Reblooming Iris?

Ok, have I stepped on a foot here? Or is this new type of Iris welcomed? Can I have some advice about the most successful ones? Also, how close to a house foundation can Iris be planted? Will they take hot afternoon sun? Thank you so very much - I have a 1950's cinderblock cottage and want retro flowers but need the most bang for my buck that I can get - that is why I am thinking about the rebloomers.

Reblooming irises vary in doing so from climate to climate. 'Immortality' which is white is one of the most reliable. It takes a bit to settle in. This type needs more summer watering to perform. You have a good climate for it. winterberry gardens is a good place to look. their website is just a couple years old, but they have a selection of older plants which you might try.

Best allow at least a couple of feet between house and tall bearded iris fans--they will spread over two-three years' time, and then they should be thinned or transplanted from the center of the ground clump or changed to new soil in a tub. Roots generally extend 18-20 inches on average. Because of poor soil (amendments don't last) I plant in raised beds or 15" plastic tubs. One of my beds is 7 feet long by 2-1/2 ft. wide and 18" deep ; 2 years ago I planted 7 fans of rebloomer TB Ocean Pacific there. This spring, in late March, I counted 28 budstalks, each with 6 or 7 large buds on them, which are still blooming right now. This cultivar usually blooms in October or November, depending on the zone 9b weather. A couple of times I grew a clump in a tub, and handtrucked it into the living room near the southeast-facing window, so that it bloomed in December and January in the house. I'll have to thin the 7 ft. bed in summer 2013. about 6 weeks after spring bloom.

Try to buy your rebloomers from local growers; what works locally is more likely to do well in your yard. In any case, choosing rebloomers is trial and error, and often they don't rebloom until their 2nd year in many climates. Look at pictures and descriptions in "Iris Catalogs" search engine results. The American Iris Society has records on their website of tall bearded Award of Merit and Dykes Medal winners which are tested all over the country. Other medals/awards are given for other iris forms.There is also the Reblooming Iris Society.com which tries to list all rebloomers; some pictures are available. For most pictures, I like to put "Iris: Name" in the Google image search box, which brings up many pictures--but beware: a few of these are mislabeled or irrelevant.

Well, now that I have taken up your time with my questions about reblooming iris, guess what. I am looking outside my window and in the overgrown field next to my home, there are two types of the old-fashioned iris blooming away! One is the old creamy white color, and the other is a taller, yellow with brownish falls. Cool! Where's my shovel...!
They are from the OLD home, long ago rotted away...but the iris MUST be a pretty sturdy type, huh!

By all means rescue them. Winterberry Gardens is in VA & their catalog is $5. They have a section on rebloomers & give the Ag zone where they have been known to rebloom.

The zone is important. The only re-bloomers I have are Enchanted one and Twiggi that was planted last year. Both rebloomed but sometimes Enchanted one takes a year off .

I did not write my last post correctly. What I wanted to say is that, in lieu of buying new, beautiful rebloomers, I am going to dig up those old-fashioned iris blooming nearby. They were planted at least 100 years ago!
I find that all of your posts are quite interesting, though, about the rebloomers. Do they have fragrance?

Fragrance of any iris differs from cultivar to cultivar. Many of the historics near you will have it.

I cant bend down that far,

The yellow with the burnt-orange falls has a TON of fragrance. The ivory/smaller ones have a faint scent. But, what a discovery! I've heard that when people hybridize, the first thing to go is the fragrance. What a shame. I know certain flowers for their fragrance. Like, Hyacinths, and Lilacs, and Iris, and Dandelions!

lol