RE: Re: Louisianas

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I have grown Louisianas in a variety of containers.  Some have worked well, others have not.  My best luck growing in containers has been in pots with no drain holes and in containers with drain holes that are sitting in pools of shallow water (2-3 inches).  In these situations, the irises have grown and bloomed exceedingly well, provided that the pots were wide enough.

On the other hand, I had put quite a few Louisianas in containers that drained and that were sitting under a sprinkler system.  They received around an hour a day of water.  While the irises in these pots did not dry out, they did not thrive.  A number of less vigorous varieties were lost over the course of ! a year or two, and for most, the size of the rhizomes declined.  A few particularly vigorous cultivars seemed to do well enough, but generally this was not a good approach.  I can’t say I kept these pots weed free, but I did fertilize some, usually with Osmocote.  It might well be the case that the soil mixture was too light.  For some of the plants, I probably used inexpensive topsoil from Home Depot, or something like potting soil,  for some of the plants.  The water ran through fairly rapidly, and  I suspect that a heavier, clayey mix that retained the moisture would have been much better.  In the future, however, I will not put Louisianas in containers unless I can create little bogs for them.

I have found that Louisianas planted in normal garden beds w! ith watering on a timer also makes them happy, at least In Lou! isiana soils.   The muckier their situation, the better they do, especially in containers.  Louisianas do love constant moisture. 

Patrick