I'm Doing It!

All of my bearded irises are dug, divided, deborered, bleached, and strung up side down in the garage in front of a fan. Like strings of fish. I have about 80 of the smaller ones planted in a special "prayer garden" for my grandson, who is undergoing a bone marrow transplant for leukemia. I have cleared space at the ends of my garden, and My DH bulldozed a big patch of weeds that I will be planting the rest in, soon I hope. About 300-400 fans to go...a lot of duplicates, but next year I hope to give away the extras and start re-populating with cherished beauties!

Keep up the good work. That is quite an undertaking.
-T

Wow
I can only aspire to be that industrious
I've been 'hiding' from the duplicate clumps I need to dig and share -- it's just been so miserably humid outside -- oh well, hopefully I'll get started this weekend.

That's what I'll be doing this weekend too. We've got the stinkin humidity here too, think that's worse than the heat.

Oh, my--what a huge project! Is now the time to be dividing? Are you doing this to get rid of borers? You must have energy to burn (and your DH too!) to undertake this in the heat and humidity! Good luck!

And my prayers go out to your little grandson, too. He has a lovely grandmother to watch over him. t.

This is a great time to clean your iris beds. I'm taking out extra roots, moving clumps that are too tall/too short and just generally getting my iris knocked into shape right now. I like to have at least 8 weeks to re-root beofre the cold winds blow...

OK Wanda, That's great to know!

I was going to wait until September until after the heat passes through. I have a few that can use attention. Thanks. t.

I was wondering just how much time it takes for new roots to form. Couldn't you mulch for awhile if it gets cold too early? 8 weeks before the first frost, or hard freeze, or what?

No, I sure am not energetic this time of the year! Just desperate! Never even knew about iris borers until ast year, but this year, they are everywhere. I needed to rethink my planting areas so it would be easier to keep the irises cleaned up. I never do a fall cleanup in my flower beds, but I realize that it what irises need around here.

This message was edited Jul 30, 2006 6:00 PM

I must get a move on and start mine now also. I'm thinking they need to get a little more sun and I think I planted them too deeply. Are the rhizomes supposed to show on top?????

That's what I was told last year... but the ones I planted that way had lots of frost heave over the winter, and I had to keep tamping them back down into the dirt. Since then, I have heard to plant them just under the surface, maybe with the uppermost part showing a little, covering with no more than half an inch of soil. The ones that I've planted (or replanted) that way are looking sturdy now!

Wanda,
Do you trim your fans? I seem to remember a lot of people trimming them when I was younger, but I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. I didn't know if they need that green to help with the flowering next year, or if cutting them back help the roots do better? I was hoping someone could clear that up for me here.
Thanks,
JanetS

Okay everyone JanetS has a good question I could use an anwser to as well. What d'ya say? Someone help us???????

I trim any spotted or yellowing fans down. Iris store food for their spring bloom by their growth in the fall. I like to give them as much green as possible, as long as possible. I trim to ground in early spring.

Iris borers hatch into moths and lay their eggs on the iris foliage in lte summer/fall. The eggs hatch in the spring after 70 degrees and the larvae burrow down the leaves into the rhizomes. I make sure all my leaves are cleaned by spring, but you could do it in the late fall too.

If it is rainy or I see iris problems, I trim the iris down to 8 inches. Moe air gets to the center of the clump & dries them out. Remember with iris, DRY is good.

Thanks for the info. Iris borers I don't want. I can trim the fans to the ground in like what end of Oct Nov and they'll be okay??????? I really would like to see blooms next year. When I dig them up how do I tell if iris borers are there? Do I need to wash them and bleach them or can I just rinse the soil off, divide them and replant them right away??

Cherie

Thanks Wanda...great info! Some of mine need to be separated and a lot of them have some brown already...it has been so hot...I am hoping to be able to get out in the early morning and late evening and begin getting them ready for the winter season.

I posted this message on one of the other iris sites but for the benefit of others I post it on this one too. Many growers in this area are having great luck "doing in" the borer with Bayer Grub Control with Merit. It is spread early in the spring before 70 degree weather. I have used it and have not seen any borers this year (so far). Anybody else out there have any experience with it??

This is one question I can answer: signs of iris borer:
yellowed slimy leaves that fall over or pull out with a slight tug /
little piles of "sawdust" near the rhizome /
this late in the year, you can probably see a borer curled up in a hollowed out rhizome when you dig them /
leaves that are chewed up in zigzags along the edges /

After they eat their fill they will turn into hard brown pupae near the rhizomes in the soil, I have seen several stages of this formation taking place. In the fall (Sept - Oct) they hatch into moths and lay eggs on the old dead leaves or trash near the rhizomes. They will even lay eggs on things like wood and bricks and rusty nails if they are nearby, I read somewhere.



This message was edited Aug 1, 2006 4:59 PM

Well I haven't seen any chewed up zigzags in the leaves and none are yellow and falling over so maybe I'm good huh? Get a break in this heat I have so much I want to do and move around.

Re Merit: I have used the liquid Merit with better results than the granules. If you get the liquid ,garden suppliers sell it, its called Bayer Lawn and Garden Grub Control (or something like that) but look for the active ingredient Imidacloprid. You mix and spray on the iris rhizomes in early spring
Laetitia.

Laetitia--Have you had pretty good luck with the liquid? A friend of mine used both, but I am kind of lazy to do all that (maybe not so much lazy as getting old) I'll look for the liquid and maybe my garden supply spot can order it for me for next spring. I belong to the Northshore Iris and Daylily Society and at our shows and sales we always get asked for advice so I appreciate hearing of the results people are getting. We want to give out good advice. Thanks Marge

Marge:
Last year I used both, because there was an article in the AIS bulletin, the writer said he used both and had fantastic results. I had excellent results too. I think I found about 6 borer. In 2006 I got a little lazy and just used the liquid. I had more borer but not as many as when I just used the granules, or nothing at all, but to be fair, I used the half leftover bottle from 2005 (did it lose some strength?), and I sprayed later in the season. It was late April instead of early April.
Next year I will just use the liquid, but will spray earlier and get a fresh bottle. I will let you all know what the results are.
Laetitia.

Re. heaving. I put a brick on top of each newly planted rhz. to stop heaving. I do this after frost or snow have arrived so I know there will be no more root growth. However .... 400 rhz is a diff. matter. Think with that many I would just walk the rows fairly regular and stomp on them, (gently) to push them back into the ground in the spring as soon as it thaws. And probably you'd have to keep on doing that till it warmed up.
inanda

I have a question
when you dig up iris,and do what you done and put them up to dry how long can they wait till they go back into the ground ty robin

ditto that question for me ty

I've had them drying in the garage for a month or better without a problem. The ones you buy in stores & nurseries are harvested in Holland 2-3 months before you get them.

Oh. Ask melissa. One year she left an extra wheelbarrow full out in her yard. They hid under snow all winter and bloomed in the wheelbarrow come spring! Tough little buggers....

That I like. The tougher the better, I won't kill them so easy lol

Haven't you ever seen a pile of iris blooming happily by an abandoned house or shed? The old historics ignored weeds and insects and problems & kept on going. Gotta love them.

Three Oaks 1940

Actuslly no I have'nt, I don't think so this is so nice to know thank for the picture.

What a beauty Wanda!

Great photo, Wanda.
One of the neatest things at the Portland convention was over at MidAmerica where they had their iris compost heap. Apparently they threw their rejects on this pile, and the heap was gorgeous with bloom! It made you want to go over there and rescue a few!
Laetiita

reason I asked my iris had brown spots on them and it was a fungus,which ate where ever it started right down,And i dug all my iris cut them down,checked each corn for bores,and washed in bleach let dry and sprayed with fungacide,and they are out drying i redid my beds with same stuff.i was not sure how long they can be with out dirt,so i saw this post -I guess they will do ok,

The single most important element to successful planting in cold winter areas is to get the irises in the ground as early in the season as possible. You can prevent a LOT of winter heaving and first-year loss by giving the plants plenty of time to root in before winter. That means, folks, that you need to get them planted NOW!!! Up here in zone 3b, I try to get all of my bearded irises in the ground before the end of July, but I can push it to Aug. 15 if I have to. If I disturb established root systems (by dividing clumps) or plant new irises after Aug. 15, I'll start losing some over the winter. The later I plant after that date, the higher a percentage of loss I'll experience.

A few other notes ...

Cutting back foliage -- I don't cut back healthy, green foliage because, particularly in my short season climate, I want my irises to have every possible opportunity to feed themselves for next year's bloom. I don't want to do anything to reduce their ability to get the most out of every productive second they have during the growing season. I recommend cutting back ONLY dead, dying, or diseased leaves or parts of leaves and allowing all of the green to remain in place to nourish the plant. The only exception is when transplanting. I will cut back new transplants just enough so they aren't top heavy and will remain upright until they are firmly rooted into their new locations.

I leave old foliage on the plants over winter because I tend to think it helps insulate the plants a bit. I then cut all of the irises back to the ground and trash (do NOT compost) all of the garden cleanings in early spring before temps reach 70 degrees to remove as many borer eggs as possible before they hatch.

After dividing clumps, I lay the new divisions out in a protected area for a day or two to scab over their cut wounds before replanting so that the fresh wounds are not so vulnerable to bacterial infections from the soil. I don't bother to bleach soak healthy rhizomes that come out of my own garden and go right back into it, but I do bleach soak rhizomes that are coming from or going to other gardens.

I plant my bearded irises with the tops of the rhizomes level with or slightly below the soil surface (no more than 1/2").

I have never used liquid Merit for borer control but have been using the granular form for a number of years with great success. The keys to successful borer control are early application of Merit just as irises are breaking dormancy in the spring, and watering the Merit granules in deeply immediately after application.

Laurie

Gee Laurie thats a lot of great information. Thank you. You are in zone 3b correct? So for me here in zone 5a I could maybe extend the period to August 31st maybe? I'm trying to figure out a schedule of to do list kinda for each item I want to get done.

I would guess you could replant safely until the end of Aug. in 5a, but like I said, the earlier you get them in the ground, the stronger their root systems will be for winter.

Laurie

Okaey dokey then. Saturday after DD's birthday that is what I'll do. Ty again

ty for the info robin

Big iris planting day today - it may be my best chance for a long time. Lots of family problems have come up, so I best be at it. Wish me luck, my garden muses!

Good luck!!! and Happy Planting!!!

Yes Yes ditto for me. Good luck and happy planting

Where do you purchase the Merit, either in liquid or granular form?