anybody have experience with Irises ...? need some advice

[Tuesday Afternoon]

I transplanted mine early this spring and they looked great although they did not bloom. A friend told me they would never bloom because they were planted too deep. So, I moved them and just barely covered them. Now, they look pitiful and sad. Should I dig them back up and trim back the dead and replant them again?

Or should I just let them alone and hope for the best next spring?

:shrug:

[mopinko]

1. they need to be wet.

something i just found out while looking for plants for a rain garden. explains why mine were always getting destroyed by corm worms and my neighbors were gorgeous. he has an automatic watering system.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. will water more. thanks.

:hi:

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. It actually depends upon the types of Iris. for the typical large flowered bearded Iris,

they do need to have their Rhizomes exposed to the elements - meaning baking in the sun. They also need pretty much full sun to bloom well. In Raleigh, our iris that bloom best are on rock hard, clay soil, rhizomes half exposed, and roast and bake in the summer - and we never water them. Iris planted too deep and/or in mostly shaded areas will have nice foliage but few to no blooms.

If you moved and barely covered them, they will need regular watering until they re-root and catch on - and will need a year to recover before they bloom. So, sounds like the best plan is to keep them watered and anticipate nice blooms next year.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

3. ok thanks. I will water more and hope for next year.

[WhiteTara]

5. My suggestion is that you cut back the leaves to about

one inch above the root. They will look sad and bulby, but feed them with some bulb food water them well and leave them for the rest of the season. If you have interplanted then other things will cover the roots, if not, they'll be fine until the next blooming season.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

6. ok will do. thanks.

[trud]

7. I did read

plant them shallowly. Also, I have mine on the edge of a "dry stream bed" that I use to channel a lot I mean a lot of rain runoff through, full sun, no fertilizer, and they are flourishing like a green bay tree, so they don't seem to mind water.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

8. I plopped in two irises last fall that a friend gave me..

One did great, and actually has one bloom, the other was attacked by slugs and is looking sad and barely alive.

that's the extent of my experience with Iris. :shrug: But my guess is to leave them alone, water well, and let them recover.

[Curmudgeoness]

9. I have planted bearded irises "too deep", and they still did well

after the first year or two. Also, they did end up with rhizomes at the surface, I don't know whether it was heaving from winter freezes or if the plants actually rooted that way, but they ended up at the surface in a few years without help from me. Don't sweat it too much.

[Botany]

10. real iris info

Iris should be transplanted AFTER they are done blooming so they will be on cycle to bloom next year

You should divide them and cut back the leaves so they are no longer then 6" from the base of the roots to the end of
the leaf

plant them about 2 " under the SOIL and then lightly MULCH them ..... I like feeding them w/ Espoma plant tone or bulb tone

water 2 to 3 times per week for about 1 month to 6 weeks.

Iris like wet feet too

They will start pushing new leaves very soon

[LWolf]

11. My only experience with iris

was with a bed in place when I moved into my previous place; I spent 4 years digging them up and moving them everywhere; I never fed them, put in no compost, paid no attention to depth or spacing, and they thrived, spread, and bloomed everywhere I put them.

:shrug:

[Blue Gardener]

12. Are they Bearded Iris?

Check your state's extension service website. They should have some information.
This is information from Iowa State University Extension.

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/article/yard-and-garden-iris