2018 Aril Trek in Las Cruces
STORY Y ARLETT YRES, W O B SCphotos by sAcarlett ayNreEs unlMessE nXoItCed
The Aril Society International and the Mesilla
Valley Iris Society of Region 23 hosted the 2018 Aril
Trek in Las Cruces, NM, April 6–7. For those of you
who don’t know, Las Cruces is 30 miles north of the
border with Mexico and lies in the Chihuahuan desert.
The climate is arid and the average rainfall is 9–10
inches a year, which makes this a good area for growing
Arilbred irises. We need to supplement the rainfall
for all irises including
Arilbreds. Our spring
is quite dry with more
than half of the rainfall
occurring during the
monsoon season in late
summer. Unfortunately,
this monsoon season
occurs during a time
that can cause rot for
pure Arils but doesn’t
usually affect Arilbreds.
(Adequate drainage
or a clear rain cover
are needed for pure
Arils.) Temperatures
rarely go below 12° F or
above 107° F. We have
over 200 days a year
of crystal blue skies.
Gardens on the mesas
are about seven to ten days behind the valley gardens,
which makes for a good distribution of bloom time. Iris
borers and leaf spot are never a problem.
The five favorite irises chosen by the Aril Trek
attendees are ‘Sand Dancer’, ‘Refiner’s Fire’, ‘Bold
Awakening’, ‘Enchanter’s Spell’ and ‘Dubai’. Best plus
Arilbred (more than half Aril heritage) was ‘Dubai’,
OGB+. Best half Arilbred was a tie between ‘Bold
Awakening’ and ‘Sand Dancer’. Best minus Arilbred
(less than half Aril heritage) was ‘Signal Butte’.
Remember, a “minus” should have a least two Aril traits,
and a “half” or “plus” should have at least three.
There were gardens in each of the four compass
quadrants of Las Cruces on the tour. Each garden
setting varied. Soils vary across Las Cruces depending
upon whether the garden is on the east or west mesas
or in the fertile Mesilla Valley, which was formed by
repeated heavy spring flooding of the Rio Grande,
shifting its beds numerous times over tens of thousands
of years. The soil in the
valley is brought by the
Rio Grande River from
land to the north. The
clay soils found in the
valley, though about one
percent higher in organic
matter than those on the
surrounding mesas, may
be poorly aggregated
and therefore are
slow to drain (tenths
of inches per hour),
which can make salinity
a problem. Raised
beds are beneficial to
Arilbreds in this type
of soil. The soil on both
east and west mesa is
sandy loam which is quick
to drain, but poorer in
A favorite Arilbred iris of the Aril Trek attendees
‘Bold Awakening’ (Rick Tasco 2016, OGB)
organic matter and poor in micronutrients. The soil on
the east mesa consists of the Alluvial fans washed from
the Organ Mountains. Our soil is alkaline, our water
is alkaline…alkalinity is a fact of life. This may cause
micronutrient deficiencies in iron, zinc, manganese,
copper and nickel.
On the tour, we first headed to Bob and Jacquie
Pountneys’ garden, which is south of historic old
Mesilla. Bob said that when he first bought the
property, little yard maintenance was required.
However, his wife had other ideas and landscaped with
44 AIS Bulletin Summer 2018