Ox Growing on the High Plains; Plant Growing

This is NPR's All Things Considered. I'm no Adams. Garden is calling. While you're finding last year's garden gloves and gathering up this year's seed packets, why not take a minute to join me, Skip Mancini, for this week's edition of Growing on the High Plains. My grandmother called them flags. They're also known as the poor man's orchid because of the shape and color of the blooms. And because of the resilient nature, they're abundant on our dry and wind-swept plains. I'm talking about Iris, of course, one of the most popular flower choices for gardeners who want a bank of spring color with a minimum of time and effort. These tough guys of the garden can be counted on to send up spiky foliage with the first hand of warm weather. And unless they're nipped back by a drastic temperature

drop, they'll present blooms in May, just in time for Mother's Day and usually lasting through Memorial Day weekend. The old-time flags with their mauve petals are still seen in older sites, but today's Iris sport blooms in every color of the rainbow and then some, with the exception of a true red. Iris can be single-colored, bicolored, or variegated. They come in varying heights from tall to dwarf, and can be seen in both flower beds and garden ponds. I've gathered and given Iris starts for many years, and I'm always amazed by their tenacity. I've tucked a few rhizomes into a bucket of red Oklahoma dirt, driven them home to Kansas, forgotten about them for a couple of weeks, and then thrown the dried and apparently lifeless Iris bones into a space in my garden border. After giving them a good drink of water, voila, they bounce back to life and reward me the following year with spring blossoms and summer foliage. Last summer I cleaned out

and replanted all my Iris beds, resulting in a pickup load of leftovers. I parked it by our driveway, and announced to one and all that Iris' were free for the taking. Several weeks later, there were just a few stragglers lying in the dirt in one corner of the truck bed, and being a busy gardener, I just left them there, thinking I'd get my truck cleaned out sooner or later. Well, later, much later, someone commented on my traveling garden, referring to the thriving Iris' growing by the tailgate. Although Iris' are easy, they do require some care to look their best. Spring is the time to clear away old foliage, and to give them a nip of a low nitrogen fertilizer, plus a bit of bone meal. Work this into the soil about six inches away from the plant and water well. Two weeks after Bloom's fade, snap off old Bloom's stalks in order to keep seed pods from forming and sapping the energy of the plant. True Iris' aficionados give a second feeding at this time, but I've always

had good luck without it. Iris' beds need to be renewed about every three years in order to keep them from crowding, and this is best done in July or August. When moving or dividing plants, keep only healthy new rhizomes, and cut the foliage back to a fan shape a couple of inches above the tuberous root. Bores and rot are the only real problems one might encounter when growing Iris, and these problems are usually rare in our areas of the plains. So this spring, enjoy the many Iris' beds in our communities, and over Memorial Day weekend, look for flags flying in the breeze, both the stars and stripes for variety, and the horticultural kind. Growing on the High Plains is a production of High Plains Public Radio. It's written and hosted by Skip Mancini. We welcome your comments and questions. Please write to Growing on the High Plains 210 North 7th Street, Garden City, Kansas, 67846. And broadcast of Growing on the High Plains is made possible

in part by High Plains natural gardens dedicated to the preservation of diverse plant species, offering trees, shrubs, wildflowers, native grasses, and landscaping, 5202 River Road just south of the loop in Amarillo. There are so manyöffos at this... You