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Need advice on irises

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Starzgarden  Send Starzgarden a private message!




Posted on Saturday, October 20, 2007 - 08:41 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

A friend recently gave me some dried iris rhizomes that she had decided not to plant. I don't think they would survive this late in the season if I planted them in the garden.
Any ideas on how I should overwinter them until spring?

Starzgarden - Michigan, Zone "five"
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Posted on Monday, October 22, 2007 - 08:07 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I can't really help, but how dried is dried? I read, maybe somewhere on this site, about someone who accidentally left some iris rhizomes sitting out unplanted and forgotten all summer. I think they got snowed on and then they discovered them the following spring when they started to sprout. At least I think that was how the story went.

I have some Lime Fizz Irises (just like my Grandmother had) that I bought this year. I only bought five and, boy, did they turn out to be wee! I think two or three have died and the remaining two (or three?) have very small new leaves coming up now. I think I will cover them with straw once the ground freezes, but I am not expecting them to return next year... that way I am pleasantly surprised if one of them does.

Heirloomgardens - Massachusetts, Zone "5b"
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Posted on Monday, October 22, 2007 - 08:40 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Thanks,DJ. I think that's good advice about the straw. I'll give it a try and be surprised like you if they make it.

Starzgarden - Michigan, Zone "five"
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Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 01:52 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I think the best thing you can do is to plant them, now. Iris rhizomes are infinitely hardy, so the winter won't be a problem. But they also seem to be indestructible. I know someone who left some rhizomes in a shed for over a year, then planted the shriveled remains - and they grew and flowered normally. I left one outside in a bucket that was constantly filled with rain water for at least a year, then finally planted it, and it too grew and flowered normally. Irises are amazing.

Gardenfiend - Germany, Zone "7a"
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Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 07:58 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Thanks very much,Mara! That's encouraging.

Starzgarden - Michigan, Zone "five"
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Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 11:01 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Gardenfiend wrote on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 01:52 am:

I think the best thing you can do is to plant them, now.


I agree, Tammy. I left some iris tubers -- uncovered -- just lying in a flower bed all winter one year because I just didn't get around to planting them. When the snow melted, I saw they were putting up new leaves. I planted them and they were fine.

Lovinlife - Utah, Zone "5"
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Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 01:52 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Thanks very much, Gloria for telling about your experience. I hated to loose any of these because they are some I have been wanting for awhile. Much more hopeful now.

Starzgarden - Michigan, Zone "five"
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Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 08:14 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Not to get your hopes up too high, Tammy, but last night after I tucked in the chickens, I stopped to see how my Lime Fizz Irises were doing. They are beside the path to the coop, so you'd think I'd be more aware of their status, but I avoid looking at them because they've been such a heartbreaking disappointment. However, all FIVE of them are putting out new leaves. I was shocked! I guess anything is possible with these things...

Heirloomgardens - Massachusetts, Zone "5b"
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Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 08:22 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Heirloomgardens wrote on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 08:14 am:

However, all FIVE of them are putting out new leaves. I was shocked! I guess anything is possible with these things...


That's great,DJ. What does "Lime Fizz" look like? The name is very intriguing.

Starzgarden - Michigan, Zone "five"
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Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 08:40 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Here's a link to Lime Fizz:

http://www.iris-garden.com/LIMEFIZZ.JPG

They say it is lime to yellow. I remember my Grandmother's as yellow, but I was very, very young. I mostly just remember the name.

Heirloomgardens - Massachusetts, Zone "5b"
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Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 08:53 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

What a beautiful iris,DJ! I can see why you didn't want to lose them.

Starzgarden - Michigan, Zone "five"
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Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 09:25 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Thank you, Tammy. What kind are the ones that you are worried about?

Heirloomgardens - Massachusetts, Zone "5b"
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Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 10:03 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Halloween Moon and Immortality. I have been searching for Halloween Moon after seeing it in a post by Allie and thought it was a very neat iris.

I usually mulch my irises with evergreen boughs and haven't had any problems with heaving....but then again I have never planted this late in the season before.

How large of an iris garden do you have DJ and what are some of your favorites?

Starzgarden - Michigan, Zone "five"
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Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 10:57 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Starzgarden wrote on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 10:03 am:

Halloween Moon and Immortality. I have been searching for Halloween Moon after seeing it in a post by Allie and thought it was a very neat iris.

I remember that post because the name Halloween Moon caught my attention. LOL. Immortality is very beautiful.

Starzgarden wrote on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 10:03 am:

How large of an iris garden do you have DJ and what are some of your favorites?

It's not a very big iris garden; it's just in my front yard beside the driveway, all older varieties. The more modern varieties are here and there elsewhere. For fragrance, I love Eternal Bliss and Blueberry Bliss. For looks, my favorite is probably John Kearney. I had Rustler, which would be another favorite for looks, but it died. I dearly love all irises, though, and I think that if I could have only one flower in my garden, it would be an iris. Probably Lime Fizz, at that.

You can see my iris garden at

http://heirloomgardens.myphotoalbum.com/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album2 1&id=iris_garden_overview

If you want to see the irises individually, you can just click on the "Iris Garden" link above the photo. I'll bet that you have a lot of the same ones I have. What are your favorites?

Heirloomgardens - Massachusetts, Zone "5b"
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Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 07:53 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

That was a great slideshow,DJ! Yes we do share many of the same irises.

A few of my favorites are Badlands, Edith Wolford, Raspberry Fudge, Divine Intervention,Jungle Shadows and Lacy Snowflake...and on and on.

Starzgarden - Michigan, Zone "five"
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Posted on Friday, October 26, 2007 - 07:19 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Thank you, Tammy.

I love iris names. Lacy Snowflake is beautiful. Somehow white irises always seem extra stunning to me, I guess because irises can come in such wild colors that white just seems so out of character for them. I couldn't find a picture of Divine Intervention. What does it look like?

Heirloomgardens - Massachusetts, Zone "5b"
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Posted on Friday, October 26, 2007 - 12:13 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I like white irises too,DJ. You wouldn't think there would be so many variations of that color but I find new ones that catch my eye every year.
I'm searching through my files to find a pic of Divine Intervention for you. I know it's in shades of purple....I need to organize a slideshow like you. I'll post it as soon as I locate it.

Starzgarden - Michigan, Zone "five"
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Posted on Saturday, October 27, 2007 - 12:01 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Heirloomgardens just got back from a trip to your Iris gardens. YUMMY.

Mimi - Wisconsin, Zone "4b"
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Posted on Saturday, October 27, 2007 - 07:02 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Thank you, Mimi! Every time I see pictures of someone else's irises, I wish that they were scratch and sniff.

Tammy, how do you arrange your iris plantings? Clumps of like colors, mixed colors, one iris garden, or clumps all over the place? I think some of mine are getting to the point where I really ought to divide them. When I get the nerve to do that, I think I'd like to start moving them into clumps all over the place. I'd love to have an iris farm. I probably wouldn't make many sales, though... I'd be passed out somewhere among the beds from all the sniffing.

Heirloomgardens - Massachusetts, Zone "5b"
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Posted on Saturday, October 27, 2007 - 01:38 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

DJ, I have one large iris bed and like to put colors together that seem to compliments each other....blues/yellows....purples/pinks....oranges/yellows...purples/orange s...etc.

Heirloomgardens wrote on Saturday, October 27, 2007 - 07:02 am:

I'd love to have an iris farm



So would I DJ! Perhaps we could locate it somewhere near the Enchanted Forest. Our minds turn in the same circles....endlessly.

Starzgarden - Michigan, Zone "five"
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Posted on Saturday, October 27, 2007 - 02:03 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post