Irises: Calling all iris pros, 1 by Wandasflowers

Wandasflowers wrote:
flowerfrenzy, I too avaid invasive plants unless i have a spot where I can "corral" them.
Soapwort is pretty & the butterflies love it, but I had to banish it to a back corner--it send out shoots 2 feet away! Obedient plant???HELP! Lambs Ear tends to sprawl, but it's easy to cut back stems that want to spread to far. its the plants that re-seed or use undergraound runners that drive me crazy.

If I have deep beds of iris, I try to use vertical companion plants like phlox, lilies, and such or short plants like chives & dwarf asters.

I keep at least 12 inches free around a clump and thin the leaves so it will "breathe" well.
I also plant the iris on a mound to raise them up for drainage.

If I'm planting tall mums, asters, tall daylilies, tall yarrow & such, I restrict the iris to the shorter 2 front rows for better air flow. The big perennials are planted 18 inches apart, but they tend to fan out to a wider area and overlap the other large plants.

It's a little trickier, but gives me the variety of foliage & long season blooms I desire.

Besides, all the Master Gardeners keep telling me that Tall Bearded iris don't grow well in this area, so I must be mistaken about the whole thing.