Fifteen plus inches of rain and iris don't mix

How are you other Southern iris people making out in this storm?

We've had over fifteen inches of rain since yesterday here and are expecting about six more. This was to be my "Iris Open House" week end. Haven't had the heart to do much exploring in the downpours, but did notice that in part of my new AB bed all the iris are gathered in one area under mud with just the tips showing and no pawpaw labels in sight.

(Not mentioning the two inches of rain in the basement, the flooded guest room, water dripping from the kitchen light fixture, and the electrical short caused while one of my cars was in the driveway and had to have it towed away with lights flashing, horn blowing and windows raising and lowering on their own.....)

It's really a mess in and around Nashville and people have lost their homes and are without power and drinking water, interstates are closed, etc.

How are the rest of you faring?

Neil

Fortunately we've had only a little rain up here from this same storm system. I watched some news coverage this morning on Fox News Channel, and the pictures are staggering; especially the flooded roadways in central and western TN. I can only imagine very sympathetically what everyone must be going through. Prayers and heartfelt thoughts go out to all of you!!

Neil

My heart goes out to you in Nashville that got hit so hard by the storms and flooding. I'm in Readyville, TN and I live on a hill side, so I don't have to worry about flooding. Aside from blooms getting blown around and tore up by the wind and the heavy rain, I'm fairing pretty well here. May have to push some of the tags back down into the ground, which is very minor compared to what you all are facing there in Nashville. Hoping that you won't get what's anticipated as yet to come.

Cathy

I've had about 7-inches of rain here in Gilbertsville, KY since Friday night (1½ hours NW from Nashville on I24). All open flowers have been pretty well destroyed, however, most still have other buds yet to open-so all isn't lost. Quite a bit of wind with the heavy downpours have put quite a few on stalks on the ground, and I have spent most of the day cleaning the beds. Peak bloom coming up this next week will not be quite as showy as had been thought, but still okay.
Dennis

We had the same type of conditions here in March, 14" of water in our basement. It takes a long time to recover, although ours is not a finished basement. Hope all the people whose houses were destroyed can apply for relief. Insurance companies are terrible about covering water damage.

Things continue to get worse here now that all the rivers are rising. Unfortunately all the interstates come directly through Nashville, and most are closed in several places. The city of Franklin is pretty much under water. A real mess. Glad no one here has been flooded.

Oh, sending heartfelt prayers to you in TN. I am north central Ky, and we had over 6 inches of rain, in 4 days. So it is soggy, and the blooms that were open are pretty well destroyed, but have plenty more buds, and am just hoping that I get to see all of them open. This is only the 2nd year for most of mine, and I am anticipating the great colors.

I am going to be inspecting mine when I get home from work this afternoon. Also hoping that the storms and heavy rain didn't break too many stalks. I know that I will need to stake a lot of them now that they have taken this beating. At least the rest of the week the weather is anticipated to be nice.

Cathy

So sorry Neil. I know you have some beauties. Wait so long for winter to end and then see your spring blooms destroyed.

I know there are much worse things than losing your gardens. I also know how heartsick you must be. May God bless and protect you and yours.
Jackieshar

Thanks, Jackie, but I realize they are only flowers.....and it means I'll have to stay alive one more year to see them bloom....lol

Cathy- hope yours aren't too bad. I went out this morning and covered the ones that had washed completely out of the ground (I'm on a hill, too) and uncovered a few that were buried in mud up to their tips. But it was too muddy to do much else. And I'm hoping all the water drown whatever has begun burrowing under my iris beds...... This sun should help dry things up. Thank goodness iris are pretty hardy!!

We lived in Nashville for awhile. So sad to see all the destruction water can do.

Hope you're safe still, Neil. That's the most important part.

Most of mine are doing okay, there were just a few with droopy bloom stalks that were wilted over. I took pictures of some that opened today and will try to post the pics a little later this week.

Mother nature can be pretty mean sometimes. I feel so bad for all of you that have lost blooms this year. You wait a whole year to see their beauty and then this happens. I have my fingers crossed here. A lot of my TBs have flower buds on them, which is pretty early for me here, and they are predicting Friday high 56, low 36, Saturday high 45, low 32 with possibility of snow, so we will see. Hopefully they will be wrong.
.

Neil- I am so sorry for the losses you have suffered. Perhaps some will be salvagable when the water subsides. If not, I can help with replacements. Just let me know.
Becky

Becky-

Very sweet of you to offer, but I'll be fine. I just saw in two beds with about 60 iris in them that all the soil is washed away from the rhizomes and most of the roots, so guess I know what I'll be doing first thing in the morning.

Car estimate is $2600 so far to just fix the one obvious problem so they can then see what other electrical system problems there are.......

ouch!