TB iris division question....

when my TB iris put out growth ..we see 3 fans. A mommy fan in the middle and a baby fan on each side...

The mommy fan (M) has a bloom stalk and after it blooms this year it will not ever bloom again...though it "may" continue to produce more baby fans...

Now..here is the big question... you will notice that the baby fans are not real big. SO... is that the reason that iris farms sell rhizomes in July...giving the fans a couple of months after bloom time for those babies to grow ?

charlotte

That is correct.

D

Please fill me in. Are you talking about bearded iris? I don't know the term TB. If so, I never noticed that a rhizome only blooms in a single year. Hmm!

Peter

TB = Tall Bearded

No time to do the entire list. Go google AIS American Iris Society - You'll find all them there.
inanda

http://www.irises.org/classification.htm

That link will take you to a page that explains the iris classifications with the abbreviations.

Thanks Charlotteda! That explains alot! So another question I have is: Since the Mother never blooms again can I cut her out in July or august and still get blooms from the babies the following year?

I would not cut her out as she may produce many increases before she fades into the dirt. However I have noticed that older mother Rhizs are at greater risk for rot and other problems. As long as it is healthy I would leave her unless you are digging the clump to move it or what ever
:)
Anita

I agree with Anita... I would bother cutting her out of an existing clump unless she looks "rotty"...that is "rotty" not "ratty "...LOL though that may apply too.

Even when I dig a clump...if the mommy tuber looks firm and nice...I will ofter leave her attached to one of the babies and she may produce more babies next year :)

This is fascinating. i have grown bearded iris off and on for years, and didn't think about this, although I saw that eventually the older rhizome died. Thanks for the really new information!