My neighbors had a box of irises sitting by the curb today with a sign saying "FREE", so I took some! LOL Now, what do I need to do with them?
If anybody wants some, I can check in the morning to see if the box is still out there.
I Rescued These Iris Clumps Today
Get up bright and early Easter morning, and plant them in some median where thousands of people will get to enjoy them every spring.
I used to Gorilla Garden my elderly neighbors mailboxes with iris. I put 3 or 4 a few years ago and now they have about 30. They all knew it was me of course.
Put them in the ugliest place you can find and they will make it beautiful in 2 years with no care at all. Make sure not to plant them too deep like I did once. That is about the only way you can kill them.
I have about 25 iris I got from a friend a few days ago.. color unknown.. he moved into a house with a huge iris bed and told me to take what I want so I did!!!...lol..there were amaryillis mixed in so I got those too..lol... Im hoping they are any color but white.. I have plenty of those I got from an old house being torn down a few years ago.. they are tough guys Iris are..
I have tons of whites but received a bunch of pinks and sorta blacks two years ago. One pink is about 4 feet high right now and about to open.
I decided to take a pic or two.
Closeup
Pretty! I have no idea what color these are, so it'll be fun to see next year when they bloom. The house was empty for several months before they purchased it and before that, the people who lived there really didn't care for them, so I know they are very low-maintenance.
I posted on the iris forum and someone told me to rinse them off and separate them, then soak in 10% bleach water.
How deep do I need to plant them? How far apart do I plant them? Do I need to whack the tops off like you do with daylilies?
jujube tx... wow those are tall!!! if you ever decide to thin the blacks keep me in mind.. Id be happy to trade you something for it...
steph.. cut them in to a fan shape leaving about 3 to 4 inches of leaves.. then plant them just barely below the surface of the ground..about a hands width apart. the top of rizome needs to be almost exposed to get blooms.. dont know if youll get blooms next year but you should get them the following year.. I dug my cemetary iris up in April and the following March I had blooms.. good luck!!
Thanks so much for your help. I've never grown irises before that weren't already established. Can they take full sun?
yes they can..lol.. Ive mine planted in full sun, in shade and everything in between.. the ones that get the most sun seem to bloom better but they all get shade sometime during the day.. they make a great foundation planting because of the root system.. you can see then under my oak tree with the azelas I planted..this was taken in spring of 08 .. looking at that same area now, what a difference 2 years makes..its lot fuller now .
This message was edited Mar 25, 2010 9:22 PM
Mine grow in deep shade to scorching all day sun. I loosen the soil about 4 inches deep for the roots but the bulb part is right at the surface. Sometimes they fall over so I put a rock on them for the first week. Then I make sure to forget all about them until next year when they bloom.
Okie dokie! I'm ready for the adventure! I'll clean them up tomorrow after work and go from there. Now I just have to decide where I want to plant them.
When do you all divide your iris plants.
I've read that it's best to do so in the summer.
Iris can be done afte they bloom ... I usually do mine in the fall
Thanks, I've gotta divide mine this year, wasn't looking forward to doing that in July/August. Didn't think it was that important to wait till summer---I dug, divided, and transplanted mine from a fellow DG'er in the late spring and they bloomed great the next year.
Iris update.
The pink ones got so big they fell on the fence.
more
more more
dutch
Indian Chief
I think.
Dont recall planting a lavender.
Funny color
I haven't done anything with mine yet. I need to get busy!
jujube those are just beautiful especially the bi color ones.. some of those ( the Bi color) look to be older varitys but there are about as many different iris as daylillies so its hard to tell...lol.. Ive been buying the different colored Iris when I can find them half off.. but its going to be next year before I see blooms I think ..
I bought a bunch of dark reds this year and hope to get good results next year.
My neighbor caught an old couple stealing iris from their yard today. They were in an expensive car and everything. Just pulled over and started digging them up.
This message was edited Apr 2, 2010 8:09 PM
I swear people today have no class.. I hope she got their plate number and called the police.. I pass by an older home that has the most beautiful dark purple Iris in bloom right now.. Ive thought about going to the door and asking if I could have a start of them after they are done blooming. They are that thick and full.. Id make sure I had something in hand to give them as a thank you if they said yes but to just steal them..Pleaseeeee.... Ive dug stuff up at abandoned homes and yards but not where people were still living!! karma has a way of bitting ya in the butt if you do stuff like that!
went outside thei morning and found a beautiful pale peachy pink iris had bloomed.. it was given to me last year and I got blooms off of it this year.. yeah!!!
stephanie can you bring them to the round up? i love iris--and they are so easy to grow and multiply each spring---and easy to plant since they almosst sit on the gound
I can bring you some, sure! I'm going to plant some of them, I just don't know where yet. Do I need to do anything special with them until the RU?
i don't think so--i've had them sit on my back yard table till i got around planting them and they were fine--i think you will like them--thanks for sharing!
forgot to say that i will trade for the iris--just can't say what i am bringing yet
This message was edited Apr 3, 2010 5:09 PM
Okay, but if you don't have anything I want, then it's no biggie. I'll put your name on them!
look what I found this morning.. these were pass along from a friend.. I planted them last summer and look what I got!!! and they smell good too...
Nice Blkraven.... I like it when a plant/flower has a fragrance
@ blkraven2 What a deal!!! I think pass along plants are the best!! I love getting something from someone. It makes seeing it thrive even more exciting and meaningful.
Here in Houston, I've heard that bearded iris don't do well (although I've seen some doing quite well). So I haven't really tried any. Tho I do have some Lousiana Iris (var. unknown) that are doing quite well this year. They have bloomed better than ever before (...I still think this cold winter did things so much good...despite the tropical plant loss!!)
Ive had no problems with any Iris Ive planted.. I planted these in the spring of 08 and look at them now.. each stalk has at least 3 blooms and they are much fuller than when I took the pic
They are beautiful!! Tho admittedly after looking up and comparing where Wells, Tx is versus Houston, you are undoubtedly in a much better draining region that I am!
believe it or not there are 2 wells tx's..... Im about 2&1/2 north of houston when you looked it up did you get me or the one that about 6 hrs NW of me...lol.
Blkraven.. my two iris' are FINALLY blooming!! They are a lovely peachy color.. hubby says it's light pink but I think more peach! hahaha.. I love them no matter what!! They were a mystery when I planted them 2+ years ago & I didn't know what type/color, so I can say they are bearded iris' that are a light peach color & have three more buds coming!!! I am so thrilled! hahaha
a friend gave me some that pale peachy color like that last year and its such a pretty color... I also ended up with a pale yellow, med mauve and dark purple when I thought I was getting the peach.. I dont care.. they are all pretty!!! and the ones she gave me have a wondeful scent to them.. I love it...
Id love to get some of the japanese and the dwarf iris.. I just love flowers.. Id have then all if I could..just like animals...lol..