?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? On 11/15/2014 6:19 PM, penstemon wrote: > >> In the literature, especially the rock garden literature, there are >> articles (some of which read like calculus puzzles and kept me tied >> in knots) discussing drainage. To make a long story short, I think >> it's largely bunk as far as most summer dormant plants are concerned. > > It's complete bunk as far as anything having to do with plants is > concerned, but seems to have some relevance growing plants in > wet-winter climates. (I have the Deno quote about "drainage" right > here on the laptop but am too lazy to include it.) > As far as I know, onco species like Iris iberica, paradoxa, barnumae, > etc., grow in climates almost identical to mine. I get a little more > rain in July and August than do, say, Erzurum and Van. > I suspect that the rain is delivered to the plants there as it is > here, by thunderstorms, and all at once. The soil here never stays > wet; it never rains all day, and it never rains in winter. (The only > all-day precipitation we get here is in the form of snow, like today.) > Nothing happens to the dormant irises here if they are rained on. The > plants don't need any kind of protection (except from rabbits) or > special cultivation techniques. > Growth in spring starts after the snow melts, with occasional rain and > hail precipitation "events". The hail sometimes destroys flower buds, > which is extremely annoying. (Understatement.) > > Bob Nold > Denver, Colorado > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/