New iris concerns

I need help! Last year I planted 3 Immortality iris in a new flower bed. This was the first time I've planted rhizomes. I followed the directions and the rhizomes appeared healthy. My only other iris was from a container years ago. BTW, that one I divided last fall and gave away the divisions. The piece I replanted is doing good but it's in a sunnier spot. So far I've seen no signs of the Immortalities. Should I be concerned? Lots of folks in similar climates already have blooms (which I don't expect so early in the year). But shouldn't I be seeing growth by now? I figured this forum was my best bet are you're all familar with higher altitude and drier climates. Thanks in advance.

Marilyn

Marilyn,

Pajarmont will probably see this thread soon and give you the best advice as she is the resident Iris master I would say.

For now I'll say this. I bought some Iris about 2 years ago. Some were just the rhizomes and some were already potted. In the future, I will always just buy the ones potted as I had no trouble with any of those. Now that I know a little more from reading, it's my guess that the rhizomes I purchased were probably too dry and old. A few of them put up some small weak shoots the first year, but then never came back. I think it's pretty common for new rhizomes to be very slow to come up and I believe it's pretty much unheard of for them to bloom their first year.

Perhaps you know this already, but there are many different types of Iris that bloom at different times. Early Iris are indeed already blooming, but I believe your Immortality is a later bloomer, like mid May maybe in your zone? There could be a lot of other reasons your Iris aren't up yet, I think if you could take a picture of them and post it Paj could tell you more about your problem.

Good Luck!

Thanks so much for the info! I had no idea that planting them from rhizomes would be so different from planting potted ones. I was beginning to think that I killed them off someway. Maybe irisicide?

Hi! Sorry I didn't notice this thread -- been out gardening!
Anyhow, I grow Immortality. It is one of the most popular irises and is very tough and reblooms. Mine didn't bloom the first spring but it did bloom the first fall -- to my astonishment.
I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but you should have seen some growth on your Immortality by now. Mine are up, but not blooming. Immortality is a tall bearded and won't bloom for at least two more weeks but it should have quite a few leaves up.
I can only guess what happened to yours. It should not be difficult in any way to plant rhizomes except that there is one thing you have to know. Don't plant them too deep. The top part of the rhizome should be showing above the soil for tall bearded iris. Most people, reasonably, believe it should be covered. It shouldn''t. The rhizomes like the sun on them and covering the rhizome will sometimes cause it to rot and if it is an inch or two deep, if it doesn't rot, it will never bloom. So if you buy container grown iris, they are planted at the correct depth. If not, then you might not know this important fact.
Where did you get your rhizome? Did you buy it or did someone give it to you? You might dig around in the soil where you planted it and see if you can find the remnants. That will tell you a lot. It is also, always possible that a critter like a gopher took it. If you find no evidence of a hollow rotten rhizome, it could be a gopher. Don't know if you have them where you live or not.
So which of these do you think is your problem?

I just went out and dug around. Found the remains of the roots but the rhizome itself rotted. Can't find the other two either. I bought them. Now I'll have to find the receipt to see if there was any replacement policy. We only planted about 250 bulbs in that bed last fall. So I have a few mail order reciepts to go thru. I was afraid that they should have been visible already. Since I buy only from companies that have a good Garden Watchdog rating, I'm pretty hopeful.

Because we have ground squirrels (no gophers, thank goodness!) whol ike to dig up things I put one of those battery operated mole chsers in the bed. I don't know if they work, but the ground squirrels left that bed alone.

Thanks for the help. Now I know to plant shallow or buy potted plants. Maybe I'll see if I can find Laced Cotton also.

Sorry to hear about the loss of your rhizome, but it is a common beginner's mistake. Now you know and you should have no further trouble.

Laced Cotton is an old standard. I don't have it, but it is much loved. You would probably enjoy Immortality as well. It is a lovely iris and reblooms. Very popular. Hope you can get a replacement from the grower. Good idea to deal with people with good ratings on Garden Watchdog.

Hi Marilyn,
I just wanted to add that my no-name purple iris are already blooming. I was surprized to see them blooming when I returned from a week out of town. I'm kind of glad the rain followed us home from California, since we need all we can get.
Janel

Glad to hear you have blooming iris, Katlian. No-name purple are pretty as well. Our tall beardeds aren't blooming yet, but some have buds. We are getting the dwarfs and the intermediate bearded iris right now.

Oops, I forgot to add that it's a standard TBI. We also have a bronze/maroon TBI and a few dutch iris that seem to be getting thinner and thinner each year. I like the delicate look of the dutch iris but I need to add bulbs each year. How do the dutch get them to multiply?

I don't know a whole lot about dutch iris, but I do like them. If you look at their range, zone 6 is the upper limit. It may be that they just don't like your weather. I would try putting in quite a bit of phosphorus -- bone meal, rock phosphate, whatever form you like, right after bloom time each year. Most bulbs need quite a bit of phosphorus to be happy.
I don't grow Dutch Iris here because they tend to be annuals.

Janel, I agree about the rain, we sure needed it. But I really want to plant my earthboxes so little warm weather would be welcome too. Then it can rain again.