I planted a huge raised bed of Iris in October and even though they look great, I only had 3 blooms this year BUT... those 3 were beautiful. I'm hoping for blooms later in the summer. Now the top tips of my fans are beginning to turn brown. I planted them at the top of the soil, like all the books say, and left the rhizomes up top to catch sun rays. The lady I bought them from told me not to water them once they rooted, but are these brown tips a sign of drought? We found aphids on them two weeks ago and sprayed with commercial pesticide. Did I ruin them? I don't want to panic, but I feel it coming on!
Help with Iris
i water my irises with everything else. just dont let the water stand on them or they will rot . i have some that get more water then others due to the sprinklers near by.
i use insecticidial soap on my irises when they get bugs but commercial is okay to as long as you doidnt do it in the heat of the day.
irises are hardy and should be fine and water them. let them dry between watering but i water mine all the time.
another place to ask question is the iris forum here on Daves.
Did you marry the rhizomes? I've always been told when you plant iris to always criss cross 2 or 3 together to get them to bloom first year. I've always done it and they always bloom that way. I've had trouble with rot before, and have seen the edges brown before, I dig one up and examine for iris borers. If you find borers, dip in Cygon, or toss the affected ones!
Thanks for the info. I don't know if pesticide was put on in the heat of the day? DH did it for me, and I didn't really give specific directions. I'll have to ask, but that could be a big possibility :o(
No, I didn't marry them .... ?? I've never heard that before but you DG people are so smart! How do you learn all this stuff? Since they didn't bloom well this year, I'm still hoping for the late bloomers or maybe next year will be better. I'm going to water them good..... maybe the brown tips are just from drought. I water everything else, but haven't been watering the iris. I have excellent drainage in that planter, so watering shouldn't be a problem. Thanks again for any info you can share. Sharon
The same lady that taught me about marrying rhizomes and gave me a ton of them also told me to never thank a fellow garner or it was bad luck! I don't know if it's true, but it's such a habit with me that I'd always start to thank her and she'd pop up her finger and go "ahnt, ahnt!" LOL
If it's just a little on the tips it could be nothing. If the edges begin to go brown too, down the leaves, I'd dig up one and inspect it.
as long as the rhizomes stay hard you should be okay. i have never married mine either just give miricle grow once a month or so and water when dry and my iries do wonderful.
this one below took 2 years to bloom. some take awhile and some bloom the first season.
you might have some that do bloom in the fall . not all of mine bloomed this year but they take time and usually if they dont bloom one year bloom the next.
are they in full sun?? some of mine are some are in shade. the ones in full sun i water more due to this heat.
good luck and asking questions is learning.
opps forgot the pic
Jenks, I've also heard about the "no thanks" rule. My grandmother-in-law, who I dearly loved and who gave me many, many plants would never let me thank her for a plant. I used to tell her "Thank you for the opportunity to dig in your garden". lol. I haven't seen any more brown areas so I'm hoping they just got to dry. I watered them like crazy last night and I'll keep a close eye on them.
IMZADI, nice picture. I do hope mine bloom later, but if not, next year will be fine. Everything in my yard is 'new' because we bought the house in the fall from people who apparently had a plant disability... there was NOTHING except some marigolds, one butterfly plant and elephant ears out the yang-yang! Being from FL, elephant ears were weeds to me, but I have kept a few of them. Thanks for the help. sr
Hi Teateacher,
Remember that most of the classic garden books were not written for the south. I have iris in sandy soil and they need food and water more often that the old wisdom recommends. Also, the reblooming iris need more food and water during the growing season than the iris that once in spring . Don't panic if you don't get blooms later this year. They will probably outdo them selves for you next spring.
Beth
Turtle, thanks for the encouraging words. I'm still watching them, but no more visible brown areas even though most of the fans in my raised bed have 1" of brown on the tips. Sad to look at but I'm glad it's isolated to the tips. The100+ iris I have in the heavy red clay (no amendments) are doing fine and only have a few tiny brown tips. That really does make me believe they got too dry. This is my first year with Iris so hopefully I won't make that mistake again.