Which way to plant rhizome so flowers face the front of bed?

I swear I saw this here somewhere and have even tricked myself into believing I saw a diagram:lol:

My bed is just a small rectangular bed in front of my apartment. The back is against the brick building in front of my front window. If I want most of the flowers to face front (away from the window) which way would I situate the iris? Fan towards the window, foot towards the parking lot? or vice versa? We are unseasonalbly warm here so I've been dragging this out and want to wrap up the iris planting for the season. What won't fit will be potted for the time being.

Thanks all!
Donna

I think the fan toward the wall but remember, that's the way the new baby rhizomes will grow, so leave some room

Thanks:) I don't think I even tried to situate them properly the first time I planted the bed and those poor old iris were a tangled mess, practically growing on top of each other when I cleaned out the bed this weekend. I wanted to put a bit more thought into it this time around. Any recommendations for soil amendments? I have to replace quite a bit of soil where I dug. I've got some good potting soil and a bag of compost right now.

dmac, this is good reading.... http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/123/

Thanks!

Edited to say, that was a very good link:)

This message was edited Oct 8, 2007 11:37 PM

My best advice is to get a soil sample tested for ph. Our soil in the east is pretty acid in most places and I had to add some lime.

It really doesn't matter which direction you plant the rzs in terms of directionality of the blooms. Blooms will open on all sides of the stalk, anyway. More importantly, make sure you provide adequate space between rzs, and plant them all in the same direction so that your clumps will increase in generally the same direction. Taller medians and talls should be planted 18-24" apart, miniature and standard dwarfs can be planted 12" apart. If you plant more closely than that, you will need to divide your clumps frequently to prevent them from growing into each other. Closely planted beds also invite the rapid spread of diseases like fungal leaf spot and bacterial soft rot.

Finished compost and alfalfa meal or pellets are good amendments in any soil. Depending on your soil type, pH, and fertility, there may be other amendments that would be useful, as well. As mentioned, your best bet is to have a soil test run so that you know exactly what your specific soil needs.

Laurie

can you put out the alfalfa pellets on the iris beds this time of year?

I do not recommend topdressing alfalfa. It gets extremely stinky and slimey and may contribute to the proliferation of fungal leaf spot spores. IMO, it is best to either incorporate alfalfa into the soil when amending a bed or to apply it as alfalfa tea.

Laurie

The only time I don't top dress is when we're already being invaded by deer due to high temperatures and drought. Otherwise, I have not experienced "stinky & slimey", probably because it gets so gosh awful hot here and will even spike back up into the 80's after a frost or two.

Through out the growing season whenever I think to do it, I toss alfalfa pellets in the beds and in the giant pots in which I grow Angel's Trumpets/Brugmansia, no less than 4 times a season.

Since the climate varies so widely, toss some in a small area of a bed and see how it works for you, be conservative.

Judy