New to Iris

I just bought my very first Iris, "Best Bet." It's going to be shipped in early Spring. But everything I'm reading says they should be planted in late summer! Will it be okay to plant it in early Spring instead??? Thanks!

Yes, planting in early spring will be fine. Just wait until all chance of a late frost is passed. It's very unlikely you will see bloom in 2007, however.

Laurie

Drats!! At least I can get them in the ground, and they'll be well established by next Winter. Thanks for the info.

Welcome to the Irising world
CAUTION: Be prepared Iris tend to spread a disease.
It is insidious and not curable.
Some have gone so far as to move from their current residence because of this disease to start fresh.
Symptoms include unbalanced check book after the Kepple, Snowpeak, Schreiner, Coolie, or Mid-America catalogs arrive at your home.
Others symptoms may include spending and extraordinary amount of time on line looking at the latest introduction
Shuttering at the extensive rainfall predicted
Crying inconsolably because that new iris you planted a month ago has rotted.
Searching for old iris you once saw in a magazine
Once symptoms start there is no turning back but there is hope.
On line help is available though an internet sight such as Dave’s in which this fiendish Disease can be monitored. However in some rare instances it may make the symptoms worsen. Use these sites with caution.
Joining a group such as AIS http://www.irises.org/ were others share this disease is also helpful as they have meeting and classing that might help
GOOD LUCK

Anita

Uh oh Anita, looks like I'm moving. I'll go to the website for therapy! LOL!

Oh my!!!................ Anita, I was afraid I had that!!! All those symptoms match my symptoms. I think I'm beyond hope. And the online group you mentioned - - - - well, only seemed to make matters worse. LOL What's a poor girl like me gonna do? :-)

Girls, we'll just have to talk about this...maybe it's an epidemic or something. Who did I get this from? Hmmmmmm, you know those self inflicted diseases can be the worst. It's seems to get worse around spring, anyone else?

Yikes!!! Thanks for the warning. I wonder if this disease can spread and begin to cause addictions to Hosta and Daylillies--since I find myself obsessed with all three lately...

It's spread by internet. Once you find all the the sites that are available for viewing WALLA you are hooked, and addiction sets in. I've got some dear friends addicted, and they join me in the, " just one more order and we'll stop! ha ha."" My DH wonders why our lawn takes less time to cut, he says it getting smaller. I'm always looking for empty spots to put in just one more.

Too funny, but true. I started with irises and that was going to be all. I then went to callas, and now working on daylillies. Where does it end?
Karen: I don't know where zone 7 is, but my irises started blooming 5 months after I planted them.

There is a definate over lapping or spreading from other plant sources
Scientist believe this may be due to the Forte Night Lily which is actually an Iris
thus creating a junction for the spread of the disease
and Hostas are often refered to as the Corfu Lily which may be a link between the insidious disease found in Iris growers to be suseptible from infections from other plants.
It has been reported that this disease can be a deadly when the daylily form and iris form are combined.

A terrible disease. It is never cured.

eg: My Gran was growing irises in waist high beds we made for her when she was in her wheelchair. She absolutely REFUSED to move from her house as we could not find a nursing home where she could continue with her iris. (and rock garden troughs).

KarenB61, Where have you managed to find a spring shipping supplier? Now that I have a US address just across the border, I can order US iris (and lilies!!!) 3 million cheers.

I want some spring dug iris as they can settle in much better than iris dug in July/August.

inanda who has been playing with seedlings this am.

I see White Flower Farms is selling iris in spring.

Some of my wholesalers are now offering plugs of iris in spring.

Maybe a new trend? I like it!

PollyK, who? White Flower Farms does not count. I only buy from growers.
inanda

This message was edited Feb 10, 2007 2:15 PM

Inanda,
Great story about your Gran! I hope to be that way myself.

Margie,
I once had a beautiful blue iris that came with a house. It was extremely vigorous and somehow I didn't move it to my current house. I started buying blue irises trying to duplicate the original. I now have 69 different irises which is about 60 more than I thought was sufficient. And of course, I needed some other colors to contrast with all the blue ones. And I keep buying more! Now I want to get some of those smaller iris that bloom earlier and some arilbreds which are more exotic. This mania has taken over my life.

See, KarenB61,
what awaits you in the iris world. But not to worry, digging all those holes and tossing all that compost build strength and my doctor says I have the bones of a much younger person. I didn't have to wonder why.

Inanda, well I wouldn't buy from White Flower Farms either, LOL, just saying....

I don't know of any iris growers. I'm talking wholesalers, like Walters Gardens, Northwest Bulb and Perennial, like that. They're not iris growers, just perennial wholesalers.

Polly

This message was edited Feb 10, 2007 11:46 PM

Thanks, Polly

Inanda, it means a lot to the smaller independent nurseries, like mine, to be able to purchase iris in the spring.

We don't sell iris to consumers like yourself that buy from the growers. I can't buy an iris from one of the growers, for $6.00, and add the expense of pots and growing material and overhead, etc, and sell it for $6.00. You can buy for the same price I can from the growers.

But from the wholesalers I can buy 20-25 of one iris at a very competitive price, and resell it. For a small nursery like mine, I can get 5 different varieties and a mix, for ex. If I can get it in the spring as opposed to fall, they winter over much better ( I grow them pot in pot in the ground), and most likely will bloom for spring sales, the following spring. Fall planted ones normally do not. The mixed ones I get in spring are a good sized pot by fall, and a lot of people, surprisingly, like the mix. If they buy it in the fall, they have a good size plant to make it through the winter.

And so far I have never had a mis named iris from Walters Gardens. They pride themselves on accuracy. Some of the growers do sell wholesale, but usually their minimums are high, and again, I would have to get them in late summer/ early fall.

For us in cold regions, getting iris in spring; I think it's a good thing. I wish some of the growers would start.

This message was edited Feb 10, 2007 5:44 PM

I bought my iris (just one plant) from Dutch Gardens. I read about them on Garden Watchdog, and am now a bit concerned about what will actually arrive come Spring. I have ordered tulip and daffodil bulbs from them in the past without a problem. But what I've read on Watchdog made me nervous. I bought some daylillies from them too. Guess I'll just wait and see what happens.

pollyK.

Didn't mean to diss you. I buy 200 or so at a time for our iris society. That is what I meant when I said I buy from the growers, not from people like White Flower Farms. Didn't even know that you had a nursery.

inanda

Inanda, I didn't even consider you were dissin' me. I've seen your posts enough to know you're not like that. I apologize if my post came across as that, it never even crossed my mind.

I don't take offense at much anyway. Never worry bout me.

I was just trying to point out that the people that buy from the growers are not usually the same people that buy from the local nursery, and explain why it is so good to be able to get iris in spring. For my personal garden, you gotta believe I buy from the growers too.

And I sure can't compare my nursery to White Flower Farms, I wish I had that big a business---well actually I don't. Especially with their ratings.

I have bought flowering iris in the spring from one of my local nurseries and have never failed to get what I want at a good price. I also buy from growers. From the local nurseries, I get instant gratification. From the growers, I get thing the local nurseries don't have. Between the two I get what I want. What I don't do is buy iris from nurseries in the fall. Between spring and fall the customers and nursery workers accidentally switch the name tags around and what you get can be almost anything
Some growers also mis-identify irises. When the flower isn't there, it is easy to get them mixed up.

This message was edited Feb 11, 2007 12:06 AM

That's precisely why I sell the mixed ones in the fall!