Moving iris late in the fall

To all caught late in the season with iris to move and Julie Irwin.

  TB iris can be moved very late in the season if you dig and replant the
same day, not allowing the roots to dry out in sun - cover until you can get
them back in the ground. They will not be set back more than just a wee bit.
Must mulch for frost protection to avoid heaving in the spring. Otherwise
newly planted rhizomes will be heaved right out of the ground. If it is
impossible to replant -- its been raining here for weeks it seems and all is
mud - then the next best way is to pot them and store in a cold place just
above freezing - possibly a garage or unheated basement. For years I potted
all the CIS acquisition iris received any time in the fall, put these
expensive imports in 8" clay pots and stored in my garage workshop where
there was little if any freezing. Planted out in the spring as soon as the
ground was fit to work they all bloomed as if they had been there over a year.

Bruce Richardson (near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)
Bruce Richardson (near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
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