Re: Dividing African Irises.

  ----- Mark Said:

  >>     I have been asked when is the proper time to divide African Irises in
  Florida, and what would be the best way to do this?  Any ideas?<<

  Yes, I agree with Gerry on the score of when to divide.  Anytime that suits
you should be okay.

  When you do dividide the plants out remember:

  a)  Any leaves that you "cut-down" when re-planting will take a long time (6
months or more) to die back.  This can make newly divided and re-planted
plants look pretty scruffy for a while.  So, if you can re-plant any divided
plants with their foliage intact, the new plants will look much nicer.

  b) Dietes will only bloom from established flowering stalks, so when
dividing and re-planting it's wise to keep the established flowering stalks
and extensions intact.  We usually tie any long foliage and established
flowering stems up with string and support them with a bamboo stake until the
newly re-planted divisions have re-established themselves.  If you won't want
to worry about losing flowers for a while, then cut them off.  Otherwise, keep
them on and enjoy flowers on any new plants fairly quickly.

  Dietes Grandiflora and Dietes Bicolor are used extensively here in Sydney
for road-side plantings and in public park etc.  Even though we are in the
midst of the worst drought in Sydney (and the rest of Australia, for that
matter) for the last 160 years, most dietes public plantings are still looking
green, while many other things have given up the ghost.

  Cheers for now,
  Heather Pryor
  Sunny (again!) Sydney.
  Land of Oz
  irishaven@pip.com.au
  or irishaven1@hotmail.com
  Website: www.irishaven.com.au

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index