Re: What can I plant with iris?
- To: i*@Rt66.com
- Subject: Re: What can I plant with iris?
- From: t*@Lanl.GOV (Tom Tadfor Little)
- Date: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 11:01:12 -0700
Rosemary asks
:Can anyone think of any reason that I couldn't plant some zinnias along
:the front edges of the iris beds to hide the foliage after they bloom?
:Would zinnias interfere with/compete with the rhizomes? I'd like to plant
:a combination of some sweet alyssum, zinnias, and maybe nasturtiums. Any
:thoughts? TIA!
If they're far enough from the irises that their stems don't sprawl over
and block off the sun and air, it should be fine. The medium-sized zinnias
might be especially useful for this purpose. I have a fondness for the
bright red-and-gold Mexican zinnias myself.
You might get the impression by listening to iris specialists that irises
can't handle any companion plantings at all. That's not really true. (I
think many iris fanciers secretly adore the sight of long rows of iris
foliage with pristine soil between them.) Aside from the standard gardening
advice of making sure each plant has enough space to draw water and
nutrients from the soil, the only real worry for the irises is that other
plants will grow around them and make moist, stagnant, shady conditions
too close to the rhizomes.
In my garden, I mix irises very successfully with other plants. Irises
_are_ suitable for a mixed perennial border.
There is one final complication of growing irises in a mixed planting:
they need dividing in mid-summer, when practically nothing else does,
making it difficult to ever completely re-do the bed if it contains
a mix of irises and other plants.
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Tom Tadfor Little tlittle@lanl.gov -or- telp@Rt66.com
technical writer/editor Los Alamos National Laboratory
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Telperion Productions http://www.rt66.com/~telp/
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