Keeping up (but not with the Joneses) :-)

Greetings from Region One, zone 5a, Omaha, Nebraska where yesterday morning (before the winds picked up) I treated nutsedge in the garden paths brought in with hardwood bark mulch a few years ago with Sedgehammer. The nutsedge had spread into bordering flower beds, as well as in and around daylilies. I sprayed fearlessly, though, as I need to eradicate the nutsedge. The label recommends a second treatment and I didn't have enough for that (so I bought more), as it took two batches to treat it this first time. I also learned how to use the pressurized spray tank I purchased for this purpose - a little scary, but the safety glasses I used as a precaution (and I) did just fine.

Today I spread Preen (late this year, but during most years would have been on time) throughout the paths and garden areas. I finished just in time ... as my father was taken to the hospital with what sounds like another ministroke (he's been having them over the past several days). I spread Preen today because it's getting almost too late for the first treatment (this year) and rain is forecasted for tonight.

My late grandmother's blue-lavender iris is FFO today. She didn't keep track of the name, but bought all her iris from the Sass brothers who lived in the Louisville area many years ago. I'll take a photo of it (time permitting). It almost died out - but became vigorous near the location I moved it to three years ago, next to the backyard fence where it gets full southern-exposure sun and sharp drainage. This iris, the only bearded iris I still grow, has multiplied exponentially from the three tiny struggling single fans I replanted. Small black ants moved in soon after I moved it there, have elevated the iris via their underground mounds/ant hills. Perhaps this is an example of a symbiotic relationship, as iris and ants both thrive. This iris has never shown signs of iris borer (never had that here on any iris cultivars, even the "modern" ones I formerly grew).

Mary Baker