Potting iris

Sally Guye wrote:
> 
> I read with interest and apprehension Mike Lowe's excellent advice on
> Same Soil blues.  But it is a very small yard we are talking here.
> One is hard put to know where the new ones ordered can be planted let
> alone find any virgin soil.  The policy in the past was as a clump
> got big,  we divided and replanted some in a new area but there is a
> limit.  I was viewing with distaste  the amount of paving and then
> remembered someone mentioned tubs.  Can one grow
> Beardeds in tubs -  how deep and how wide should they be?  Any advice
> thankfully received.
> Sally in South Africa  - lovely spring day but beastly Berg Wind

Chris replies:
If I can assume are talking tall beardeds bere, I would say go ahead and
try it! Fun gardening should be something of an experiment! Other
sections of bearded iris(medians) would work as well or even possibly be
better suited to this than TB's. TB's in pots might prove to be a bit
top heavy and blow over just when they have buds or blooms on them.
Larger tubs or planters with more weight to them would probably be
better in this case. I would also expect that TB's would have to be dug
up, divided and re-planted every year.
I have currently got 8 TB's planted in 8 inch diameter pots. The soil
mixture that I used was a mixture of more or less equal parts of
vermiculite, perlite and sphagnum peat moss with a litle sand thrown in.
The iris were planted about 1 month ago and seem to be quite happy with
new growth of both leaf fans and new increases starting on all the
rhizomes. I let the soil mix dry out almost completely between
waterings. Avoiding overwatering and excellent drainage is a key item
with these TB's.

Our winters are quite severe on plants with extreme shifts in
temperature so I am commencing an experiment to winter these plants over
in my unheated garage where the temperature will be more steady. This
will also provide protection from:
1.The drying winter winds. 
2.The sun which can start to stimulate growth in the plants in a winter
warm period (40-50 F) and then the quick weather change (overnight) to
extreme cold (0 F) which then damages the main rhizome. 
3.Some cool weather (35-50 F) fungal infections that may be present in
the normal garden soil. (botrytis)

I am undecided as yet whether to pop these plants into the ground in
early spring (April) or to let them try to bloom in the pots. In
retrospect, the pots that I used (8 inch dia.size) are probably a bit
too small to leave them in so I will likely plant the irises into the
ground as soon as I can in the very early spring. I'm not counting on
blooming this next year from these plants but I am counting on
overwinter survival! This was my main reason for doing this. If I get
bloom from them this next year I would consider that to be a bonus I
will gladly accept!
Hope this helps. Have fun digging in your garden.
-- 
Christopher Hollinshead
Mississauga, Ontario  Canada  zone6b
AIS Region 16
Director, Canadian Iris Society
Newsletter Editor, Canadian Iris Society
e-mail: cris@netcom.ca
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