Shriveled irises

This is my first time planting irises, so I don't know much about them. I've planted quite a few, bought from everywhere from Schreiner's to Home Depot to ebay. Some still have some firm green leaves and even formed some secondary sprouts. But others have shriveled to the point where they're just a couple dried up leaves poking up above the soil.

What is the blooming chances for these, next year or ever? I fully expect the fat, healthy Schreiner's rhizomes to bloom, but will the shriveled ones come back next spring? Or maybe the year after? All the rhizomes I planted were firm and healthy looking, some bigger and some smaller, of course.

You may be surprised come spring. In my very severe, short-season climate, I typically average 20-30% bloom on first year irises. Folks out in CA and other warm-winter climates probably get closer to 90-100% bloom on first year irises.

That said, I can also tell you that I get a higher percentage of bloom from tough little rhizomes purchased from cold winter areas in the Midwest and East Coast than I do from the huge rzs from the West Coast. That's because the West Coast lunkers usually take a year or two (or, in a few cases, six) to shrink down and acclimate to my climate before they'll bloom.

So don't count out those little shriveled ones. Those are probably the irises that are acclimated to a cold winter climate and have the good sense to be going dormant right now. That's assuming, of course, that they're still viable and haven't rotted or fallen victim to some other fatal condition.

The best part of winter is looking forward to iris bloom in the spring!

Laurie