No blooms from potted iris

Hello all, I have 2 pots with iris planted. One pot is going into it's third year, the other into its second. The pot that has them into the second year has one that is ready to bloom. My question is....the pot with the iris from three years ago did bloom last year for the first time, but it does not show any sign that it will be blooming this year. I have them both under a tree so they get filtered sun light. Do you think that they may not bloom b/c they are in pots rather than in the ground?

If they may not be blooming becasue they are not getting enough sun
on average they need at least 6 hours.
Move them into direct sun
and see what happens
:)
A

I'll do that for sure....we definetly get plenty of sun here! So I'll just find a new spot for them and cross my fingers.... :)

Hi zenflower
I'm in Phoenix too 7th St and T-bird. I had several iris in pots for a couple of years and had only two blooms. I separated the rhizomes and planted 19 in the ground in a bed by themselves. I thought I wasn't getting any blooms until night before the last I was doing my "night gardening by flashlight" and was VERY excited to see a bloom start. AND on another set of leaves I see and bulge appearing. When I look at it with the sun behind it I can see the shape of a new flower start. Yeah, you do need 6 hours of sun and there is still time to see that a stalk will appear. After this Spring, which is very near for us in Phoenix, pull them out of the pot and separate them, brush off the roots and plant them shallow in the ground in a bed by themselves in a sunny spot. You will be thrilled when they perform for you.
Susie
(Southwest Gardening-Aguane)

We are pretty close! How come you recommend they for in the ground after the spring? Do they really prefer to be in the ground, instead of pots. I am terrible...I have a hard time planting in the groung (although I'm working on it) b/c I know that we will be moving with 2 to 3 years and the thought of leaving all of my precious plants kills me. But I will try to follow your advice, maybe try an experiment....separate them, plant half in the ground and half in pots and see what happens.
Ooh also, When planted in the ground, how come they should be planted by themselves? Not fans of sharing space with companions?
As you can probably tell I don't know squat about how to care for them!
Thanks for all the great info.... :)

Zenflower
My house is for sale, the iris are in the ground and rest assured I will take a few rhizomes with me... I'll leave the bulk here per the contract. I'm planting seasonal flowers only in containers at this time. You have PLENTY of time to enjoy your iris in the ground. I think its a good idea to let them stay put through their blooming season (that's my intuition ). I wouldn't dig them up now. Do a little research to see when you can relocate them to the ground. There should be an optimum time. Ask MARGIEMPV (she lives in AZ) at this forum. They will multiply and that's one reason they like their own space. Don't like being confined. I understand that they like to be planted alone because they like to spread new baby rhizomes ( was realy surprised at how fast baby rhizomes appear) and they don't like any shade on the rhizome itself provided by plants nearby. They like very good drainage, don't like to sit in wetness. I understand that to put them on a mound it good. This Forum is great you'll learn alot. Very helpful, passionate group.