Bearded Iris

Hello All,
I wasn't sure where I should post this, when in doubt I use the general discussion forum.

I have a lot of Bearder Iris that I need to transplant. We were in the process of moving and in order to take some of these with me I had to just stick them into a temporary spot while they were building our home. Now this area is being taken over by grass and wild flowers.

They have all finished blooming, but I am unsure when is the best time to divide. I thought in the fall, but I just read that you should do it as soon as they finish blooming.

Can anyone help me with instructions as to how and when to do this? I gave some divisions of some other Iris to two of my sisters once and they never bloomed for them eventhough they tell me "the leaves grew great" grin.

When I moved these I dug the whole plant and stuck them in the ground, but would like to divide them this time. BTW they bloomed beautifully this year.

These have the largest blooms I have ever seen, much larger than my hand. I would hate to lose them. I may have some to trade. I got busy and didn't get pictures of all of them, but I have one of a yellow one that I will post in the photo forum.

I hope there are some Iris experts out there.
Kathy

Kathy I am specializing in iris, especially rebloomers. It's o.k. to divide them most anytime, but the best time is about 6 weeks after they bloom to give the rhizomes the most time to fatten. But don't divide them after September; they need to get settled in before cold weather. A lot of people cut all but about 4 or 5 inches of leaves off when they transplant them. The thinking there is that since they are so shallow-rooted, the tall leaves in the wind make it hard for the rhizome to settle in. Feed them a little 5-10-10.
Your sisters may have 2 problems. They may have over-fertilized them or they may have planted them too deep. If they used 8-8-8 or 10-10-10 then they are overfertilizing. Have them lay off the fertilizer for a year, except for some bone meal. Plant the irises so that the rhizome is barely beneath the soil. It may even be exposed a little after watering or rain. But set them on a little ridge so the roots and down in a little trench on each side.
They like neutral soil.

Woodspirit,
Thanks for the help. I guess you are telling me that the problem with the ones I gave my sisters could not have been from the way I divided them. They will have to stop blaming me now. grin
Are there Iris that rebloom in a single season? ........... I'd love to know more if that is what you ment.
Kathy

Yes, in fact there are some that bloom off and on all season while others bloom in the spring and then again in the fall if you have a fairly long growing season. I think Immortality and Victoria Falls are famous for prolific reblooming and perhaps also Ka-Nee-tah. Others that MAY rebloom (if you cut off the dead flower stalks in the spring and re-fertilize them) are: Anxious, Autumn Circus, Autumn Grandeur, Autumn Velvet, Best Bet, Beverly Sills, Bountiful Harvest, Breakers, Cabaret Royale, Champagne Elegance, Clarence, Cloud Ballet, Crimson King, Earl of Essex, Edith Wolford, Eleanor Roosevelt, Enchanted One, Eternal Bliss, Feedback, Forever Yours, Frosted Sapphire, Golden Ecstacy, Harvest of Memories, Hemstitched, Jesse's Song, Low-Ho Silver, Maria Tormena, Ocean Pacific, Paprika Fono's, Pearls of Autumn, Persian Sari, Pink Attraction, Pink Reprise (a border iris, shorter than tall-beardeds), Pure as Gold, Recurring Dream, Southland, Speed Limit, Spirit of Memphis, Suky, Summer Olympics, Sunny Disposition, Victoria Falls, Well-endowed, and Winterland. Phew! I guess you can tell I have really been researching this, because I may open a little iris nursery that specializes in rebloomers.
Some of these cost up to $15 at Schrieiner's and a little less at Cooley's, but I have found them for $3.75 and $4.00 at Iris City Garden, Iris Test Garden, Enchanted April, and Sutton's.
Remember there is no guarantee that they will rebloom, but under the right care and circumstances they will.
Personally, I think that the rebloomers will take over the iris world eventually. Why have them just in the spring when you can get them to bloom during in the summer and/or fall.

This message was edited Friday, Jun 22nd 4:20 PM

I divided a lot of Iris 3 years ago. Some of them rebloomed the next spring and some took 2 years to bloom again. But year 3 they all bloomed and look better than ever. Tell your sisters to be patient and wait for their reward!