Menard's special

They are finally closing out all their tulips, daffs, irises, daylilies and hostas. The bigger bulb boxes are $1.99 and the rest are just .79, so I got 5 irises. What's the best trick to keep them til spring? I was thinking of potting them, letting them grow awhile, then putting them in the garage to do a cold dormant stretch til spring. What would you do? Anybody tried this?

I'd pot them and overwinter them inside under lights or in sunny windows. You wouldn't get any bloom next spring, most likely, but the irises would have the best chance of survival. I potted and overwintered a bunch of beardeds under lights in my basement last winter, and they did just fine.

I wouldn't risk putting them in the garage to try to cold stratify them.

As an aside, don't count on those irises matching the descriptions on their packaging. Large retail stores (Menards, Lowes, Home Depot, the "marts", etc.) are notorious for selling misidentified irises.

Laurie

Thanks, Laurie. That's what I'll do then, just skip the garage and keep them in til planting time. Yeah, I've read others mention the name problem with box store stuff but at this price, they're fun to try. :)