new rootless rhizomes

How do you plant rhizomes with all the roots cut off? Seems like you could just as well set them on top of the soil and put a rock on them to hold them down. Any ideas?

Used to all iris were shipped without roots.

What you can do in your area is to plant them with 1/2" of soil on them as it will anchor them and by spring the soil should be gone from the weather if it is not then come spring uncover it.

I receive many without roots from overseas and plant that way and have excellent luck, but if you are in an area where the animals can bother them, then plant and put a rock on it.

When is your first freeze usually? because they should get roots in 3-4 weeks or less.

D

I agree...just water carefully. I've thrown chunks of rhizomes in my flower bed because I couldn't bear to throw them away... they take root... no problem!

My compost pile blooms every year.

D

Thanks Dee, for you input on the rootless rhizomes. I learned a few things.

Just a word of caution -- the one time that I received rootless, leafless rhizomes -- it was from a scam seller on Ebay. If this was an Ebay purchase, personallly I'd send them back and ask for a refund. This woman evades getting caught by Ebay, and continues to sell ditch Iris instead of the hybrids that she pictures in her ads. Every couple of years she changes her *business* name, to avoid getting caught. Thought a heads-up might be of value.

I cannot recall where I read it or the context involved but supposedly the roots die back each year and new ones are formed. That is the source of the symmetrical rows of holes in the bottom of rhizomes. I like to keep 3 or 4 inches of roots to anchor the freshly planted rhizome until new root growth appears. In the absence of roots, you can place the rz on top of the level soil and cover with an inch or so of soil to hold it in place until new growth appears then brush the excess soil off the rz. Lack of a good root anchor increases the effect of frost heaving so the most important thing is to transplant irises early in midsummer.

I can honestly tell you, that the roots you see when you receive orders, will ALL DIE and ALL NEW will grow in the spring.

On my own plantback I trim the roots to less than one inch but when you plant back 50,000 or so you can see why, too much time to plant all the roots when they die...

I have seen wholesale nursery's that trim all the overseas or wholesale iris to maybe 2" foliage and cut off as much root as possible because they do not want the weight and they know they will grow...

Hope this helps.

Any time you have questions just ask...and I will answer on bearded iris.

D

Again, great info, Dee. Thanks for sharing.

K

I guess the problem I have is getting the right height of my mounds. It makes sense if you say to plant them on the level ground and then temporarily add extra dirt until they are re-anchored. Actually it sounds a lot easier than planting them on cones, spreading the roots down the sides of the cone and refilling the dirt! Although I like the firm planting the roots give if I have a choice.

it is trust me...Used to do it the way we were all taught until Ray and Jim Schreiner took me on a complete tour from planting to shipping, A BUG EYE OPENER and realized I had created so much more work for myself, now clip them short put in about 1/2 to 1" let the rain and snow take care of the rest, really have very few to clean off the dirt on the top in spring

D

It is soo hot here in the summers when the growers are shipping their iris. It is too hot to get out into the gardens so I cut all the roots off my new purchases and pot them up into quart sized pots (rhizome tops exposed) with a soil mix of 2/3 garden topsoil and 1/3 potting mix with some super phosphate mixed in. I just push them down into the pots. By late Sept I can plant them with their own soil and roots out into the gardens, or sometimes if I put them in bigger pots I leave the planting til spring. I have tried direct planting in the late summer, but the potted method is much better for me and establishes the iris and roots.

When I receive Blyth direct from him in Feb, I always pot up, cutting all the roots off as well.

I wish we did not have to ship as we do because it can get honest indian in the past up to 102 while we are digging orders, but remember as commercial we must get all the orders out then we have to dig all the field, trim, treat, and replant and that all takes time.

I know for one that by the middle of October I am past ready for the end of the season.

Some of you might find this interesting, as so often people think iris growers basically work 4-5 months of the year. My own schedule goes like this starting in Oct if done, with inventory and replant get this month off, Nov start the catalog and the webpage and that takes me into Dec and Jan. Come Feb I start working in the field as the weather allows March same with pictures, April same, May same and as judge must judge shows and go to other gardens as well as mine, June pictures get things ready for shipping to begin, July start the big dig and shipping and that takes me into Aug and Sept, then Sept and part of Oct plant back and then we start over again.

D

One time I had to lean the new plant up against its plant maker to keep it from falling over.I prefer to receive a plant with good roots. they need to be anchors here as by Aug. they should be firmly in the soil in case we get early winters. It usually doesn't get cold until Nov. but those plants should be firm in the ground by that time in our climate.

Well, this was worth staying up later for and I appreciate all the expert information. Thank you very much.

For me, I'd better get everything in the ground by the end of August... it may snow the end of September. Usually Halloween night is our first snow, but you never know. &:-)

We try super hard to get everything in the ground by the end of Sept but sometimes must go into 1-2 weeks of Oct. Not good here to push that far. Hopefully we will get the entire field done by the end of Sept as we can light freeze by the end of Sept, guaranteed rain and nasty weather for Halloween night.

So we push and push hard, right now have all the seedlings from prior years in taken care of and today since it is cooler this AM we will plant the babies from last year, not all because we have run out of land until I can ship the beardless in first week of Sept.

But that field will go in 2 weeks then over to the bearded

D

It's so funny how we have such different climates. Because we are on sand, and it never freezes (almost never), we can plant right up until first snowfall. Around the first part of December, but I've been known to be dividing sibs on New Years Eve. I try to get my bearded divided and planted earlier.

I like the longer roots left on, too, so it anchors the iris in, although with our sandy soil we can put some on top of the rhizome with no problem for over the winter.

I only cut the roots on my own on Bearded never the beardless.

Climate and soil have a big influence on how you can plant things to give them the best chance.

D

Dee, I fully understand the tremendous amount of work involved with all living things. I thank God for hard working people like you. You and others allow me the pleasures I get from my little plot of Eden

Just as a hobbiest gardener, with a compulsive desire to collect and plenty of land to plant, I could, if my body would hold up, work all day every day. Just yesterday with temps at 98 and a 75% humidity I received 25 gift iris. I will mix up my soils and pot them up today. I am so excited to have them I'll be happy to get them going. By the sweat of my brow, and little fat body they will bloom this spring. I am also grateful for the generous people who are willing to work hard just to be able to share their labors of love with others. Thanks Sharon for the great gift of iris yesterday. Made me a happy girl! I am looking forward to my newly ordered ones coming soon.....and Dee's leftover PNW sale in Sept.

Yes, can't wait for the sale!

Very informative thread - thanks ladies!

Dee, I like your planting method! I will try it with the endless divisions that I have awaiting planting. I think the important point is to plant on top of the ground and then add extra dirt on top. I have poked mine into the ground at times, thinking I would brush off the dirt on top of the rhizomes, but the dirt always comes back because the rhizome is under the ground level. You could also hold the rhizome in place with bricks, etc. and then remove it after it has rooted.

since I will have hundreds to plant this year, I'm going to try your method, Dee.

Our club decided it was my turn to plant the club sales leftovers this year. The gal that has always done it in the past wanted her space this year for something else. They decided I had the space. How did they decide that? They were HERE and saw all my beds were full. well...they did see two of the largest beds empty, being solarized, too.

Then, when they heard me asking for the mamas (any with a baby started) that where being tossed out as we dug and processed Dr. Epperson's iris gardens, they decided I'd also get all those leftovers to plant. With no one taking care of it most days, we had a lot of those and not many good rhizomes. I just thought, "hey, I can get those to grow big enough in a year or two and donate them back, don't just toss them!"

Was feeling a bit sorry for myself this year with no iris $$, and I will end up with at least 200 rhizomes to plant and at least 300 mamas!

You WILL be busy Bonnie. Will you get first choice next year with all your work? We start digging for our sale on the 31 over the weekend. DH off to get hardware cloth to cover newly planted seedlings to protect them from turkey dust baths.

Well on the 12th I must go to Schreiners to pick up iris for the auction, come home and dig the ones I am donating and then dig all the doorprice iris since I have all those planted here and they must be ready for the auction then in Sept must dig for the rhizome sale at Als in Woodburn.

D

What are irises with a baby started? Do you mean the little green nubs on the side of a rhizome? Are they quite a bit further along in development than divisions with only new roots beginning?

Not really further along since they have to get larger towards blooming size. The ones with small nubbins coming have to get to the same shape as the others. But they are showing for the future.

yes, that's it. If they show new roots, then they might survive. I keep hearing not to bother replanting big fat, hard rhizomes without leaves (which I call mamas because they feed the babies from their stored carbs).

But they have about a 30% to 80% survival rate here. Depends on how fast I put them back in the ground. After 6 years of living in Idaho, I figured they are like potatoes you plant. If it's got an eye that might grow somewhere, even a bisected bit will grow.

Each year I trim irises under a tree out front. It's shady. Got in the habit of tossing bits of rhizomes, marble sized, on the mulch around the tree base. Every spring, the daffodils and grape hyacinths (under the mulch) bloom. And blooming irises show up, too, from the discarded bits!

Iris are tougher than people think--however it is a selected toughness--some survive, some are a disaster.

The ones you love most do not have this survival instinct!

true, very true. I saw some discussion in "Tall Talk" about that when I was looking through an older copy Friday.