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Cheryl Isaak · 11-08-2010, 01:12 PM posted to rec.gardens

On 8/6/10 4:18 PM, in article ,
"David E. Ross" wrote:

On 8/6/10 5:00 AM, Cheryl Isaak wrote:
OK - here's the deal in as few words as possible. My existing bearded iris
bed is overgrown and needs to be moved and divided up. Worse, the location
has become filtered afternoon sun over the last few years. (bed has been
there, with semi-regular division for at least 10 years.)

I'm thinking of just lifting them all up, dividing and cleaning and moving
them to an existing bed which has good drainage. I'd move all those plants
up to the old iris bed, where most of them will do fine until I finish the
great rearrange of the gardens. (As an aside, I'm thinning my daylily
collection, and otherwise changing the garden up.) New bed is unlikely to
become shady in the next decade.

My other concern, is since this new iris bed will be "front and center", it
will be boring unless I find some good companions that like the same summer
conditions.

So - Make the move now while I have the time or wait until it starts to cool
down and hope I have the time. Watering is not an issue.

Thanks

Cheryl

Monitor what is happening in your local nurseries (real nurseries, not
lumber yards or hardware stores). When bare-root bearded irises first
appear for sale, wait one week. Then dig and divide.

If you are moving the iris to a new bed, prepare that bed while waiting
for the time to dig and divide. If your soil is clay (as is mine), add
a generous amount of gypsum to the new bed when you prepare it. This
will give the gypsum time to break up the clay before planting the iris
there.

Don't forget to put some bone meal or superphosphate in the bottom of
the planting holes (old and new beds). Cover lightly with
non-fertilized soil so that disturbed iris roots do not directly touch
the fertilizer. The phosphorus will promote flowering.
Hmm- I've had some bad luck using bone meal - seems to drive the critters
wild and they dig every thing up. Like all 500 daffodil bulbs. I see a bag
of superphosphate in my future.

My bearded iris seem to do okay with part-sun. I would suspect that any
lack of flowering is more likely to do with crowding than with the
amount of sunlight. I thoroughly divide each iris bed about every third
or fourth year, doing a different bed each year so as spread the effort
from year to year.

See my http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_divide_iris.html.

You're a LOT warmer than I am - while the map tells me I Zone 5a, I garden
as if I'm Zone 4. The winter winds whip in and swirl around a bit and the
cold air settles in. I can measure as much as 6 degrees different from the
top lawn (hill top) to the bottom lawn and vernal pond area.

Thanks again guys