Potted iris over winter

Last fall we had a serious discussion of the merits of burying pots or keeping them above ground
or in an unheated garage. I had some extras I had potted last July or so since there was no room
to plant them permanently. I elected to keep them in my garage which is unheated but does not
drop down to sub freezing. I brought them out a few times when the weather was warmish and
sunny. The pots are 17 qt with single rz's in all but one which has 3 old (close to species germanica)
rz's. 3 pots have the old antique whites and one has an 'Edith Wolford'. I may have blooms 45 days
early.

hm, those look pretty good. But once they bloom for you, I'd get them out of those pots if you can. I didn't last year and by June they looked very bad and I lost some.

I had some extra iris some years ago and I put them in pots, they were unknowns, I just set them outside, I more or less just thought they could be an experiment. Well 3 years later they are still in the pots, they seem to be doing fine, some rhizomes died from neglect but they are still growing away, I did last season put them in bigger pots, but they did fine through the Winter left outside.
When we moved I had planted all of my iris in pots to take with me, I did dig holes and set them in the ground in the pots, MISTAKE, come late Winter, Very Early Spring,they had frozen water on top of them and they were frozen to the ground, I really had to pry them out to save them from rotting. I will not do that again, I will just leave them above ground right out in the elements.

I will probably plant these permanently in late summer. The pot with three of the old germanica
types is filled now without the spring increases. They have bloom stalks already but we just had
32 degrees this morning so it will be a surprise if they bloom. The old antique whites have the
swelling at the base of some fans indicating they may be ready to send up stalks. 'Edith' will
be late to the party which is to be expected.

One light freeze usually will not hurt, but if it is extended, it might. Yes, it does sound like you will have a baby soon. I have been searching for swelling and I have not seen it yet. We are in the same zone so some of mine should be showing signs soon, got the camera battery all charged up and ready.

LOL 3 years? well, confess now that some of mine are still in pots after 2.

but I did l lose a lot after they first bloomed in the pot. I didn't know enough to put the nose against the front of the pot so they could expand backwards. My sis asked me to come take all of hers, and I suddenly had 300 irises unplanned for, so they are all in pots

For something that spreads as quickly as irises, I think the trick is large pots (4 to 5 gal).
I tried burying pots a few years ago and it seemed that they just filled with water or became
really soggy and killed whatever was in them. When you are in the zone 5a area, the soil
frost line can be 18 to 24 inches deep so keeping irises outdoors in pots should not hurt
them if you are in 5b and warmer. Probably nothing wrong with 4 inches of straw mulch
after they are completely dormant over the winter. Just take it all off at the first sign of
spring. I only had 5 pots to store in the garage. It would be impractical to keep dozens
of pots inside over winter.

I keep all my pots of irises for the nursery outside over winter. I put them down in a shallow trench. The only problem I ever have is the mice or moles might get at them, but that's few. I have excellent luck overwintering them this way, I don't think I've ever lost one. If they aren't sold after the first winter, I divide them. I never mulch them with straw or anything, and personally I wouldn't use straw as it would just attract the critters.

guess I'm lucky. mine stayed right where they were in the photo all winter. all those pots are actually in trenches created by long lines of bagged topsoil poured out about 10"wide and 8"deep, with a walk space between, into which I placed pots 2 abreast after planting excess iris in the poured out rows. when I was low on soil and out of space, that's when I put them in pots.

poured out soil like that has kept these irises going for another two years. our routine soil is rock hard clay, so when I can't make a bed, I'll mix tilled clay with sand and compost or buy bagged and pour it out like this until a bed can be completely. Hey, it works, they stay alive, most even bloom.

The triple germanica type plants.

Antique white.

are those this year's bloomstalks already???!!!

Very nice looking!

The pics were taken today. With a bit of luck with good weather, the one with all the
stalks should bloom within a week or so. We are expecting a major cool down from
our present warm sunny weather.

Iris blooming in March in Z5b? Picked out of the wild similar to germanica.

Similar to florentina. This may be a good chance to try some crosses before regular
bloom time.

I also have some in pots, Superstition, and it sure has taken it's sweet time growing, they have been in those pots there for two years so far, no blooms yet, but they are multiplying. I wish now that I had purchased some more iris this past year for another area I've got. All the ones that I started in pots did really well and then were transplanted later after they were healthy.

Hi Oldgardenrose,

Those look sooo hearty and healthy...you'll have to send me a pic of the ones I sent you...^_^

Delane

All the irises sent to me last year are in their temp beds. I doubt if they will bloom this
year. Believe it or not, of nearly a hundred babies I planted last year, all made it thru
the winter just fine except two of my own which a squirrel decided he needed to dig up
to bury his ear of corn he found somewhere.

I lost two as well....make sure you let me know when you start digging up this summer...can't wait to see all the pictures of your blooms! we don't have squirrels here since they ripped all the trees out for new construction...what a shame...makes me ill. The guy behind me farmed his land and he cut all the "woods" down to build new homes...go figure, now he can't build because of the economy and I have to look at an empty huge field now instead of wildlife and nature at its best...oh well.

First bloom, would you believe March 27 in zone 5b? Similar to florentina old antique white.

The field dug germanica not ready.

Last update. Iris blooming on Mar 31.

I don't believe it! Have had about 35-50 irises still in pots. wrote them off, no where available, figured they wouldn't make it. some did die, but I'm just floored at how many have put up fans this year!

Mine were kept in an unheated garage with no water until first sunny warm days. Gave them
a good drink and they are doing fine. I have moved them inside during the sub and near freezing
nights. Normally, my planted iris begin blooming late May/early June.

Pic of some of my planted iris. They could bloom by May 1 if the weather stays warm.

These were planted 3 single rz's in an at least a 5 gallon clay pot late last spring. Dumped
due to I don't need them and I can reuse the potting soil. From the way they are root bound
I would say they would not fare so well the second year with the multiple increases.

WOW - look at those roots!

Once again Oldgardenrose you startet a great thread !

The iris which was so rootbound ...did it bloom ? or did you toss it ?

**
bonjon,
WOW look at all your pots :-)

The pot had 3 old germanica style rz's and was a bit larger than the plastic 17 qt pots so I
called it 5 gal. They bloomed very early as noted in the posts. Surely from staying above
freezing in the garage over winter. Just in the first year, they had increased to the point
of over crowding. I would think a single rz would have been ok for possibly 3 years. Not
so likely in a smaller pot.

I tossed it because I had 4 others planted in the ground and simply did not need the potted
ones. Yes, there were multiple bloom stalks just the same as if they were planted normally.
The cool spring had a tendency to retard the blooming so they lasted for quite a long time.

I forgot to add that, for large plastic pots, I like to drill at least one row of 1/4" or smaller holes
around the middle of the pot to give the soil air. Keeps the soil from staying soggy after rain
or watering and gives the roots a more natural environment.

This message was edited Jul 6, 2009 7:51 AM

ok im just joining in and hoping to get up to speed
- but have to ask

- where do you find the proper pots??

my present pots seem to be too narrow at base, too tall (24")
and too wide at top to accommodate the iris needs.

(Had some re-bloomers in one and they were 'happy' for ONLY one year.)

i need to KNOW what is right . . .

ok - my question was vague.
I have not seen the pots in the above pics in my local stores (Home Depot, Targets, Lowes).

Bonjon - the black or reddish-brown pots in the Post #6294326.

Oldgardenrose - any of the post in your pics/posts.

could either / both share where you got your pots?

Ive a SEVERAL irises coming, in the next week or two.
(DG Co-Ops can get an angel into trouble!)

I plan to move next year and figuring one year in a pot wont hurt.
A Pot WILL insure the rhizomes do not end up in some critters tummy!

pot them in one or two gallon pots they will be AOK

D

Dee is an expert at this sort of thing so you can take her advice as gospel. Sounds as though
you are interested in a "keep alive portable" system so the smaller pots should work ok.

I bought my pots at WM. They rarely restock items such as those. Get there early in the
spring for the best selection.

Go to a larger nursery, and ask if they have any gallon pots they are throwing out. They would just be the standard black pots, but lots of nurseries use them.

I get mine from A M Leonard. If you're getting a lot, it might be worth it. Most places don't carry pots that are cheap enough to use for this purpose.

I wouldn't use smaller than a gallon.

Help! Tell me please how to determine he proper placement of the rhizione to help my
irises grow & multiply in a chosen direction.
My bed is prepared, space allocated for spreading at the SE section of he bed. I am
afraid the rhizome might not multiply in this direction.
Thanks'
confussedlady

been offline for most of summer. sorry for the slow response.

50glee - my pots are leftovers. have trained family, friends and neighbors to save pots. Also I watch on craigslist for pots.

confussedlady - love your moniker! yeah, that confused me, too. I always face my fans (they are thought to be shaped like a foot and shin and called "feet") toe first toward way I want them to face.

But a better way may be to keep in mind that they grow "backwards" from the toe first, and need the most space behind them. then they start filling in all along the original "foot" with new babies, making pie shapes and adding more "pie wedges" and will form a more or less round clump in about 5 years that's around 2 to 3 feet in diameter.

most pros I've seen tend to bed them in rows with around 2 feet or more between them, all facing front, whichever direction front is. Or they are planted in circles (think triangle) of 3 plants, "toes" pointed in, with at least 12" between the plants, but about 18" between them is ideal. This shaping creates nearly instant clumps.

one thing worth mentioning - Irises vary greatly between cultivars for vigor, and more vigorous cultivars will quickly crowd out less vigorous ones no matter how you plant them. if you want to keep the names straight, give space between each different cultivar and try to keep legible labels on them.

In my first iris bed, the same day, I planted Lady Friend about 18" away from Vizier and 18", at a right angle, from Celebration Song. LF is very vigorous, formed a 2' wide clump at the rhizome (nearly 4' wide at the bloom), and crowded CS beside it and nearly smoothered V which was behind it. On digging three years later, we found 37 mature and 19 juvenile LFs, only 8 CSs, and only 2 tiny Vs. So keep in mind not all irises are equal on vigor.

Is there a thread on the most vigirous irises ? I just got Vizier a few days ago and kind of disappointed that it does that.

iris vigor varies a great deal from iris to iris Englantyne. But it also varies a great deal with pH of soil, soil nutrients and micronutrients, water (too much or too little), hours of sun a day, and general overall climate.

In addition, each hybridizer will chose the most vigorous healthiest plants for introduction, but they always run the risk that that's only in their own microclimate. many do send them off to other iris growers for testing. irisloverdee does that for several folks.

you'll still end up with those that do best in the Northwest, or the South, or the Midwest, or the coastal climes, etc.

best to post queries online here and ask how the iris you are interested in has done for folks. I wish more that post their photos would put in more comments on how it grows for them.

And there will always be that one that doesn't increase well that is just too gorgeous not to buy anyway. I have not had luck with Decadence yet, but I keep buying it because I've seen it in many gardens and go straight to it everytime. in three years I've had one weak bloomstalk. In Oregon, it was a OH WOW GOTTA HAVE IT floriferous devil.

Bonjon is right on location and PH etc. It varies countrywide and each variety has it's own strength/weakness. I figure I will lose some of the new plantings within a year or 2 as I find out what will survive in mine. Good Idea also to let other know on here what did and didn't.