goats beard iris?

I've read where you should dig up the bulbs in summer for some reason. should I do anything to this bed of irus's?

here they are in bloom.

No, irises are not dug up in summer, no matter where you are. (They are rhizomes, not bulbs.) What you are referring to is the practice of digging up spring-blooming bulbs (tulips, daffodils) after they bloom - its only sensible to do this in display gardens, and in areas where these plants would not be perennial (i.e. where they don't get the winter chill period they need).

I have some that I need to move because of some remodeling we are doing. Is it ok to dig them up in the summer and move them?. (I really don't have any choice.)

Summer's not the best time to move things so if you have a choice I would always recommend transplanting things during cooler times of year. But if the remodeling won't wait and they're going to get dug up anyway, then you have nothing to lose by trying to transplant them somewhere else.

thanks for the info. the people that lived here before us must have loved them . they are planted everywhere. Could I trim the unsightly foliage?

This message was edited Jul 19, 2009 5:12 PM

Sure you can trim the unsightly foilage and if any is dead looking you can just pull those out. Once established they're very hardy and it won't hurt them.

Great ! I'm tired of looking at the unsightly folage.

I hate to disagree with anyone but the time we dig and transfer Iris here in Louisiana is in August. A lady I know, has a zillion Iris moves hers 2 weeks after they stop blooming.

Just got around to clicking on the picture possum and they sure are purty. Wouldn't mind having a bunch of those blooming in my yard.

Time to divide iris here is after they bloom, in July. This is an exception to the general rule of perennial division in spring or fall.

Do you guys up north have trouble with the borers. We have to dig ours up every couple of years and cut off the part of the rhyzones with hole in them and replant.

Am no expert on iris, but have used them in several perennial gardens. Think they need space, so using numbers of them is better in larger perennial beds.Have seen little or no evidence of bored-out iris rhizomes in the several beds, with irises, that I've installed and maintained.

Don't think it is just luck. Tend to like neat, toxic chemical free gardens and do a lot of cleaning up perennial beds through the growing season (deadheading, cutting back, staking, weeding, etc). Like to be able to monitor the soil surface, as possible. Where I have irises in perennial beds, I severly cut back their leaves about six weeks after blooming and clean out any fallen debris on and around the dormant iris rhizomes. The borer's eggs overwinter in the debris and on-line sources emphasize sanitation with irises. Think that doesn't just include removing diseased plant tissue.

Below: these mainly "heritage irises" were put in 4 or 5 years ago. They came from another location, I'd been maintaining, probably 15 years. I've seen little or no evidence of the borer over that time.

Can't say how typical this is of northern gardeners. Sorry to hear of Jim's experience. For me, the great curse is lily beetle - just don't use oriental lilies, fritillarias and toad lilies any more.

Jim - Had some Iris for years out front that were just beautiful and then one summer, boom, they just declined and were dying. I suspected borers and sure enough when I dug them up they were loaded with them. I lost alot of them but they have now come back strong. That's the only time I've gotten them and don't know what triggered that.

I haven't dug our up in a couple of years but we did have a bad bloom this year. Might better take a shovel to them for a look see. Last time I dug them I had to cut away most of the rhyzome. Thanks, medinac.

We also dig in July and August, cut back the leaves, cut back the rhizomes, dip in a bleach solution, leave to dry for a few days and then replant. The old portion of the rhizomes no longer serve a purpose so they're better off discarded.

How's my friend pirl? Didn't know I needed to did the rhizomes in a bleach solutions. Makes sense.

Fine, Jim. Ready to go out and dig until the humidity cuts the day too short.

Know what you mean. Ours is running about 90 per cent. Promised the wife I wouldn't get to hot, been sick. She went to get her hair fixed so I'm the boss right now. Think I'll go pull up dead tomatoes. Have a good day.

Oh yeah, I had never heard iris called "goats beard." Reason I looked at the thread initially was to see what they were talking about.

Was her hair broken?

You sure your not a red neck Pirl. I got to think up a snappy answer. I know one you'll like, "get a goat."

Ha! Had one once!