Re: CULT: digging/dividing times

  My basic question is, "What's really the
> optimum time, relative to bloom season, for this to take place?" 
>   (1) I used to do
> this for my bearded iris as soon as I could find the time after bloom
> season.  Then I read WORLD OF IRIS, and saw that no less an authority
> than Ben Hager advised 6-8 weeks after floom as optimum.  Ever since
> then I have been trying to follow, more or less, that advice of an
> obvious expert, but I can't notice any better or less success than my
> old way of the unlearned. 

	Arnold, dividing time depends on where you are, I think.  If you 
have had success with 'right after bloom time,' I would continue 
with that.  Your summers are obviously not so hot and dry as ours 
in the southern tier of states are.

	In hotter parts of the country, it is not wise to divide right after 
bloom time because of the onset of heat and humidity in May. If 
planted in the open in the sun where I live, the plants just sit and 
sulk.  The soil temperature is too high for new roots to grow.  Many 
plants will be lost as a result.

	Three freshly dug bearded rhizomes were given to me in early 
June last year along with a Louisiana.

	It was a struggle to keep the bearded alive even in pots and in 
the shade.  I thought they would never come out of transplant 
shock and grow.  I kept the LA in a bucket of shallow water until 
Sept when I finally planted it.  It had no problems and actually 
increased in the bucket of water.




 (2)Should i. brevicaulis be treated the
> same as the bearded iris in this regard?  If not, when should I dig
> them?  I have never dug this before, having had it only a few yea    I
> know the answer has to be in relationship to bloom season, whatever
> that may be for you, because we live in such different climatic zones,
> but I'd be very interested in any expertise/experience you can give.
> Arnold
> 
	I think I would leave the brevicaulis alone until September if at 
all possible.  If not, put them in a bucket of shallow water in the 
shade and be sure to change the water often.


Walter Moores
Enid Lake, MS 7/8 USA (bone dry here)



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