RE: CULT: when to move bearded iris?

This is good to know since someone just gave me a sack of rhizomes.  My
question now is, when should I cut the iris back.  It looks like they
have finished blooming.  Does that mean it is time to cut them back or
do they start to die back first?  This is my first experience with iris.

Any help is appreciated.
Suzanne

>-----Original Message-----
>From:	John I. Jones [SMTP:jijones@ix.netcom.com]
>Sent:	Monday, May 18, 1998 11:11 AM
>To:	Multiple recipients of list
>Subject:	Re: CULT:  when to move bearded  iris?
>
>Cynthia Kermode wrote:
>> 
>--  snip  --
>
>> Can I safely move each class as it finishes bloom , rather than waiting for
>>the
>> textbook July-Aug recommendation for our area? It would help my cause!
>> Can I divide clumps as usual down to  single rhizomes, or should I leave
>>pairs
>> since I'd be moving slightly out of season?
>> Help! I need your hand-holding:-)
>
>Hi Cynthia
>
>I am sure others will chime in too (Please), but my advice would be to move
>them with as big a root ball as you can. You can really move irises *anytime*
>and they will mostly survive. The biggest impact of digging and dividing now
>would be to the bloom for next year. If you dig and divide now, you will
>interrupt the prime time for growing increases and storing up energy for next
>year. They will have to grow new root systems. That doesn't mean you won't
>get
>any bloom next year, just that some may be affected. There is (was) someone
>on
>the list from New Jersey who routinely digs and divides just after bloom, but
>I have never thought that was best for the irises. With a root ball somewhat
>intact the impact is significantly less. 
>
>
>Last summer I had to move some one year clumps that hadn't bloomed during the
>spring. I dug a root ball 12-15 inches in diameter and plopped them into a
>similar sized hole in their new location. This year you couldn't distinguish
>them from 2 year clumps. 7 and 8 bloomstalks each. They were wowser!
>
>If you really have to divide, I'd try the root ball process then in the
>summer, cut out the old pieces that you don't want without digging the entire
>clump, thus preserving as much of the root structure as possible. 
>
>John                     | "There be dragons here"
>                         |  Annotation used by ancient cartographers
>                         |  to indicate the edge of the known world.
>
>John Jones, jijones@ix.netcom.com
>Fremont, California, USA, Earth, USDA zone 8/9 (coastal, bay) 
>Max high 95F/35C, Min Low 28F/-2C average 10 days each
>Heavy clay base for my raised beds.
>There are currently 83 Iris pictures on my Website. Visit me at:
>http://members.home.net/jijones
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index