latest i can divide iris?

there is a local swap the first weekend of october near me....i am rooting some cuttings, pulling my extras out now..i have a few iris that i could divide but want to wait as long as i can...but i dont want to do it the day before or the morning of the swap(in case its too rainy or cold, and thats happened before).....when should i divide, and also should i pot them up?....im in zone 5..and its been known to be very chilly and icky in october here, so what do yall think?

thanks a bunch
cindy

I dont THINK its a good idea to wait. My understanding is that Iris need to be divided now and replanted or potted to help insure a bloom next year.
maybe someone else can give us a for sure answer but I would say go ahead now .
charlotteda

I don't know about Missouri. The latest I ever put iris into my gardens was in late September 2003. Not all of them bloomed spring 2004. Iris need time to root properly before winter hits. I would not be comfortable waiting until October to dig them up. You could dig them up now & let them get established in pots for the swap.

However, if you order iris from Schrieners Gardens - they don't even ship until October! So I'm assuming they think it's okay to wait to plant them until then. But, my experience has been anything planted after September, generally doesn't bloom the first spring.

M.

I planted a few late arrivals in October last year. Due to our thawing & freezing winter , they never seemed to root properly. Most of them rotted in the wet/cool spring we had.
Very disappointing. But this IS Iowa.

If you live in an area where it snows I wouldn't dig or plant irises after Sept 15th. In Schreiner's defense (ok, I'm addicted to their plants!) they ship well before October, last week I got my order from them. When rhizomes are huge and healthy like Schreiner's they can take more abuse...I mailed my sisters in North Idaho some big rhizomes from my garden and they bloomed the next year even though it frosted the week they planted them. Sometimes I have bought teeny tiny rhizomes that are barely clinging to life and they won't bloom for 2 years even though the climate here is ideal for irises. Don't plant after Sept 15th and get the biggest baddest rhizomes you can find....you'll be ok!

From your mouth to my ears--yea, yea, it shall be so.... :)

This question goes along the same lines. I planted some Iris bulbs a FEW years ago, and not knowing anything about them (im learning!), they have grown into a huge 'bunch'. How does one go about seperating them? Any good threads on this? (I cant find one) They dont look near as pretty as they used to, and Id like to get them thinned out before too late this year..

Thanks for any help!

Dan

Dan,

If you're colder than zone 5, I wouldn't suggest digging and dividing now. It's getting quite late in the season to disturb irises that dramatically in a cold zone. If you're zone 5 or higher, go ahead and do the job now. You can find instructions on my website at:

http://www.angelfire.com/mn3/shadowood/faqdivide.html

Happy digging,

Laurie

I live in zone 8b. My first frost date is October 15th. What is the latest date I can divide and plant new iris?

I'm in Zone 5 and I still plant iris into mid September. I need good roots down if I want them to bloom next spring.

Laurie, thanks for pointing the way to your website, I was looking for just that exact information today. I've already dug mine up, but then realized I had no idea what to do from here - it looks to me like I'd kill it all if I started hacking at it. I guess not!! (Where do us newbies get these ideas???) Thanks again.

I was still moving iris on Sunday, but I'm crazy. Just hoping for a bit more rain to set everything in.

This wierd summer has brought me a Blessing of re-bloomers! Clarence, baby Blessed, Immortality & Bride's Halo are all in stages of blooming. Daylilies blinded me all summer, but these babies reming me of the beauty to come next spring...