Soaking irises?

Some of the rhizomes I've received in the mail are quite dry. Should I soak them before I plant them? Or just plant them as is and then water them thoroughly?

I've never soaked them. I've put them in a 10% bleach solution for 5 or 10 minutes if I think they came with fungus, but other than that, I don't. They do get dry looking, and they even get more dry looking and even dead looking sometimes, after you put them in the ground. Water well. If your soil is anything other than fast draining sand, you probably only want to water them deeply once a week. After about a week, they should start showing signs of life. Me, with 50% sand, 50% compost, everything drains so darn fast that I have to water 3 times a week when the temps are over 90*F to keep them happy. At least the nights are cooler now, so I've cut back to twice a week. They actually seemed to perk up after the light frost we had last week. We're back near 90 again during the day, but still between the mid 30s and 50s at night.

Agreed - Don't soak them. I just water mine in well at the time of planting and then let the rains take care of their watering needs after that.

Sometimes I soak mine, sometimes not. If it's still really hot and we haven't had a good rain for awhile I soak them. I have to water mine with a watering can so I would rather give them the soaking if possible. If the iris I get are still very fresh looking then I only put them in the water for a short time or maybe even not at all. I'm not much help, am I? LOL!

Actually, that was a huge help to me!