re-organizing iris

I have 67 differant or more iris..by the end of their season..I will have pictures to go with their name. Im thinking that I would like to group colors/varities..in differant areas in my yard..at this time I have all 67 in a long row,,not nearly enough room for them when they start to multply..any advice would be welcome,,in a few more weeks they will be finished flowering,,and i'll start moving some.opinions welcome Dee

I like to group 2 or 3 that look good together and bloom at the same time. Then when they bloom, that area will really shine and the colors will work well together. You could plant all the early bloomers together to have one larger area that is all in bloom at once or make a number of the groups of 2-3 of the early bloomers and space them throughout the garden to make scattered spots of bright color all over the bed or garden and then make other groups of the mid or late seasons bloomers also scattered about or grouped together. I need to see all my new ones bloom this year and next year and then get them reorganized too.

Susan

I use color harmony also and love the way they look.

I like to put the purples and pinks together and white.
Then I put reds, oranges and cream, rust together. Peach ect.
I put the yellows, blues, and some dark colors like superstition ect together.
I have one bed, where I just mixed it all up and it looks nice too.

good Ideas,,thank-you all for the input! Dee

be careful putting them together by same color -- all pinks, all reds, all blues, all blacks as after awhile you may forget which is which and get them mixed up. I know I did. I group mine by name theme (sci fi, literature, music & arts, food, etc). I also found that getting away from color matches and using the themes helped me remember better which plant was where.

Roni

That might be a handy tip lol
None of mine hardly have names and I don't keep up with them.

I always make sure I have lots of selfs to put with my multicolored irises. I tend to only put one or two different irises in one small area, then the next grouping maybe another six feet along in the border.

I know a lot of the true iris people on here like just irises in a row, but I like them scattered throughout the borders.

I don't LIKE them in a row, just easier to deal with them.

Well of course, Lucy, if you're hybridizing them, that only makes sense. But some people on here have said they only like a dedicated iris bed.

And if that's what they like it's great.

I'm growing my divided sibs and JIs now in rows for easier sales, but I'm sticking in some groundcover geraniums and a couple of other things to break it up.

I have so much to get ready for!!! I have to put the pictures with the names,,and research takes time,which is limited at this time...would it hurt the Iris leaf if I mark it with permanent marker? Its gonna die any way?? right??might look dumb,,but may save me mix ups later?? what do ya all think about that? ps thanks for all the good ideas Dee

No problem with markers, but chart location for yourself.

I visited an iris collector this week that had hers planted in a grid. They were more in rectangles. She had a location map and the short blind markers with the names.

2 plants deep and 8 across. Her plantings looked very nice. I like it better than my plain rows. I have one large bed that is just mixed perennials at random.

I'm another one that puts together irises that bloom at the same time. the look of a whole bed or section in bloom at once appeals to my eye, rather than one here and one over yonder. It's very easy with the lates and the earlies, fairly easy with the midearlies. Have found the mid-lates are a bit unpredicatable, and most everything else blooms all at once.

have also found knowing the approximate (it will vary by weather, culture and climate) height helps. I'll put the short TBs, that bloom around 28-31 inches together, then a group that blooms 34-37 inches behind them. If there's room for a third row, I'll but the really tall ones, 38-48 inches, behind that, if there's only one side to view the bed from. otherwise, I'll put them with other plantings of perennials, towards the back where they might get a bit of support from nearby shrubs - they tend to get blown over with a high wind, and we've had at least one high wind day while they bloomed for three years running.

Schreiners plants lupine & california poppies with there irises in the display garden. Row crops in their selling beds. the companions are different colors as are the iris planted with them. So mixed with other plants the colors don't seem to be a theme unless you like them that way. Last yr a garden with blue & white irises was very effective. In our CT garden i had black & yellow tulips planted together which people liked. Fewer tulips here because of deer. So dark & yellow irises might look good together. As bonjon says keep an eye on the height so that they are not hidden.

here's one from Schreiner's display beds in 2007.

their border beds were just long rows, the tall companions in the center spine, with semi-circular "drifts" of just one iris along both sides and shorter companions separating drifts. "Drifts" looked to be very closely planted, such that it became one giant clump at bloom.

I like mine grouped with other plants. Spreads the color around.

Please post pics of your beds, I would love to see how they are grouped. A picture is worth a 10000000 words.....LOL

The yellow cloud is iris 'Marris'

There are a couple of different ones in this bed.

There are daylilies and roses and salvia in the bed with the irises.

That is very pretty.