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Re: Iris borers

> Just the other day I was speaking with the gardeners where I work and they were
> complaining about doing battle with the nasty, pinkish white iris borers. I
> went home and checked my irises and saw the telltale crumbs around the rhizomes
> and the spotty foliage. I have dug them up, cut away the yucky parts, trimmed
> the leaves and rolled the good rhizomes in rotenone. Now, my question is this-
> do I dig up and discard the soil they were in? I need to put them back where
> they were because I promised my husband I would not colonize the lawn any
> further with my perennial border.  Any advice or additional techniques on how
> to handle this scourge would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Stacey,

   You could put them back in the same location, but you should probably 
treat the soil.  Using Cygon in late fall and early spring should work (it's
a systemic insecticide).  Lindane is also reported to work.

   Make sure that you get rid of all litter around the irises -- the borer
moths like to lay their eggs on iris debris.

Chris
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