Newbie Question

I bought some iris rhizomes today. I suspect they will put up leaves, but will I have to wait til next year to see the blooms?

BTW: What ares some of the tell-tale signs of a good rhizome and is there a method of TLC that I can use to bring them out of dormancy before I put them in the ground.
I got Mother Earth, Edith Wolford, Prissy Miss and Radiant Apogee

This is not the usual time of year to buy iris rhizomes; however if they are firm, but not crispy they are probably OK. If they look very dried out to you, you could soak in water over night or for a few hours, and then plant. One very good sign they are OK is if there is some tell tale green fan growth coming from the rhizome, but if there is not, that does not mean they are no good.
A 'bad' or dead rhizome would be very light in weight, and would cave in if you squeeze the middle of the rhizome lightly with your fingers.
But if you fear this is the case, plant anyways. Iris are tough, and some surprise you with their resliency and ability to rise from the dead.
Laetitia

Where did you purchase these irises? Were they potted or bare root? Assuming they are bare root, and guessing you bought them from a "mart" (K-Mart, WalMart, Home Depot, Lowes, etc.), they're probably last year's rhizomes that have spent the entire winter out of the ground. It's extremely unlikely that you'll get blooms this year. If the rzs are very dessicated, they may not survive at all. If, however, they are still firm and heavy (even if they don't currently have any viable roots or foliage), they will most likely survive but will probably not bloom this year.

If these are mart irises, you should understand that it's very likely they will not be accurately identified. Mart irises are notoriously mislabeled. In fact, they are sometimes culled seedlings and not registered plants at all. That's not to say that they won't be perfectly lovely irises if and when they bloom. It's just that you shouldn't get your hopes up that you are actually growing Mother Earth, Edith Wolford, Prissy Miss and Radiant Apogee.

Laurie

Yup, Wally World.
Well, if they don't turn out being exactly what I thought, that's okay too. You get what you pay for and all I really wanted was some pretty irises.

They are firm and heavy and most have green shoots. So that is good news. I was actually suprised at the stock they had this year. Most of it looked really good. I'll give em a good soak and stick em in the ground.
My grandpa collects Irises and he used to cut huge bouquets for me on Sundays. They just make things feel familiar and happy to me

So would it help to ammend the soil with some bone meal or something? Or just let em be to do their thing . . .

Thanks for the info.

A little superphosphate dug into the soil underneath (but not touching) the rhizomes wouldn't hurt. Bone meal is risky because stray dogs or other carnivores might dig up your irises in search of the bone scent.

Don't oversoak or overwater those rhizomes or you'll rot them.

Laurie