Do salvias choke out irises?

I have LA Black Gamecock planted in a full sun high moisture area of my garden. Salvia Argentine Skies is companion plant but I notice my iris is declining. All I can think of is that salvia which has spread with vigor, is obliterating rhizomes. Ya think? I don't mind the salvia b/c I have room and it is easy to yank out in unwanted places but I have let it grow thru and around iris. Your comments are appreciated.

On a related subject, we are a couple of inches above ave rainfall in my area and the LA irises are jumping for joy.

I wouldn't think so unless their crowding out the leaves and they are competing for sunlight. The more sunlight the leaves get the healthier the plant and the more energy stored up for blooms next year. sounds like maybe too much moisture is making the plant sickly, possibly as it is so very humid in Your Climate zone..i would never water Iris or Daylilies if I were You, just let them get natural rain when it rains and maybe the hottest end week of July or August if so dry they are browning out water no more than twice in a week and even perennials like salvia when you water those every day do your watering early morning and late evening or You can cook them. i Hope i was some help.

Well today I started thinning my salvia and by the time I got to plants around my LA iris, it was quite obvious it is choking the life out of my LAs. I had no choice but to yank them all out. I'm thinking about sinking a pot inground and plant the salvia in it. Ive had great success doing this with spreading plants. Salvia Argentine Skies is the most unique shade of pale blue, I sure would hate not to have this plant in my garden but my! it does not play well with others at all.

Hopefully my problem is solved. Today I spent over an hour digging a hole big enough to bury a plastic pot where I can grow this lovely but thuggish salvia. We have 11" of rain in 2 days so digging the clay was like digging bread dough, a holy mess. But the deed is done. There is a sprig of salvia in the pot and by summers end I expect the pot to be full.

Hope your solution works for both the salvia and the irises! I've never had a Salvia get thuggish like that, but my conditions are different... biggest issue here is probably the clay soil that stays too wet in winter... my salvias mostly survive but don't have a chance to become that enormous!

Hello Vossner,
I wondered if your solution worked as I have a hot lips salvia doing the very same thing in my TB iris bed. I love the salvias because they love our heat and they bring the humming birds.
Thanks, Carla

Yes, sinking a container kept salvia in place and right away irises started peeking out. I did have a salvia here and there that reappeared outside of container but I immediately pulled them out. Not a chore at all.

Thanks so much for your reply, I will be doing the same!

I haven't studied salvias thoroughly enough but some thrive with water and others perish quickly if too moist.

Mine are drought tolerant, I have so many different ones but only Hot Lips in the Iris garden...they were there first and I just left them for the humming birds! I am going to take on the task of either moving or potting them, that is such a great idea!