Re: Can I move my iris?

Julie Irwin wrote:
> 
> We find out if we close on our new house next week...an older farm
> house on a couple of acres.  My question to the list is dare I move my
> iris this late in the season?  If I should try to move all 250 do you
> think the odds are good that all to most will survive?  I suppose I
> could have a clause written into the contract when we sell this house
> that I will come in the spring and remove all the iris from the
> yard...???  Any advice, help, or suggestions would be most
> welcome.*smile*
> Julie Irwin  USDA zone 5  Illinois

Chris replies:
Although not exactly recommended, I have sucessfully moved bearded iris
as late as the end of October here in zone 6. Similar to your Illinois
climate except for possibly the moderation effect of Lake Ontario. 

Bloom next year will be affected (you have less the later you move them)
But you will have your iris!
I'd go for it now. A winter mulch will be important this year.

When replanting just make sure to push the soil down very firmly around
the newly replanted rhizomes and you should be okay. You might consider
an application of a winter protective mulch over your irises. (probably
will be helpful to all your other plants as well) This mulch would
consist of getting a bale or two of straw from a nearby farm and
covering the garden beds with the straw a couple of inches thick so it
forms a nice thick mat. This is not to keep the plants warm but keep
them cold! The mulch controls the particular problem of extreme cold
with little or no snow cover mixed with intermittent warm periods during
the winter. The alternate freezing and thawing is what damages the
plants. 
When to apply the mulch? Depends on the first onset of winter cold...
but usually I wait until the ground gets frozen hard for the first
time... usually the end of November or start of December here in
Ontario. Take it off about the end of March. (again somewhat depending
on the local prevailing weather conditions) 
Good luck with the move.

-- 
Christopher Hollinshead
Mississauga, Ontario  Canada  zone6b
AIS Region 16
Director, Canadian Iris Society
Newsletter Editor, Canadian Iris Society
e-mail: cris@netcom.ca
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