Advise on moving plants

Hey folks,

I'm in a situation where I need to move my iris' along with my gardens to a new address. We've already had a frost here and I am asking a similar question that was posed back in Sept. What would be best - put them back in the ground or store potted until spring? I'm in zone 7b middle NC area. I don't have beds prepared at this time - so this is a quick move and hope to save situation... Please give me your sage advice....

I'll also be moving some daylillies and cannas....

Thanks

Swoz.

When we moved from one zone to another we potted anything we wanted to move with us. The only things lost were marginal plants.

Iris, daylilies, lilies all did well and still have them after 15 years.

Hope this helps

D

my situation is a little different than Swoz's.......

I'm helping a lady at work clean out her completely overgrown flower beds. She has a bunch of iris and peonies that she wants to keep. I'd like to dig them out store them until we can get the beds cleaned and put back together - next spring. Could we dig the iris and peonies and store them like canna's and then plant next spring in the new beds....

What is the success rate with this ..... I'd hate for her to lose any

Thanks for any advice

Can you possibly find a spot in her garden to heel them in for the winter? Bit late to move iris, perfect for moving peonies. You could pot them up and then bury pots back in the garden in trench where you have cleaned out the garden.
Inanda

Can I just store them..... as dormant bulbs.... ?

Thanks Inanda .....

Not a good idea! as they are not bulbs. Best why is either in a temp area or potted up...

D

Hey - thanks for the replys. I did get the iris' dug up - and I do have peat moss and a basement that I could overwinter them in boxes. Would that work? Basically I lifted them out of the beds - they were in clay soil and we're in drought conditions here. But in spite of that - there was new growth starting and multiplication of the stocks. I'm moving day lillies too. I hate to do it this way - but if I don't get them now, I'll have to leave them behind, It's literally dig and go..

My suggestion would be to pot them and bury the pots in the groound over the winter for insulation. I do it every year. We built a house and are slowly getting the landscape done. I've got 130 about pots currently planted out back. Had about the same last year and did't lose anything.

That sounds like a good idea...... thanks

Why is potting them different than moving them? I have some I got in a trade, and I've been trying to figure out what to do with them. Someone else told me to "plant them in a shallow container with the crown exposed to air; water sparingly, keep in a cool place with a bit of sun." I'm totally new to irises.
Lauri

If you don't have a place to plant them, overwintering in pots gives you all winter to decide on a place. This is my problem and the reason I do this. We built our house a few years ago and are just now getting to the landscaping. Every year I'm adding new beds as hardscapes are getting done, This year we built a stone retainingwall. I'll be adding about 300 feet of beds and borders in the spring. Because of the large area, this would cost a fortune. As people give me plants and I get the end of the season deals, and still nowhere to plant, this is a good alternative.

If you pot them up for the winter, then when you want to move them to their final home, you can just water them well, tip the pot upsidedown and replant without disturbing roots too muchj. Alternatively, what I would do, is let them bloom in their pots, and plant after blooming.
Inanda

Is there a difference between iris bulbs and rhizomes?

The bearded iris you are discussing grow from rhizomes, a storage vessel from which both the roots and leaves emerge. Other kinds of iris grow from bulbs. If bearded iris in storage lose their leaves, they have sucked the rhizomes and roots dry, and they die. They never completely stop growing, and are always green above ground, even if they are resting. At least this is how it looks from having grown them off and on for a long time. Bulbs, on the other hand, are stored without leaves or current roots, which reemerge from the bulb each growing season, and hence do not dry out. So, bulbous iris like the siberians can be stored safely before planting, like daffodils, etc. If I have any of this wrong, somebody correct me!

Ahem.... Please, sibs are not bulbous. laurihs4, go google Canadian iris society, AIS (American Iris Society) and do some research.

Siberians need to be kept damp at all times. If you come across any, store them in a bucket of water for not more than a day or two till you plant them.

You will become infected (with any luck) with the iris must have bug.
Inanda

eddited to add info about sibs and water

This message was edited Nov 10, 2005 9:41 AM

Thank you, inanda! Now that I think back, I recall that I did get the sibs with growth, not as dry bulbs. Appreciate the correction.

P.