Dividing Irises

I've searched this forum for anything posted within the last year on my particular question but didn't find anything, so here goes...

Last year I rescued a lot of irises from an adjacent lot that was being developed. I found homes for most of them, but I also packed an area in my yard with a portion of the bounty. I am now in the process of moving them from their temporary locations to (hopefully) a more permanent site. We had a serious drought last year and I am finding a lot of LONG roots. Would it be ok for me to trim the roots back to 4 inches in length?

I checked the article at http://irismelodies.com/ but it didn't mention trimming the roots.

Thanks.

Dawn

you can trim the roots as short as you like. they are only goof to help anchor your iris in their new home.

if you ever pull up an iris about 6 weeks after replanting, you'll see that all those long roots will have shrunk and died and new white roots are coming out.

Thanks so much for the first person observation! I was getting tired of trying to swirl the roots around so they would fit in their new little cubbyhole.

Dawn

yes trim the roots back, but not all the way as the plant needs anchors as said above.