pudding very quickly. So as I make my rounds, I tread carefully, and thanks to my Wellies, I can cover most of the sloped terrain without trouble. What I can definitely recommend against is kicking a ball for your dogs while in your Wellies and on a wet slope. Yes, I slid and fell. The ground was so delightfully soft (and so was I) that I wasn’t injured. I was wet and muddy, and the dogs had no sympathy, so I sulked for a few moments and then got over myself. Note to self: Wellingtons don’t offer that kind of traction. Sigh.
Green slopes, mud puddles, and dogs chasing their tennis ball. Doesn’t look hazardous, right? Ha!
Another major task for this time of year is planting hybridized seeds. I know there are many opinions on how to store and plant your hybridized seeds, and I won’t pretend to be an expert on the topic. Chris has more than 300 seeds, though, and this year our climate is mild (one more ‘Thank You’ to the El Niño), so we planted about a third of them directly in raised beds with fresh soil in a protected area. For the record, the raised beds we are using look like this, and ten beds used 2 yards of soil. (I know! I was surprised it took that much, too!) I am quite excited to see what comes up in those beds (and the rest of her seeds are being planted in peat pots and more traditional methods). Keep your eyes peeled for updates on that!
Beds, prepped for iris seeds. I’m so excited to see how they’ll do!
(Note the double layer of wire beneath the beds to discourage visitors from below.)
And one more thing we’ve done between storms is clean beds of dead growth, Preen, fertilize, and apply a fungicide. So, if it’s not raining or freezing, I guess I’m going to be gardening. I know Winter is usually a down-season, and a good time to get caught up on the indoor work, but I just seem to be skipping that part of the program, and staying outside. Don’t worry about me, though. The minute it falls below 50°F you will find me inside, working on my 2016 planting database, or writing this charming blog. And no, I do not wear my galoshes when I write. Usually.
Thanks to Chris, the left side of the bed is the “before” clean up, the right side is the “after”
And one more, because Spring isn’t here yet!
'Texas Renegade' (William Maryott, R. 2002). Sdlg. Y115C. TB, 37" (94 cm). Midseason bloom. Brown-toned red maroon, Falls with blue violet flash below old gold beard. 'Juan Valdez' X W101Bst: ('Austrian Garnets' x 'Juan Valdez'). Maryott 2002.
