iris questions

hi i just read a message here on this forum about iris. in the message they kathylo and mike, spoke about how to plant iris. now i'm new to this and i'm confused now. so what's new? :-) it was said that she thought her iris had not bloomed because the tubers were covered with soil. he responded that he plants his rhizomes with the backs to the sun.
help.
is a tubor a rhizome?
i thought they were suppose to be covered with soil but with the tops(were the shoots would come out) of the rhizome exposed. ?

how do you know the back from the front?

i'm starting to learn more about the various iris. I've only just learned that there are ones from bulbs. The japanese and dutch. i believe that the bearded and siberian are from rhizomes.

i have some to plant and i would like to know the "proper" way to plant them. thanks debi.

Boy this is confusing. I am waiting to find out the answer as how to have the backs to the sun.

Iris do like to have the very tops of the rhizome exposed. In very hot climates it is ok to cover them with a very thin layer of soil, but not so much that it holds water. They rot very easily and this helps prevent it. Decide where you want to plant and make two trenches side by side with a higher spot in the middle. Set the rhizome on the high spot and push the roots into the trenches. Cover the roots with soil and push some around the rhrizome, but don't cover it completely. Does that make sense?

I've never heard of backs to the sun......I have an Oak tree that
is completely surround by 12 ft.
{that's correct} of Irises, and
behind them is a 6 ft. privacy
fence. All sides get sun at some
point in the day for 4-6 hrs. The
front of the rhizome is the tapered
end, and the backs are the heel end
from which the stems and leaves
emerge. According to the experts,
my iris shouldn't be doing well at
all but they bloom profusely and I
have to move some every year, not
4-5 yrs as suggested. Go figure.

"eyes"

thank you for all the info on the rhizome. yes it all makes sense. :-)

how about the bulbels? i have a plant that has the cut leaves, at the bottom they attach to a root that grows down about 2-3 inches into a bulb. is this a siberian iris?

one more question..:-) how do i winter them for zone 5. Do i cover them with mulch?

thanks for all your help.
debi z

I planted my iris last year. I only got one bloom this year. Could it be that they may be planted too deep or do they take a year or so to get settled? They are bearded iris.
Thanks much.

Someone in your zone needs to answer the overwintering question. I'm just not sure, as I don't have that problem. I have to worry about mine burning up! Also Ree, the answer could be both planted too deep and just need to settle in. If they are not really deep, wait another year and see what happens. Also, you might need to give them a balanced fertilizer and superphosphate about 6 weeks before normal bloom time in the spring. I'm also very interested in iris and would like to hear other opinions on this too.

Hi Bulblady and thanks for your reply. I do fertilize and amend the soil as needed. I will give it another year and see. After my peonies did not bloom after two years, I 'lifted' them in the fall slightly as I had a feeling they were too deep. Low and behold the following spring they bloomed! I learn so much from other gardeners. Thank you all for your input.

In my zone 3, the irises are exposed to the air and are left as is for the winter without any problem.

My neighbor gave me a bunch of bearded iris - wonderful smell - like grapes. Not one of the little darlings bloomed. I was so upset. I had one plant from the previous year (that didn't bloom) and this it year bloomed. So I have great hopes for next year.

I know Irises like lots of sunshine and if you are in the more notheren climates, then maybe they are geting too much water??? I am not for sure. I readsomewhere that they like being on the dry side, but that may be just good drainage. If the rhizone was small it may need a year or so to grow. I have also heard that when you are replanting, to cut away any shriveld old growth(rhizome), and replant only fresh new growth.

My question is, should you cut the foliage back to incourage new growth or not? I kinda thought they needed the foliage like most other flowers for the next years blooms? What to do???

I have some siberian iris seeds. Does anyone know the best method and time to propagate these seeds?

When you move iris, you should cut the foliage back to a few inches above the main stem. This gets rid of the old foliage and encourages new growth. I live in the South and they never really go dormant, so I cut mine back in late summer to freshen them up. I'm not sure how this would affect them in a colder climate. Since we all have such different growing conditions, we have to be careful not to give blanket advice for everyone, but it is interesting to hear about other gardeners' experiences.

I live in zone 5 here in CO and I cut the foliage back on my bearded irises in late summer or early fall and they do just fine over the winter.