I think Iris may just be temperamental!!!

The ones growing next to my driveway, in what only knows compacted dirt,
bloomed quite awhile ago. The ones in front, from which I removed the extra
dirt I had used to cover the rhizomes (after reading here Iris preferred
that), and that I painstakingly watered & fertilized the last several years,
show no signs of flowers at all (although the plants look healthy to me).
I'm thinking about moving them to a location that gets full sun, and I'll
give them some better dirt [underneath!] if I move them.

The only thing that the "driveway" iris might have going for them is that
they are at a very low point, so they get a bit "boggy" if we have heavy
rain.

I found the website for the American Iris Society:
http://www.irises.org/growing.htm -- it may offer some helpful
information.

I don't know about the leaf spot problem, but the chicken manure might be
too much nitrogen for iris; however, if I'm not mistaken, extra nitrogen
encourages plant growth at the expense of flowers, so the rhizomes may be
fine and will bloom again next year.

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh


"laurie (Mother Mastiff)" wrote in message
...
Last year the iris bed (about 3 years old now and new corms added each
year)
bloomed PROFUSELY. I put some rotted chicken manure in their bed in late
summer and mulched with pine straw. There was nly space to add two new
corms.

This spring I was excited because of the big lovely bluish green leaves
(the
bed finally looked mature somehow, or close to full), but only two plants
(out of over 30) bloomed. I kept looking excitedly for the buds, but --
nothing!

What did I do wrong? If the chicken manure had too much nitrogen, what
can
I do now to balance things out?

Also, due to the rains, they are showing signs of leaf spot, which I have
never seen on iris before. What can I put on them for that? (Ideally,
something that won't wash off in our repeated rains!)

Please help, I adore my iris (they are a memorial garden for my
grandmother)
and am just sick at all the problems my ignorance of their needs has
obviously caused.

-- laurie brooke adams (Mother Mastiff) mastiffs at mindspring dot-com
***If a DOG could choose whether to just be beautiful, or to be sound
and healthy TOO, what do YOU think the dog would choose?***
(C) 2003 My words are my own. If you want to use them, ASK ME FIRST.

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