Iris Rhizomes arriving...but can't plant!

Hey everyone,

I am receiving around 7 iris rhizomes today that I ordered awhile ago. However, I can't make my new iris bed until the weekend of the 9th-11th.

Do Iris rhizomes keep that long or will they go bad?

I read somewhere that after a week kept out of the ground they go bad, and wont grow/bloom.


I have 30 that I ordered from Schreiners over the weekend. Hopefully, they won't come until next week!!!


Thanks,
Danielle

Hi Danielle
Rhizomes can be out of the ground for a week without harm. That happened to me when I got my irises from Schreiner. I was not ready, plus I work full time.

What I did was place the rhizomes in a basin of water just enough to cover some of the roots, then add some plant food to the water. Better yet, transplanting solution. You'd be surprises how quickly new roots will begin to sprout out in a week. If they stand in the water for more than 2 days, change the water daily. Do not emerge the rhizome in water, just some of the roots. Mark each fan with the name with a black marker.

Another way is to temporarily heel them in. Meaning, dig a shallow hole and stick the rhizome in and cover the roots with soil. I didn't have room to do that.

Irises are pretty tough. Good luck and have fun to enjoy next season.

By the way, some varieties can take 2 seasons before they bloom, others will bloom the season following planting.

Lilly

' heeling' them in is a favored way. You could pot up 7, but a larger order is just too much.

If the irises were mine, I would definitely get them potted with 50% garden soil (from the area in which they will be established if possible) and 50% fine pine mulch (mini nuggets at home depot, garden pro) , water well and put in a shady place. That's what I would do.

Do not give them any nitrogen or you could be in for a mess of rotting irises.

Hey everyone,

My plants arrived today via the maillady. She drove up by drive and delivered them. Which is odd seeing that they were shipped UPS. All other plant orders via UPS are delivered by them to my house. It is silly that they made my live plants and others sit 5 minutes away at the post office overnight.

When they shipped the irises they left one out. I had to call and have them schedule another delivery. Grin..I dont even remember placing this whole order back in June. Apparently, I did though. That's when you know you order too many flowers.

For Irises I have 3 Best Bet (1 coming in a different shipment), 2 Pink Attraction, 1 Immortality, 1 Cloud Ballet, 2 who knows....

The last 2 were bought as the following picture
http://springhillnursery.com/silver-streak-classic-reblooming-iris/p/77155/

However, I bought them under the name of Broken Record which is a completly different iris. They arrived labled as Broken Record which Spring Hill doesnt even list on their site only the Silver Streak.

We will see what they look like when they bloom. I am not expecting them to bloom this spring as I don't think the quality of the rhizome is the greatest.

I have 30 Irises coming from Schreiner's which I am sure most of them will bloom this spring. I bet the rhizomes look waayyy better.

I took pictures of the rhizomes I ordered from Spring Hill. When I get the Schreiner's rhizomes I will take another pic, and post the two pics to show the difference.

I will be heeling in the rhizomes I recieved today until the bed for them is ready.
Danielle

addict, this happens every year! invest in a $1.50 bag of topsoil at the Home Depot or Lowes. on bare ground or flat surface, pour it out in a line about 8 to 10 inches deep. I used a shovel to flatten the top, creating a "row" about 8 to 12 inches wide - voila, mini raised row! heel your new iris babies into it toe to heel tightly, and one bag can handle something like 15 irise. Put out either a misting sprinkler or soaker hoses and keep them moistened a couple hours a day. I did this over a former parking area that I scraped the gravel away from. their roots did not penetrate the undersoil, and they were easily scooped out a few weeks later, plus they had a head start growing! after permanent planting, I'd just scoop up the topsoil and add it into the garden, so nothing was wasted. had them "temp bedded" within an hour of receipt! have done this in full sun to partial sun.

one trick - either heel them in in the order you'll plant them, or in alpha order - makes them easier to plant later and will save your sore back. (if they don't have plastic tags, marker on leaves and paper tags will be ruined by the misting. if in an order, you can figure out which is which)

would not consider exposing bearded irises to soaking in water for longer period than 20 mins. beardless love a good soak of 24 hours or so.

Now that sounds like a good idea...I was trying to figure out how to get mine in the ground in a temp bed.....thanks!

Bonjon your idea sounds like what one science class at our middle school did last spring. They took a cheap bag of top soil, laid the bag flat on the ground (printed side facing the sky), sliced the facing side open and plant a few market packs of veggies and flowers for a small garden. Teachers picked tomatoes all summer for impromptu lunches. It's still there as the sunflowers are busy producing seeds for next year. Plastic soil bag helps keeps the weeds at bay and the rain kept it watered.

R>

yup, Janet. And if you go cheapest bagged topsoil available, you won't hesitate to grab the bags fast and plant immediately.

just don't leave them planted this close for too long. 2 months or so is fine.

editted to add - Roni, that's where yours are now! don't have the bed tilled yet.

This message was edited Oct 2, 2009 2:21 PM

Bonjon :D at least they are being well tended.

bonjon Although no harm came to my irises with their roots in water almost for a week, then bloomed beautifully, your idea is better. Why didn't I think of that. Another extension from your idea would be to buy a large bag of potting soil. Make drainage holes on one side. Slit the top side open and bury the rhizomes in the bag of potting soil. It would act as a huge pot. The irises should be able to remain in that type of container for quite a while. Planting them when ready would not be a problem. Wouldn't that work?. I'm thinking of ways for next year's iris orders that I won't be able to plant right away.

Lilly

Well, I got the irises heeled in today in one of my beds that has excellent soil in it. The people who lived here before I did obviously had a garden there as the soil isnt really clay like at all. My perennials love it there.

I just scraped all the mulch out of an area, worked the soil up, and heeled the irises in for now. I planted them as shown online, but still keep worrying that I did it wrong. I had to place some garden fencing over the top of them as I didnt trust my 3 naughty kittens not to dig in the fresh dirt to use it as a potty. The rotten little buggers.

Also, I planted my 3 coneflowers (which I hope root up in time to survive winter), and 3 "Dizzy" Oriental Lillies.
My DH suddenly decided today to start building a patio under a tree in one of our few shaded areas. That way we have a nice sitting area, a new space for the grill, and he wants to do a small fire pit. He will till an area around there so I can plant some flowers this spring.
When he went to go get some fill dirt from a friend he came back with new plants. His friend has these gorgeous super tall red lillies in front of his house. They were a good 4-5 ft tall (I have never seen lillies that tall) in a gorgeous blood red color. I loved those flowers, and lucky me I got some of them today!!! The guy had to redo his overgrown garden area, divide plants, and redo mulch. I ended up with 2 new daylilies (will be a suprise bloom), 7 Elephant Ears, and two huge Lily bulbs. The lily bulbs are a good 6 inches. I can't wait until they bloom. I've never grown EE before. The guy said they get big, and he leaves them in the ground during winter. I thought they had to be brought it....will have to research.

Danielle

you'll have a lovely garden next year Danielle!

I hope so, but not without some work. Now I have an immature garden which I guess everyone has in the beginning. It will look lovely in another 2 years when the plants reach their full size and bloom potential. I can't wait!!! Until then I will fill in the sparse looks with annuals, and seedlings.

Danielle