overwintering iris in water trough??

I have two galvanized water troughs that are 1' deep 2' wide and 4' long. I was thinking these might make a great place to stick all my "spare" iris for the winter.
If I put a little river rock in the bottom, filled with potting soil and planted the rhizomes in there, do you think that would work?

It would be fine as long as any rain/snow does not gather at the bottom. I don't know what you get for rain there but you dont want the roots sitting in water and with river rock I would think they would be high enough above any water.

There is a drain plug about an inch from the bottom of the trough. I thought I would take the plug out, fill with rock to just above that point then add soil. I figure that will keep the roots from standing in water. I have not yet found any roots on the rhizomes I have that are anywhere near a foot long so maybe it will be okay.

As long as their is drainage they should be fine. TB Iris are pretty tough and it is amazing what they can endure. You may lose a few that are real small but put them in anyway and you may be surprised.

Thanks - but umm, what does TB stand for?
These irises are an old variety from the 70's and are peach in color. I would consider them a bearded german but what do I know? I will post pics this spring when they bloom. I am excited to find out exactly what I have.

Sorry. Tall Bearded. We use a lot of Abbreviations sometimes and get a little carried away. You will see JI-Japanese, Sib-Siberian, LA-Louisiana, And if you go to the top of the Iris Forum you will see the 1st thread and there is a lot of info there you might like to read.

Thanks again - I am new to the site and new to gardening. I admit I know nothing about anything. But I am willing to learn! I am so excited.
My husband is scared to death. He is afraid I am going to make a great big ugly mess. I have about an acre here and about 3/4 of that is bare, grass and weeds only.
I figure if I go slow and ask questions, I can come up with a pretty cool flower garden. He has already informed me he is not pulling weeds or mowing around a bunch of "crap" in the yard. Guess I will do my own mowing from now on!!

With that much room you should have a blank canvas to start. Just plan well to start and it will go from there. If you have a grass weed problem just post a thread or check back on the threads as there are a lot of helpful people and products to help deal with them. I am no expert here but have also learned so much from others here.

Just a hint, with a reluctant husband. Make the first area a border that runs along the outside. Make the bed so that it has a long curve and is very easy to mow. A lot of men that mow, object to beds in the center of a piece of property. My husband had a mild case of that, but now is much better, but he still likes mowing along the borders with the long curves. And ultimately it will be less room for your husband to mow.

Flower gardens that run along the outside of the property, or along the house, for instance are borders. Flower gardens with all the sides grass that are out in the middle of the yard are called beds. Sometimes you have to work up to beds gradually with the guys.

lucky me - ex was like that, hated anything except a bit of border.

now, DH don't like to mow, so I can pull up all the grass I want and put in irises!