TALL BEARDED IRISES IN THE 2014 BEDS--BLOOMS IN 6 WEEKS

With rain or snow in the past two weeks, the TALL BEARDED IRISES are growing nicely, with blooms expected in about 6 weeks. I will be putting on a fertilizer this week or next. Use one that is low in nitrogen--6-10-10- or 5-10-10--as irises don't like a lot of nitrogen, and you risk losing the rhizome if you use one that's higher. Companion plants lupine, peonies, poppies and others, all look good. The moisture we got has helped in their good growth. The hybrid tea roses are not doing as well. Because of several days of sub-zero temperatures without the insulation of snow this past winter, the winter kill has been devastating to them. Any roses that have new growth will be pruned hard--to that growth. This means some will be pruned almost to the ground.  Hybrid tea roses are generally grafted on a nondescript wild rose, and so if the bloom is the wild one, the rose will have to be replaced. When they bloom, if the rose is true to its name, I will keep it, otherwise, I know that it's growing below the graft, and the wild one is all I'll ever get. I'm hoping that I have some that will be viable.