July Iris work? What should I be doing now?

Okay, I've been at the whole iris thing for awhile as a hobby (500 irises prove that I like trading and buying them). But it's time to redo the WHOLE thing. I've got irises turning yellow and now showing very much increase. I know I need to amend the soil, but how without going to the expense of sending out soil samples (which vary considerably from one side of the garden to the other).

What do you during this time of year to aide your garden's growth and increase?

Please show pictures too as I've got my eye on redesign and want see ideas beyonds rows and rows of irises. As I feel compelled to keep the neighbors visually stimulated to avoid complaints, I have to have mixed plantings and now the few daylilies (eww, not my favorite plants) are in mid-bloom and the rudbeckia and hostas (in nearby shade) are beginning to bloom.

Wow, I am so unsure of myself this year I sound like a newbie! I've tried the alfalfa cubes (not pellets) tilled into the soil with new plantings and that didn't seem to help them -- they survived, but did not thrive. I even used alfalfa tea and that helped the annuals in a few beds, but also seemed to help with the weeds -- neighbors didn't like the smell or the flies that seemed attracted by the smell.

Best OTC solution? What do you do?

TIA

LOL. I could have written your post! I can't wait to see some answers!

I'm afraid the best solution would be to start digging & replanting, a couple clumps at a time. Have you checked for iris borer? Look along the leaves for 'goo' at the edges & you might see the frass the borers leave behind.

IrisMA, I'm wondering...Why do you ask about Iris borers? And what do you do if you have them? tab

Iris borers are a fact of life in the eastern US> 'iris turning yellow' I assume you mean the leaves--turning brown. this happens as older foliage dies, but could mean that borer is present. check for them. Otherwise, are your plants becoming crowded? They do need room for the increases as the plants walk around. 500 plants are a lot to maintain. Are they all bearded irises, you don't say if you have a mixture of beaded & bearless.

Yes, I know how to overcome the borer issue, my problem is more that I know it is time to amend the soil, dig and divide. It just overwhelming to know where to start considering all I've done in the past "a couple clumps at a time" -- it hasn't seemed to help them thrive, just survive.

A local hybridizer has a recipe in his catalog but I felt it was very expensive (there are still two ingredients that I cannot seem to find /yet). I thought perhaps some of the other iris gardeners could share what over the counter measures they use to amend the soil.

I did take the DH out today and gather all but the two ingredients and followed the recipe, my new "soil" now looks dark, rich and nice -- can't wait to move the rebloomers into their "new" bed (translate -- amended) to see how they take off.

Roni

Roni

Why not go and get some of the wonderful cheap compost that Anita and dig and divide and mix into the soil. Then 4-5 weeks a light fertilizer treatment...

Anita does super, ask her as you know she is an excellent teacher as well.

Miss hearing from you more often.

D

Oh Anita....

Dee, the recipe I followed is 1:1:1 of raw soil (never grew irises), concrete sand (the course kind suitable for potting mix, says so on the bag), and leaf compost (you could also use aged chicken or cow manure) -- I used Leaf Gro brand. To that mix (which equals a standard wheelbarrow "nearly full" I was to add 1 c. @ rock phosphate, greensand, dolomite, a well balanced fertilizer (either pennington lawn starter 18-24-6 or nursery blend 12-6-6 -- I found the pennington in small quantity). The resulting "soil" looks great, rich and dark -- the only two things I couldn't find local (because obviously I don't know where else to look) were the rock phosphate (I found online by espoma) and the dolomite (which looks like lime but more so). This is a recipe that the Spoon's spell out in their catalog.

I dug out the top 4" of used soil. Tilled 8" deep added the mix from above and tilled together. Replaced the used soil on top (per directions) and will plant in a day or two by relocating entire clumps of rebloomers which are scattered throughout the garden into one location. In a few weeks to month I will follow up with more fertilizer as in the spring to see if I can increase their chances of bloom.

This is a process and as Anita is about 1.5 - 2 hours away I can't just go visit. But our church has a pile of lawn cuttings that my DS discovered behind the maintenance shed right next to a pile of top soil that they want the youth to move it into the wood line -- oh ho when the DS told me that, that's free gold in my distressed garden -- we are going to pick it up this week end!!!!

I will try to take a picture of the soil sometime today so that you can see conditions before and after amending -- I can't believe the difference myself.

Well, gotta go prep some more garden for amending.

Dee -- where do you get your onion bags for storing rhizomes until you are ready to replant during the big dig and divide each year? I thought about the mesh bags that freeze pops come in but can't imagine eating that many freeze pops and onions this summer. LOL



This message was edited Jul 8, 2009 6:50 AM

Too bad you aren't a "Saver" who has years worth of onion bags overflowing the drawers in the kitchen. LOL

Yeah, don't I wish -- but "if wishes were dollars" :-)

the 50# bags (mesh) we get in Salem for either .05 or .08 a bag they last about 3-5 years...

I would not use the 18 nitro ever Roni...I never use anything higher than 15 for the first number as that is the nitro and they have told me never to use more than 15 and if you can 10-15-15

D

okay -- will take that into advisement. Of course 1 cup per wheelbarrow should be pretty dispersed right and should help the rebloomers, right?

should, as long as you practice destalking and WATERING the rebloomers as they will need water right after bloom for the rebloom to do well.

D

yep. the watering I hope will not be a problem this year. Although this week has been rainfree we've actually been experiencing an enlongated spring where temps and rain are concerned. Which is probably why I haven't wilted yet as I normally do in Summer.

R

last week in 90+ and 100 not normal for July as a rule...but now in 70 so that is good

D

When I amend soil, I use the bulb fertilizer, like they use for tulips and daffodils. I think the nitrogen is around 10. We had 1 week of 100 degree, then down to 80's. Supposed to go up that high again by the end of the week. Oh by the way, Happy Wed. BIF's!!!

I have heavy clay soil, and I amend my 10' x 4' beds with about 20#s of compost, 5# of greensand and 2 bags of "topsoil" from Walmart. I till it all together, and the iris do really well in it. One year I tried to just use a top soil and compost mixture (without any clay!) and quite frankly, the iris did not do as well. They always seem to do the best in "virgin" soil that has never grown iris before, but with the amendments I use, they have done beautifully. And it isn't that expensive either. That formula you listed sounds very expensive if you have more than a few beds! Just thought you would like to know. Oh, and I use Monty's Joy Juice (2-14-18) the 2nd year, spring and fall. I redo the beds every 3 years.

Hey, Roni-

When are we gonna see the progress you're making with your new beds? We need photos of the work-in-progress!!!!

Since I am commerical, thougth I might share how I do it. Dig out 6-8 rows putting all the clumps into each onion bag, trim, divide and put in alpha order. Till that area, then string out a straight line and pour compost down that line, till again and plant.... then go on to the next.

Hope this helps
D

Hi Dee-

Hope your weather is better there. We're under an air quality alert. If we go outside, we're not supposed to breathe, let alone do anything strenuous....... You've also got more energy than I do. Temps in the 90s with our humidity don't agree with me.

I knew Roni had pulled up her rock walkways and is redesigning all her iris beds. I think she should show pictures......

Dee thanks for that bit of advice. I knew you dug up alot of irises and for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to get them back in the ground fast enough to keep them from going dormant.

Neil, I'll try to post pictures, but I'm up to my eyeballs in rhizomes. Without getting into trouble, let just say I'm sharing through multiple marketing areas as well as the junior "big dig". I'll try to get pictures up as soon as I can. Remember though I don't have much for before shots, they are all "during" as the garden is a work in progress always.

Here's what I'm dealing with this afternoon.... How I'd love to have a large cool barn to work in. At least a large potting shed not made of metal!

Oh my...not sure if I am jeolus of all those iris...or happy I'm not in the sun digging, dividing and replanting!

I put 17 new Iris in last night and it was a chore. We have not had rain in over two weeks. I could hardly dig through the soil.

It actually hasn't been that bad here. Last few days has been a challenge but mostly it's cool in evening and morning and I have my DH and DS (x4) to help with the digging and hefting. DH put in the low wall (might not tell from picture but that area is the worst for erosion). The rocks were gathered from the wild in creek and streams around the 4 state area so they didn't cost us. We had two truck loads of virgin soil given to us from the church who was just going to through it into the woods to make room for a new pre-school play area.

Dee, how many rhizomes do you put back in before you decide what to offer during the year-end sale?

R.

This is where we removed a 5' tall shrub rose that was casting too much shade and DH said "It's gotta go". Right now it is suffering root shock but he promised that we would get a new one in the Spring if this one bit the dust. It is an Austin "Heirloom" (a pink one) that we planted 10 years ago when we moved in and began working on the garden -- I didn't have the iris bug as bad then...

All the irises around are Dykes TBs and top in their class medians.

I see you're right next to the street in that last picture. How many people actually park there just for the view? It must be gorgeous.

during bloom season -- a lot! I can't see to get them out of their cars though, but they roll down the windows to ask questions if I'm out working. That's part of the reason I'm taking out the heavy duty stone paths -- they are too much for me to stay vertical on at quick pace and the elderly folks who visit hesitate to come in because of the walkways.

It's going to look great. You put me to shame. If the cat wakes me up early enough I can get out digging for an hour or two before the humidity and mosquitos get too bad.

The area a few posts ago showing my potted irises... That's my redbud tree and the shade it has brought me in the 10 years here. That area hasn't been very kind to the irises in recent years. So it's being replanted with hostas, heuchs, fern, and various other shade-tolerant, shade-loving plants.

This photo show the newly completed (well not fully completed) Rebloomer's Paradise. I'm only putting rebloomers in here in the hopes that they will get more of what they need and because it's raised people will see it in the fall as they come down the one way street (street traffic moves the way my vans are parked) DH day job was with DHL until they shut down ground handling so we have a fleet of Windstars just sitting there. Ugh!

Once everything is finished, rebloomers will be on both sides of the gate and I'll be able to get reliable rebloomers throughout the years to really make the fall finish with a flourish. (The water hose is on that side of the house should Ma Nature not cooperate!)

Haha Neil. I don't go overseas for a season at a time either. In 2007 I had health issues that were aggravated by the heat and pollen! In 2008 I had position as cover driver with DH's business and didn't get time to get into the garden so both years dividing didn't happen as they should have. So now it has to happen all at once as the plants are what I'm dubbing soil-stressed (translated amendment starved) and it was very evident during the 2009 the bloom season!

I've got to get on a rotation and stick to it! That's why I hope Dee can pop in here to comment on how many she replants each year after amending the soil.

Lunch break is over, so I'll be out for at least another hour working on the front porch -- let me tell you people slow down to see why my porch is covered corner to corner (minus the path to the mailbox and doorbell) with irises in pepsi crates (yes, I love pepsi more than coffee especially when I crush ice and make a pepsi-slurpee!)

Okay well nearly two weeks later and we've gotten the Rebloomer's Paradise and the Earth and Sky themed beds replanted.

All plants are potted and we are distributing from the remained through various websites and trades. Although I meant to purge some of the plants completely from the garden, I find it hard to say good-bye and with all the new ones coming in through trades, my collection is growing and not decreasing.

In the 1/2 circle (Earth and Sky bed) I even spent time mapping it out and making the irises flow according to color height and bloom season. It took two days to get it just the way I wanted it on paper before I'd let my DH help me move the pots in the garden to make it easy for me to plant them.

I've come to believe that irises are like Pringles. Once you pop, you can't stop.

Roni

Of course they are!

I've run out of mulch. I put a 2" layer on the gardens of Fine Pines (not shredded hard wood) but the only nursery to carry the brand is unable to get more as the distributor has begun using it as fuel. So now I need to find another type.

For the records, I never cover the rhizomes more than a sprinkling (to dress it up) AND this mulch usually acts as it breaks down quickly. When I first began using this brand, I put down a nine inch layer (nearly 10 years ago) and planted the irises right in it using a little sand/top soil mix to anchor the roots (hey I was a novice). Those irises believe it or not are doing fabulously even without the transplanting/amending area and the soil is very workable. Of course, I wouldn't recommend that to any one today. Amend your soil and plant in dirt. LOL

What is the fine pine mix made of?

It's Pine Fines (I always say it backwards) and according to the mfg website, "Our pine fines mulch is an all bark product which is aged through composting. It is then processed through a 3/8" screen. It is 100% natural with no additives which could harm the environment or humans. This product is an excellent soil amendment and potting medium."

I've acquired and am evaluating a product by Garden Pro that is available at Home Depot called Pine Bark Mini Nuggets. It does have some larger pieces in it, but overall it is nearly as fine as what I had been using.

Roni

Just want to give y'all progress update, see I really am doing work out in the yard. Well DH is doing the work, I'm doing the supervising and refereeing when the boys start dirt wars! Here's the newest phase taking one more step towards completion.

If you wonder what DH is tilling, we laid out the new path with the local newspaper and then sprayed in with marking paint. He's tilling down about 4-6 inches and we will lay down a layer of cardboard (thank you lasagna garden brigade) and then mulch on top of it to help keep the weeds down and the mulch from not being 9" deep to save money.

This message was edited Sep 6, 2009 12:47 PM

Here's another phase we completed (almost, ran out of mulch again -- if only we still had our pickup truck). This is for all the plant that became "NoIds" during the last few years because markers were removed, faded, or broken. We recognize them during bloom season, but not so much during the build season. They've got 2 years to produce a flower for us to recognize and move to a better location or out they go.

This garden also houses my 10yo DS's pepper plants. It was once solely reserved for dahlias (I have very little success with dahlias and have given up growing and pampering)

Roni

Just one more for this morning then I'm off to leave a bunch of feedback for folks.

This is the current view towards the former award winners bed, you can see earth & sky to the center left as well as a piece of the raised rebloomers paradise. I have annual lantana (red, orange, and pink flower) growing right now -- got it on clearance at Lowe's because it was "dead". 15 plants for $3.50. Trimmed them back and watered, now I'm worried they are going to grow huge. Unfortunately, I've heard certain varieties of lantana can get very big -- so they definitely won't be overwintering in their current locations, but it does give color right now.

More of the same....