Iris: my favorite perennial (north, leaves, plant, summer)

[Towhee]

I have been a member of GardenWeb for several years. One member that lives in California sent me several of her special Iris tubers. They are lovely.
I can't think of a favorite perennial. Peonies come close.
I have always loved to grow all types of plants, from tiny ones to large trees.
Age, ailments, and other drawbacks, has slowed my gardening down considerably, but Iris are so easy. I have thrown unwanted tubers into the edge of our woods, and they grow and bloom! (That is the old fashioned ones, new varieties are probably not so willing to grow in such conditions.)

[FLPL75]

Originally Posted by paperhouse

Black eyed Susan. Shasta Daisy.

I've tried raising them from seed this year. I'm having very little luck. I just planted a whole new batch of seeds outside in trays. I hope they make it better than those I started inside in March.

I planted a couple Black-Eyed Susan (also known as Rudbeckia) 3 years ago I have not had to replant them since
if you do not dead head them the heads dry and there are tons of seeds that will fall in the bed and come back the next year
It has even gotten to the point that I have to thin them out each year

here is a picture of one of the gardens that is black eye susan "happy"
I have Agapanthus, (Lily of the Nile) & day lillies in the same bed so I have to keep the BES thinned or they will take over

[Rainna]

I fell in love with irises a few years ago and these are some of my latest ones. The 2 bronze one I added last year and I have some other colors I bought from an iris farm. I will be getting them the the last of July when they start digging them. I will be adding some siberian irises to.

[BarbJ]

Marianinark,

You are right. Iris are perfect for we senior gardeners. I love the way having re-seeded themselves they pop up in unexpected places.

[FLPL75]

Rainna
they are beautiful
if I may ask what part of the country are you in ?

I would love to ad some of those to the to the big bed under the holly tree

[Sarah Maske]

I live in zone 4 (MINNESOTA) and inherited an iris from my grandmother's garden. The first year I planted a section from the root ball, it didn't bloom. I was told that was to be expected. The next year, it bloomed and the blooms last only a couple of days. Finally, last year it had many blooms - again, lasting only a couple of days. This year the mass was large and I wanted to divide it and put it in another garden where it will get more sun. Will the sections I split and replanted bloom this year? Or do you think I'm looking at waiting until next season? I have NO idea what kind of iris it is. It has a huge (probably 6 inch by 5 inch bloom if not larger).

[BarbJ]

Sarah, let me ask my Minnesota sister.

[BarbJ]

Sarah, I found this advice online (There are many articles about dividing iris.) which seems to say that old stalks won't bloom the season after division. Most articles don't address the issue. Maybe they are not sure. In the meantime, I'm waiting for my sister to get back to me.

[SIZE=2]The best time to transplant Iris is 2-3 weeks after the finish of blooming. Dig the clump up and pry the rhizomes apart, discarding all shriveled and diseased parts. Stalks which produced flowers this year will not produce again. However they provide food to the new side shoots which will be next summers bloomers, so be sure to leave these new shoots attached to the mother. Cut the leaves back to about 6-7 inches. [/SIZE] [SIZE=2]When replanting, be sure to dig in a good granular bulb food into the soil. Dig a hole of ample size for root development and mound the soil in the center so that the roots may be spread over the 'saddle'. Barely cover the rhizomes with soil. For multiple plantings in the same hole, arrange the rhizomes so that the leaf-ends point away from the center and plant 8 inches apart.[/SIZE] [SIZE=2][/SIZE]

[BarbJ]

I can't resist posting the photos of these incredibly beautiful iris. We've enjoyed them so much. OOps, I forgot to rotate the rose one. I'll rightside it in the next post.

[BarbJ]

Can't see to straighten it up. Sorry.