Irises: Louisiana Iris, 1 by shuggins

shuggins wrote:
I am new to DG too and really love all the information that's out there.

I have many of these LA iris in my yard (not a great pic, but oh well). Just put them in this year. It appears that they are done blooming and I have cut the seed pods off several. They appear to be shedding the older leaves. New ones are appearing, but the older ones have a slight yellow tint to them. Is this normal? I have them mulched to be sure that they don't get sunscald. They are in full sun and I try to keep them moist. Of course the huge abundance of clay in the yard does help with that part.

Any thoughts? I certainly don't want to lose them during the summer. What do you recommend for fertilizer for them? I would prefer a water soluble fertilizer because the beds are new and I had to put the weed cloth down around them to keep the grass out. It is difficult to get fertilizer in there really well. Also, I think I read that the best time to divide them is in August or September. Does that sound right? I bought these in pots from Home Depot and some of them are quite large in their spread. They were in fairly small pots, but now have spread out quite a bit. I assume that means that they need to be divided??

I would really appreciate any advice.

Thanks,
Sheila