Iris season!!! photos

[iris lilies]

Here are a couple of photos of my main TB (tall bearded) iris bed:


http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1476&stc=1

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1475&stc=1

Here is the "stripey" bed: all iris have striped flowers or striped leaves:

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1477&stc=1

This one may be my favorite of the season, not sure yet. Each year I pick a favorite. This one is called "Plum Pretty Whiskers."

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1478&stc=1

[Tussiemussies]

Wow, your garden Iris beds are spectacular! Just as great as the Presby Iris Garden here in North NJ. Very nice work!!!

[rosarugosa]

Great photos, IL. Thanks for sharing with us!

[CathyA]

Beautiful!

[Float On]

Nice!!

[TxZen]

My favorite flower. Do you split them each year?

[iris lilies]

My favorite flower. Do you split them each year?

I split them every few years. Otherwise, they get too crowded and disease sets in or they lack room for further rhizome growth. Iris puts flowers on new rhizome growth.

A few years ago I had LOTS of iris jammed into a small backyard that was largely fenced (cut down on air circulation.) Even though they were in full sun, their crowding contributed to a terrible case of leaf spot. Since then I have ruthlessly culled them.

[Valley]

Beautiful...your hard work is reflected very well!

[Birdie]

Your iris are absolutely beautiful.

I have a Master gardener friend who trials new varieties of iris in her very large garden. She gets to split the rhizomes and keep one of every new trialed variety and she has something like 140 different varieties in her garden. She opens her garden for tours and a few of us go and see all the different varieties every couple of years.

[iris lilies]

Your iris are absolutely beautiful.

I have a Master gardener friend who trials new varieties of iris in her very large garden. She gets to split the rhizomes and keep one of every new trialed variety and she has something like 140 different varieties in her garden. She opens her garden for tours and a few of us go and see all the different varieties every couple of years.

haha I trial new varieties by buying them! But MidAmerica ( major hybridizeder) sends lots of extra freebies. They are generous to those of us who enter their iris into shows and win.

[Kestra]

Wow. Lovely!

I'm just excited that my spinach and lettuce have tiny sprouts now. And the trees are a bit leafy.

[razz]

Lovely! So grateful that you shared them as I don't have very much success with irises. Looking forward to the lily photos...:D

[Gardenarian]

Those are fabulous, IL!
I have a bunch of iris questions for you

1) I have irises planted in a border around the yard of my new house (yes, it looks sort of stupid. Like soldiers lined up) I must have over 100 and only 2 have blooms and I don't see buds on the others. Do irises do better in clumps?

2) Do they need water? (We've had regular rain almost weekly.)

3) Do they want to be fed?

4)I'm going to want to move mine - when is the best time to to that?

Thanks and congratulations on your gorgeous garden.

[catherine]

IL you are really doing wonderful things in that garden! Your neighbors are so lucky!

[iris lilies]

Those are fabulous, IL!
I have a bunch of iris questions for you

1) I have irises planted in a border around the yard of my new house (yes, it looks sort of stupid. Like soldiers lined up) I must have over 100 and only 2 have blooms and I don't see buds on the others. Do irises do better in clumps?

2) Do they need water? (We've had regular rain almost weekly.)

3) Do they want to be fed?

4)I'm going to want to move mine - when is the best time to to that?

Thanks and congratulations on your gorgeous garden.

l am always happy to talk about iris cultivation.

give them time for blooming although onen would think that you are only a bit behind us.

heres the one thing iris need:sun. Lots of sun. If you don't have that you will not have bloom. Keep them divided, that is one reason you may not have bloom. Each year, after bloom time, they grow new rhizome and that's what blooms the following year. Old clumps of iris that are in need of division will not bloom.

when you divide them and replant them, give them some compost In their new location. After that don't feed them. They don't need watering unless it is a drought. Do not plant them deeply.

when you divide them, look for the middle of the clump. It will be dead rhizome, that should be throw away.

its hard to know why yours are not putting on bloom, but my guess is lack of sunshine. Not all iris are alike, some will bloom their hearts out and increase into a huge clump after only 2 or 3 years. Others will poke along slowly, barely increasing, not producing much bloom.

[Gardenarian]

Yep, our oak tree is blocking a lot of the sun that maybe at one time shone on the irises. Seems like everyone else in town has masses of them blooming now. I'll give them some more time and see how they do.

Do you divide them/transplant in the fall?

Thank you!!

[iris lilies]

Yep, our oak tree is blocking a lot of the sun that maybe at one time shone on the irises. Seems like everyone else in town has masses of them blooming now. I'll give them some more time and see how they do.

Do you divide them/transplant in the fall?

Thank you!!

If yours aren't blooming, it doesn't matter when you divide them. If they are in bloom wait until after July 4th. You don't want to put additional stress on them coming out of bloom season. But to be frank, I often dig up iris and give them to people while they are in bloom--horrors! That is like asking a pregnant woman to ascend a mountain! But they come out of it. They are tough little beasts and if you give them a desert environment (hot dry sun!) they will reward you with bloom.

[Gardenarian]

Thank Iris! I'll give them some more time, then move them to the sunny bank in my backyard.

[SteveinMN]

Wow! I haven't yet seen that many flowers in one place here. Looks great, il ...

[iris lilies]

Today I started dividing a few iris, ones I don't care much about and I just want to get rid of them. I always forget how many plants come up from a dig. Good lord.

To those of you digging and dividing iris, I caution you to not try to plant every rhizome. No one has room for that. You will have to compost them unless you can give them to friends. It's unlikely anyone has room for all of the iris made available when dividing. Each year I divide iris and end up getting rid of them, but that's because I put big effort into it. I cut and clean them, pile them in my alley, and then put out a notice on neighborhood listservs. And these are really great, modern iris, too--they are not boring old granny iris.Inevitibly somone will ask "what color are they" and I can't answer that because I didn't mark any of them, that would be hours and hours of my time.

Later, in July, will be my big dig.

[CathyA]

I remember one year I thinned some bearded irises and I just couldn't use them all, so I forgot about them and left them just laying on the ground. And they all rooted and grew!
Seems like everything I have reproduces beyond belief. It's a lot of work to keep them thinned. Silly me.....years back I thought I'd plant perennials, so I wouldn't have so much work to do.
Good luck to you IL.........especially in July weather in S.L. for your big dig!

[kib]

Now see, THIS is what I expected to see when I got off the highway in St. Louis! Gorgeous, just gorgeous. Good job, Iris.