Question for Upstate New Yorkers

I planted about 20 new iris for my Dad in September - he lives in Baldwinsville - I think zone 5? My question is - do upstate NYers mulch bearded iris? I don't mulch here and everything I read says no mulch but he seems to think he needs to get at least a light layer of this shredded bark on them before the heavy snow piles up on them ---- I planted them on a slope next to the house and the snow does pile up there....I wasn't worried but he is so I told him I would check with my gardening friends that live near him and let him know......

Thanks!

audrey

The best insulation those irises can get is a heavy snow cover. I sure wouldn't put shredded bark on them, though. If your dad is adamant about providing winter mulch for his irises (which really isn't necessary). tell him to wait until after his ground freezes, then cover them with evergreen boughs, marsh hay, or whole oak leaves. Any mulch material used over bearded irises should be non-compressing and provide excellent air circulation around the rhizomes. Also, care must be taken to remove the mulch at just the right time in spring, and that timing can be all but impossible to achieve without stressing the irises.

Laurie

thanks Laurie - I can tell him that someone that lives in "cold country" agrees with me! He's used to mulching everything for my Mom (she was the gardener, she passed away in February) so I have been trying to keep her gardens in good shape - been home 4 times since February, I spend the first 2 days weeding like crazy and the rest of the time pruning, planting and making lists of things I want the guy who mows and edges the lawn to stay away from!

Dad loved all the pictures of my iris that I sent him this spring as they bloomed for the first time, so I wanted him to have his own to enjoy....he checks them every day to make sure they are still in the ground and looking healthy.....I'd hate to see them rot.

audrey

In general, iris don't like mulch.

I have had a hard time convincing my very pro-mulch husband of this, but it's true.

Try to let your Dad know that iris are different.

A light mulch is good the first yr. to prevent heaving. Leaves hold water which can help produce rot. Pine needles or a light covering of salt marsh hay is good, not to heavy on the hat as critters will use it for cover. After the first yr. or years with snowcover no mulch needed. If the ground freezes and stays frozen, mulch should not be needed.

I live just about 20 miles from your father, and my daughter, who grows irises also, lives in B'ville.

No mulch is necessary here. The amount of snow we get is the best insulator for the irises. And because we have such a long period of snow meltdown, any mulch would not be good, as it would stay very soggy for a long time.

A LITTLE dirt over the rhizome would not hurt, as long as Dad pushes it off in the spring, early.

B'ville is in Z5. (Even though we are close we're one zone higher due to the lake.)

You sound like a very good daughter!

I live is Cicero, NY and agree will polly, we don't mulch. I've had iris for over 40 years and they do just fine in our winters. He's fortunate to have you looking out for him. I hope you will give him lessons on dividing. They usually need it about every three years, or they get really crowded. If you are unable to help him when that becomes necessary, just post and someone will offer to help. Iris lovers are a nice group of people.

Thank you everyone! I am going to tell him what has been recommended by local gardeners with experience --- he'll fret over the winter I'm sure as it goes against everything he and Mom have done for over 50 years, but I am sure I can teach the old dog a few new tricks!

Mittsy - any dividing will be done by me, he can't get down on the ground...he's 82 and his legs and knees won't allow that......if he can do it standing up and moving very slowly he's good, otherwise..... I do have to divide a lot of other things this coming spring...the japanese iris are packed and overflowing, daylilies not so bad but I want to move things closer to the front of the house where he can enjoy them....he can't get up and down the hill into the back yard any longer and that is where the majority of plants and flowers reside!

Polly - I was born and raised in B'Ville - my parents have lived there for 55 years! I've been in Phoenix for 30 years and keep trying to figure out how to get back!!!!!

audrey

here's a pic of Mom's peony bed taken this past spring......

You must have been out to Phoenix (NY)Flower Farm then. A lovely place when the iris are in bloom.

Well, come on back! Wait until spring, though. I've been to Phoenix Az. Way too hot for me.

The peonies are lovely.

If you need help dividing those JIs, let me know. I'm always up for dividing, (especially if I get to take home a small chunk).

Polly - took Mom to Phoenix Flower Farm 10-15 years ago - they were growing almost all dayliles at that point, they also had a few asiatics and I bought Mom a couple of those, I have not been over there since they got into the bearded iris, no time, I hope to get there this spring!

There will be tons of JL's to go around!!! Thanks for the offer!!!

They still are big daylily growers, but have gotten in to the irises.

You're welcome. It would be fun. Maybe we could get Mittsy to join us, and have a mini party.

If the weather's good there's a 16'x32' inground pool for cooling off!

Great we'll have a divide and conquer party. Those peonies are lovely with the contrasting variegated hostas. I love Phoenix flower farm.

I have had the most lovely day. No rain, perfect weather, lovely breeze and I got to go to an orchid show. I bought a beautiful dendrobium for my plant sitter, and refrained from buying any more for myself. I took scads of photos which i will start posting on the orchid thread tomorrow. My hopes are to be able to make a 12 month calendar with a different orchid photo for each month. Almost as nice as the grandkids photo calendar. mrsj do keep in touch. I will gladly help you divide and move plants.

Newly planted irises might need a light mulch the first yr. Pine needles are good as is a light marsh hay. This is all after the ground is frozen. Don't do a heavy mulch because ordents etc. like to hide in it. After the first yr. plants usually won't need mulch as long as you watch out for heaving--it is cold on the roots, not the rhizomes which kills iris plants.

Problem with that here, is that the ground doesn't freeze until long after the snow comes. We start getting snow cover by the end of December and the ground doesn't freeze until around February. The same in reverse in the spring. I still think no cover other than a little dirt is the best.

When I first grew iris, I learned that the clumps ran into each other pretty quickly and you didn't know which iris was which when you divided them, until they bloom.
So now I grow my cultivars further apart. They leaves a lot of areas bare and very weedy. So I do mulch between the clumps to keep the weeding down but not up near the rhizomes.

Oh definitely mulch the bare areas between the rhizomes if there is room. I put mulch everywhere except near the irises. What a weed patch it would be without it. And the beardless iris really love the mulch.

By the way irisMA, welcome! You'll find this a great forum.

Here in upstate NY we have such unique growing conditions. I have not really heard (maybe there is), of any place that gets the snowfall we do, with the ground staying so warm due to the Lake Effect. Some winters our ground never freezes here. And if it does it's always February at least before it's frozen. I understand a lot of it is because of the sandy soil, and we need to have a certain amount of rainfall before it can freeze. If we don't get it, no freeze, and this might be one of those years. But at my house we can count on at least 4 feet of snow on the ground from January to March.

To give you an idea of no freeze, I grew carrots and parsnips and dug them all winter as we wanted to eat them. Around mid to late february the ground would freeze, but we'd eaten them all by then.