I am assuming these are German iris, the big voluptuous ones with lacy
falls and wonderful colors. They want good drainage and do not like high
nitrogen fertilizer. I imagine they hated the chicken manure. High
nitrogen fertilizer encourages rank leafy growth and poor flowering. The
leaves will be subject to rust. Divide them and forget the fertilizer.
Plant on top of the ground. They will take full sun to part shade. Cut
the leaves back this fall and throw them away to discourage
overwintering rusts and diseases. Good luck
Pat

laurie (Mother Mastiff) wrote:

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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