Re: CULT: cutting fans

On Thu, 5 Jun 1997 Rusty wrote:

> ... someone recently asked about cutting the fans.  You should only
> do this when digging them up and then replanting. 

Well, Rusty, as someone else wrote, there are no absolutes.  Another
reason for cutting fans, even if you are not digging and replanting, is to
remove diseased or other unsightly (as in frost-damaged) foliage.  I do
this to help prevent foliage diseases from spreading to other, as yet
healthy, clumps.  You are fortunate if you have healthy foliage and have
not had to worry about this. 

One year, a grower in our area who had a lot of problem with diseased
foliage cut all his fans back in early June not long after they were
through blooming and then drenched the trimmed plants with chlorine water
(I'd have to look up the proportions of chlorine bleach and water used). 
The results in improved foliage were dramatic.  He had profuse, gorgeous
bloom--and healthier foliage--the following year, so no harm done. 

It may not be necessary to remove the brown tips caused by frost damage,
but they aren't contributing anything to the plant and it makes the garden
look nicer.

Those who integrate their bearded irises into mixed perennial beds may
also like to trim the foliage back after the plants go dormant in summer
(July and Aug where I live) since beardless foliage at that time of year
can be unattractive and detract from the other plants in the bed. 
Beardless foliage, on the other hand, looks attractive all summer long in
a mixed bed.

Some iris growers in my area also like to cut back all the fans in
late fall when preparing their beds for the winter.  This reduces
the amount of dead foliage that eventually needs to be cleaned up so as
not to provide a hiding place for borers and other garden pests.

But basically you are right--don't cut healthy foliage while the plant is
growing or you rob the rhizome of nourishment it needs to grow, increase,
and bloom.  If your plants go through a dormant stage (as most of mine do
in July and Aug.) cutting foliage then really won't hurt and can improve
the aesthetics of the garden.

Lois Rose, in Central Virginia (Partlow, to be exact)
25 mi. SW of Fredericksburg in southern Spotsylvania County
on a little hill overlooking my murkey farm pond in the middle of 50 acres
USDA Zone 7; peak TB bloom May 15
LAs at peak; lots of JI buds
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index