Bicolor Iris Scale

I live just north of Houston, TX and have TONS of bicolor iris. They all have scale. Can I cut the plant to the ground, treat the scale, and will the iris grow back healthy? Will just treating the iris for scale do the trick?

Do you mean Pineappleing? If so, the iris will be fine, I believe it is a form of shock for an iris, due to weather conditions.

I personally would never cut iris to the ground, treating it directly should be fine. They need the nutrients of the fans to help them grow, you could trim back in an inverted "V".

Do you have a picture of the plant to show this "Scale".

Thanks for your input, 1913cat. We had TruGreen/Chemlawn treat last week with orthene and a horticultural oil. Unfortunately, we have scale on most of the larger shrubs and trees (2 magnolias). I do not have a picture, DaLoveRat, but it is definitely scale. Hurricane Ike probably weakened everything, since this garden was planted just 2 years ago. I would like to improve the looks of our iris. We use them as borders behind a raised pool wall, and along the side of our house. They grow very unevenly, some large, the next one to it, scrawny. Is there any information specific to the care of these plants? I really like their shape for the softening effect they provide against hardscapes.

how bazzaar!!! didnt know scale would attack irises. not sure what to do with that.

I don't even know what it is.

scale is a nasty little bugger that is very prolific! Typically found on shrubs and trees. Its like a hard shell that has a soft bodied insect underneath. There is lots of different types. Probably some good pics in the bug files here. Scale basically smothers and sucks the life out of plants.

Oh is it "Cotton cushion scale"?

Treat the scale... you can trim the foliage back to about 6" as cat says above, which would get rid of the scale that was trimmed off. Dispose of foliage in the trash, not the compost. Treatment would be preferable over cutting them to the ground. I've never had scale on iris, but have had serious problems on Variegated Euonymus. On woody plants a dormant oil spray will work, not sure if dormant oil will hurt iris. There are other options, as you will see in the links below.

Here's two good sources of info on scale.

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7408.html

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IN008

Good Luck, Dan

JeanAnn55... missed your question about specific culture for iris. Probably the best I could do for you is give you the link to the American Iris Society. Lots of good information about iris here. For starters, when you open the page, on the leftside column, click on "Iris Information" Then click "Growing Information" Then go back and check out all the other great stuff.

http://www.irises.org/

Thanks zacattack for the helpful links, through which I found out my plants are infested with "false oleander scale", which attacks many plants. If you click on the link below, it will show a picture, as well as information, treatment, etc.

http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/orn/scales/false_oleander_scale.htm