Newbie question...

Thanks to the wonderful people here, I was able to plant my first Iris(es?) last fall. There are "resident" Iris, but they're all yellow, and I wanted the blue/purple I grew up with.
Okay, the question. The plants that were already here are growing well, some with 8-10" leaves. The "new ones" aren't doing much of anything. Some have a tiny bit of green showing, but some, none at all. I know that I won't get blooms this year, but shouldn't they be growing?
Is there anything I should be doing, or should I just sit on my hands like a good girl?
Thanks,
Margo

Exercise patience.

True and it's the most difficult exercise for us gardeners.

Are you sure that the irises you planted last fall are bearded irises and not one of the beardless types? Beardless irises generally break winter dormancy much later than beardeds.

mittsy wrote;"Exercise patience."
Thanks mittsy, I was hoping for that, since some of them are from you....:)

Laurief;"Are you sure that the irises you planted last fall are bearded irises and not one of the beardless types? "

Well, no. But i didn't ask for or order anything other than bearded, as I don't think the others would do well here. There is one little japanese (I think) that came up last year, but it seemed to be struggling.

"Tincture of time" is fine with me, I'll wait. Patiently? Maybe not :). I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't something I _should_ be doing for them. I'll just visit them with encouraging words....gentle, encouraging words :)

My newer ones are often much later coming up than my established ones, so patience is probably the key. Just make sure (if they are bearded), that they're not planted too deep. Encouraging words help all plants.

I had been going to an optomologist and we were chatting , I had been telling him about my Japanese garden, he asked how long had I been working on it and I said over forty years. His next question was when will it be finished. My answer was that I hoped never, that another gardener would just begin where I left off. It's not the perfect finished project, it's the journey! He just didn't get it.

mittsy,
Bravo to those who do "get it!"

Glad to hear it, mittsy. My neighbor came out one day and saw me in the garden, as usual, and said I'd been working in the garden for 16 years and when was I going to be done. I told her I hoped I never would.