Moving Irises

Hi everyone,

Like a lot of people, my husband was laid off. We are going to be selling the house and moving away (where to? I don't know). I have A LOT of irises in my gardens. I love them. I am planning on taking many of them with us, because I just can't part with them. Is it better to take them out of the ground now, while it's cold, or wait until after they bloom and then take them when they are dormant? Mostly I will be dividing clumps of old heritage irises, but I will be taking whole clumps of the newer hybrids.

I live in zone 5b, so my irises normally bloom at the end of May. We are not planning to leave here until the end of June (I have children in school and I want them to finish the year) at the earliest. They would be well finished blooming by then.

Can you help me? Thank you in advance.

I would wait until they bloom. That way they won't be out of the ground for so long. Also you'll get to enjoy the bloom. Sorry about your husband. Seem like things are pretty tough right now.

I'm sorry about your situation. I agree, move them after bloom if possible. Then you can cut the leaves back like you were transplanting. I would use a double marking system---probably the name on the foliage plus a label stapled to the foliage. Ask the pros on this forum about their suggestions on labeling. I realize that it another thing to do while you are trying to move, especially children's belongings but it will save frustration in your new place.

Yes, things are not great. Thank you for your kind wishes and advice. I will wait until they bloom and then take them out. Thank you very much!

I agree, but I also know that it is alot of work, I would do some prepping while you are waiting, I would pre make my labels, get boxes, that way when you are ready to take them up, you can put your labels on and clean them and let them dry a bit before you box them, then as soon as you get to your new place, open the box up to get air to them, keep the box out of the sun and plant them as soon as you can.Hopefully the soil will be in good shape at your new place, it probably would not hurt to get a bag of compost just in case, although I normally do not like bagged compost, but it will get you started.
Good Luck, things will not always be this way,it will turn around, remember, one door closes and another one opens.

I would take the time before June to work the ground in the area where you will be planting the irises. Also, if you are moving the end of June, allow yourself enough digging time to get all of them that you want to move dug up.

From experience I know that it takes alot longer than you'd imagine to dig them all up. How many different iris cultivars will you be moving? In the past, I moved several hundred iris cultivars from one area of the field to another area and it literally took me several months to accomplish it.

If you are moving them before they bloom, dig up the clumps when the ground is muddy and keep as much dirt as possible with the roots. This method worked for me, though the weight of the mud was quite heavy and cumbersome.

Also, if you are planning to pot up the irises, check with your local nurseries to see if they have any old nursery pots laying around that they will let you have. I was given literally hundreds of them for free when I had asked my favorite nursery if I could have some of their old used ones.

This message was edited Feb 18, 2009 1:13 PM

I'm not sure how many cultivars I'll be moving, pretty much as many as I can get my hands on. :)

Since I have no idea how long it'll take us to find another house (husband needs to find another job first), would the best thing to do be to box them up dry and store them like that, or plant them in dirt in nursery pots and keep them like that for the duration?

Certainly plant in pots. Good luck with everything.

Yes - I still have some of mine in pots that I dug up over a year ago. They can over winter outdoors in the pots with some straw packed around them for warmth. It works like a charm.

I would recommend if you keep them over winter in a pot to put them down into a small trench dug just for the pots. Straw harbors critters, and critters love the rhizomes.

I winter over lots of irises in gallon pots each year in my nursery.

I don't know about you, but when we get ready to move there is no way I can ever put all of my irises in pots and then move them. I know it is going to be a tough job at best. I would be inclined to lift them after blooming, cut the fans back, and let them dry a bit as if they were to be shipped for selling.
Wish I were close enough to come help but the closest I get is NYC when I visit my son in NJ (he works in NYC). Hubby and i have both finally retired and although we no longer have to worry about being laid off, wwe sit here and watch our retirement funds that we saved for so long, becoming only about 1/2 of ehat it was!!
Please don't let any extra irises lay around!!! Would love to take them off your hands...esp the historics...but others too!! When you get moved and have the time to see what plants you will need at your new place, we will help.
debc

Oh, something I forgot to mention. In the past when I have had a number of irises that did not have labels on them, only on the sheets that they came with, I have written on the rhizomes themselves with markers until I could get them in the ground with stakes.
debc

i am sorry to read about your difficulties. first off, i hope your husband will find a new job soon and you will be able to have some idea about where you're going.

as to your iris, i respectfully beg to differ with some of the other posters. here's my 2 cents:

do get your labels and such ready, see if you can find some wood shaving or other materials for storage.
dig your iris after they bloom, if there are lots of them, you may want to put a call out to DG members here who may live close and be able to come and help you dig (and maybe take home a few extra rhizomes).
clean and pack your iris, carefully labeled (unless you don't care) into boxes with wood shavings.
you can store your iris rhizomes this way for up to a year. they will shrivel up and may look horrible but that in no way makes them 'dead'. they will spring back to life as soon as you show them some dirt! this will make moving them much easier than having them in pots or such.

knowing that there will be no rush to replant should help remove some of the stress that needing to adjust to a different situation imposes on you and your family. I don't know what type of job your husband is looking for, but VW is building a huge assembly plant here in Chattanooga and is hiring.

Another thing you may consider if you have plenty to spare is to take photos and label what's what when they bloom and post some for sale on Dave's Garden through the marketplace or put them up for auction on eBay or the Lily Auction.

cathysplants-are you going to the Greenville Iris Festival? I am so excited about going, and looking forward to meeting another Dave's member, We need some group photos !!!!!

Please share the details on the Greenville Iris Festival event. I'd love to go to it if possible.

Cathy

It starts May 16th in Greenville TN. It looks like a big Fair/Festival, with I believe local iris clubs selling iris as well. I am going to meet another Dave's member, I am really looking forward to meeting other irisarians. I am taking my mom and my Aunt with me. Look up the festival on line, to find out more information. If you do go let me know, I'd love to have a photograph to post here of us together and to meet you guys.

Cindy

cindy, that just sounds fantastic.
and it looks like a day trip for us. I put it on the calendar and will have to wait and see what hubby think about going!

Wish I could go but too far to drive by myself. Anyone coming down I-81 near Christiansburg, VA ( near VA Tech)??

I wished I lived closer you could hitch a ride with us, but I a coming from St.Louis, it is about 8 hours from Greenville. I believe we are to get on 81 heading into Greenville. You are not that far from Greenville, I just looked it up. Maybe a 3hr drive. You live in some beautiful part of that state !!!!! We did that trip on the motorcycle 3yrs ago.

We all need to hook up somewhere, we can exchange cell phone numbers as it gets closer. We are staying at the Jonesberg hotel, I believe that is the name. It is by FATZ Cafe.

I just looked up Greenville on Map Quest and it is just 1 hour and 11 minutes estimated driving time for me.

I'm adding this to my calendar today and I will also pass along the information to my iris club, Mid South Iris Association, in case they aren't aware of this event. Also will post to my site.

Thank you for all your suggestions. What I will do is go around my garden and see how many irises I'm moving, and then that'll decide how I store them, whether in pots or in a crate. I'm hoping to get out there soon. Every time we have a warm day, I think I'll get out there to look, but then the ground is still frozen and there's not much to see.

Thank you all for the kind words!

Here is a link to the website that has all the details for the Greenville Iris Festival.

http://www.greenecountypartnership.com/iris_festival.aspx

Also, I called and the times for the event are:

May 16th (Saturday) 10am - 5pm
May 17th (Sunday) 12 noon - 5pm



This message was edited Feb 24, 2009 12:43 PM