Dutch Irises info please

I have tried these several times in the past and some bloomed the first year and the next they were all gone. Too cold? No voles to eat the bulbs there.
If you grow these, what has been your experience??
TY
Deb

Hi, we just put them in the clay/rock soil we have here and they come up every year. Though maybe not as large a flower as the first year. They ought to do well in good soil just about anywhere.

These white NOIDs were blooming May 15, 2009 and were planted about 2005 ~

Our ground is clay and shale too except where we constantly cultivate it removing the crop of rocks we grow in it every winter. Must just be the temps here. Maybe on the shore where it ill be slightly warmer and I will try planting them there this year.
Thanks!!
debbie

We get bitter cold winters, with some snow, mostly in the past few years just very cold (2008 with a wind chill of -17° with high winds). This past summer it got up to 97° and this is at 7,000' altitude. Try planting the bulbs near some of your rocks. The white one in the photo gets quite a bit of water that spills from the little pools in the rock when we flush them out, so that might make a difference. Since these kind of bulbs are really inexpensive, one might be able to experiment.

This message was edited Jan 9, 2010 6:39 PM

only thing I know about them is that they do require some cold weather in order to bloom well. We don't get quite enough of that here, I would have to buy prechilled bulbs most years. Not this year! We're frozen!

LOL!!! Here in Blacksburg, VA too. I know on the shore where we are moving does get cold usually with no more than skiffs of snow but it is listed as zone 7b-8.
The bearded irises I planted last summer are growing up a storm the last time I saw them and multiplying much much faster than they ever have here. Of course they have sand there and not this shale to grow in. One had 7 new rhizomes growing and here usually just 1 or 2.
Maybe I should try growing some just to see.
TY
debbie

I planted about a hundred early in the fall and they sprouted to about 3 to 4 inches before
cold weather. They had several nights of sub-freezing temps mixed with 60 degree days.
We are in the middle of a week of +4 to +15 nights with about 3 inches of snow cover so
I will find how hardy they are by early spring. Always wanted something different from the
TB's to go with the JI's I planted last spring.

No reason you can't grow them Bonjon. They are hardy zones 6-9. Very iffy Zone 5. Here's some info on where they grow from Brent And Becky,

http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/spring/productview/?sku=28-0134

Jerry, they are waaaay ahead of JI season.

We hit -4 last night with warmer weather coming. Should give them an adequate
hardiness test. We are 5b on the dividing line for 6a according to the Illinois zone
map. I have fern leaf peonies with a few baby leaves--it will test them also.

We have found that the bulbs of any of the plants we planted, including the TBI will burrow deeper into the soil in a very cold area. We have tried to dig up tulips to move them to another area, and never did find the cotton-pickin' bulbs. We just ended up with leaves on a VERY long stem.

No snow, Jerry? Ouch!

Remember, TBI aren't bulbs, but rhizomes which are a stem. They can burrow into the ground as you describe.

If you are talking to me IrisMa, I know bulbs are different than rhizomes, we have had TBI for over 57 years. And yes, the rhizomes will burrow in deeper. I kept telling DH years ago NOT to plant them that deep, only to find out he had planted them correctly. LOL

posted for general information for newbies.

You can elaborate on the burrowing issue to more than just newbies. I have never read
anything about it. Usually it is just the opposite for me. May be milder temps.

Mine go quite deep. I keep pulling the darn things to the top. usually anything will go to the depth it wishes. Lily bulbs case in point. But the irises seem to go deeper than they should to bloom at times.