We had such a tough winter....

As a result of the messy and cold New England/Northeast winter, many of the perennials suffered.

Irises seem to have thrived. Who knew? The first bearded iris bloomed today, Lots of buds growing healthy. The Louisiana gamecocks seem to have multiplied. The Japanese irises seem to be doing well. I cannot wait to see what summer has in store.

How did your irises survive?

We had bitter cold and wind chills here in the mid west, but, we also had plenty of snow cover...and the iris seemed quite " snug in their beds". Bloom so far has been very good, and there are tons of stalks on the TBs, and if the wind or something doesn't knock 'em down...it's shaping up to be a great year !...Arlyn

we did not lose any Irises here in NC zone 7b to frost or cold either..as the cold might have been record temps, but was consistent without warms spells or melt and refreeze into the root zone, that is a major cause of rhizome loss in the winter, but here in the south the late summer and early fall is the worst for rhizome loss because the intense humidity can take a toll and cause crown rot. We lost our Eucalyptus tree though, to this severe cold at night, that it was not used to, in this warm zone.

Very hard winter here also; many bushes such as forsythia, weigela, tree peonies, etc. died to the ground, but the irises had snow cover all winter and are doing GREAT!

Seconding the difficult Iowa winter. Lost a rhododendron, a heucherella, and some of my veronicas did not bounce back easily. But all irises look great! I planted some rhizomes very last minute in the fall, and while they are small and I didn't expect them to bloom this year anyway, they at least have healthy foliage.

I think the reason for my great irises this year is the deep and constant snow cover.

Tough winter in Montana, Iris just start to bloom then the hail wiped me out, tore off siding on the house and a patch of my roof, only 2, I seen with one open bloom before the hail hit was cat's eye and maya mint

How sad, Mainecoon!

I'll say ! Wait all year for the bloom, and then have a storm wipe it out !...Arlyn

I'm never sure if it's worse if we get a storm or some fool drives over them as they edge the driveway.

Arlyn, do you have other irises that bloom at different times?

I have been given several iris and want to know when to plant them. Can I plant thenm now? I know they will not bloom this but will they be ok.

@ Kamikid..Yes! go and get them in the ground now.you may want to soak them in a bowl of water for a few hours or overnight if theyve ben sitting out for more than 2 weeks before you plant if they are dried out..the sooner you get them in the ground and the roots recooperate and grow/re-establish and more sun the leaves get, the better chance You have of them blooming for You next year. some people plant Iris in the Fall, when its cooler, and they claim that the later they get them the bigger the rhizomes are, they may be bigger by Fall, but then it is usually too late for them to get established before winter and they wont flower the next year, thats we I try to have all my Iris orders shipped to me and in the ground by Mid July. just make sure you dont plant them to deep, they like to be close to the surface, but not so close that a good wind or animals can knock them over or rip them out, and make sure they are well watered for a couple of days, but then do not water anymore because you do not want them to rot, the only time we ever water Iris is when we plant them and then for the next two days.

edited for grammer, I am old and blind/ senile :-)

This message was edited Jun 14, 2014 1:28 PM

Something I would add to what themikesmom said, when she referenced the wind, or a critter knocking them over. I take an old wire coathanger, and cut it into pieces about 6"-8" long, and then bend them into a "candy cane" shape. When I plant the rhizome (especially those that you receive with no roots, at all !), I "pin" it to the ground with the wire 'cane"....just stick it in the soil, next to the rhizome, and push it down so the bend of the cane cradles the top of the rhizome... this really helps hold them in contact with the soil, and keeps them from "wandering" in the wind.
Cathy, yes, I do. Between the MDB's ,SDB's, medians, and TB's, my "spring season" started (this year) April 21st, and it looks like the last few buds, on the last few stalks, will be done the middle of this week. I'm trying a couple spuria iris ,this year, and I see they are "shooting stalks", so I'm guessing I'll get another week's worth of bloom from them(JUST a guess, I've never grown spuria before), and then, hopefully , the bearded re-bloom season should be starting about the first of August, and run till we have a killer frost. The rebloom season last year was the best I've ever had,and was longer than the spring season, but of course, there were no where near as many in bloom at one time.....Arlyn

thats a good idea Arlyn..although we use Copper Plate Name Tags in front of each cultivar we have and they stand about a good 4-6 inched tall..so when we get those ones with little or no root system that annoyingly flop over we usually just prop them up on the copper tag and check it the first couple days when we water it :-) but that is a pretty ingenious and resourceful idea. we had not only had an incredible cold winter like most of the rest of the U.S but also the Rainiest Spring, and it made ML Season through Very Late Season Bloomers Bloom in with the Midseason ones all together and some were So Tall they flopped over and so the 2014 Season was the first year we ran out of green 36 " metal garden wire stakes and so coat hangers may have been a solution.also had some stalks for the first time that had hollow buds never had encountered that before..also I believe from the rainy Spring here in the deep Southeast it was like Monsoon Season in Vietnam or the Amazon not NC.

This message was edited Jun 14, 2014 6:00 PM

All I can say was this winter was a beach for some of us. Seems like we never have 4 seasons any more. I miss ordering iris from Malevil gardens. for 2 years they have been closed due to drought.

@Crowrita1 I used rocks placed on top of my rootless rhizomes I get sent to me, I also get 70 MPH winds & the rocks get moved, your coat hanger idea does it really stand up to high winds

It doesn't do too bad, if the soil is extra loose, I sometimes make the wwire a little longer, so it gets into the un disturbed soil underneath. I have used rocks, or bricks, also...Arlyn

out here we have gumbo soil , no matter what you do to add things to make a good soil the clay wins out, it is such a fat clay I might try the wires.

I would think that with "stiff" soil, the wires should work great for you, then. ...Arlyn

Horrible Red Clay here in NC Mainecoon, the only thing that will thrive here are cash crops like tobacco, cotton and soy. we have to dig it of the hole we plant Iris in and refill the hole with organic potting soil mix, do not use miracle grow thats not organic it turns to crap aka vitamin depleted coco fiber and sludge that rots away bulbs and perennials, I wish I lived in Montana or the pacific NW because in that part of the country I have been told the lowes and home depots out there carry 'Black Gold' potting soil which is what professional lily growers like B&D have been using to plant their asiatic bulbs and tree lilies in since the early 1980s.

It is snowing in Montana now. Ace carries the black gold