Xref: kermit rec.gardens:269540

In article ,
"Charles \"Stretch\" Ledford"
wrote:

Greetings, all...

Can anyone tell me why Iris bulbs planted in the fall of the year here
in Richmond, VA, might not bloom in the Spring? They came up and had a
lot of nice foliage, but no blooms last year.

They're up again this spring, with a lot of foliage. I'm just hoping
they bloom this year.

Thanks in advance!

You say "bulbs" so I'm not sure what you planted. If they were Iris
reticulata corms, then they certainly should've bloomed last year & this
year, late winter or early spring. If they were Iris danfordea corms, that
one skips blooming a year now & then, though it doesn't usually skip the
first spring after autumn planting. These are dwarf irises. I would assume
you meant regular large irises, except those aren't bulbs or corms, &
they're not expected to bloom this early in in the year. If that's what
you planted though, the big thick roots can be shocked by being
transplanted, divided, dried, stored, shipped, screwed with in anyway,
despite that it is necessary to divide them every few years even so. After
being mucked with they very often skip a year blooming & work on
re-settling their roots only. They'll probably bloom their second year
fine, but the bloom time would likely be May. Foliage appears way ahead of
blooms, & lasts a while after. Not all irises are equally reliable, & some
won't bloom if there's too much shade. If you have some other kind of
bulbous iris I am not considering, I haven't another guess. Things like
evergreen gladwyn iris if planted as seeds or seedlings won't bloom for a
few years & that's totally normal.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/