Hi everyone, I have just been given a big box of cast-off irises by a neighbour who is renovating her garden. My problem: I need to keep them alive while I figure out how/where to plant them in my garden. Can I keep them in pots until the Fall? (I have read that I should not cut the green leaves back?) Would part sun still allow their leaves to soak in the nutrients they need? Thank you in advance. I have always wanted to grow irises but suddenly do not know how to best care for them in this interim stage!
could you post on this thread a photo of what the LEAVES look like right now. there are several iris that are popular in gardens it's helpful to see the leaf shape and also another photo of the entire plant i would imagine if these are healthy plants ... they would have flowered recently so include that photo too (it will likely be an expiring flower stem) thank you
Hello again, Attached are two pictures - the box with many plants and lots of green leaves, the other of one of the plants. I hope these show you what you need to know. As far as flower stems, apparently there were not a lot of flowers this year but the colour was yellow and purple. No pictures of the flowers and only one of the plants still has the green stem attached. All plants have the rhizome and roots. Thank you!
I would call these old fashioned dependable plants « bearded iris » Bearded irises: how to grow. Location, soil, disease and planting They love dry well-drained locations where they won’t be disturbed. Often in the Okanagan one finds them blooming on the side of a back road where someone has dumped garden waste and these hardy souls carry on years later, completely untended yet so admired. I suppose the deer leave them alone! Yes I would say the common colours of bloom are yellows / pale purples / dark purples I have read articles about growing in containers (see link above) I like them because they are dependable, low maintenance, and relatively tidy flowering plants I do NOT trim the leaves and I do not feed the ones planted directly in my garden. Nor do I water. (Often we are not allowed to water at the coast in summer) I like the architectural look of the leaves. If you have a large garden area, they look best in a mass i think. See photo below. That said - once bloom Is finish (around now) you have a mass of leaves. Continuous bloom is every gardeners challenge isn’t it. I would likely have some summer lilies potted up in nice large « focal point » containers to decorate the iris area then you have a succession of blooms (iris / asiatic lily start to bloom now / oriental lily July Aug) ... some native BC sword fern might look good for some yr round interest w iris - they can tolerate sun and dry to a certain extent and are easy care When people have given me their spare iris, I put each in a large pot w well drain soil and care for it accordingly til permanent home in garden. I had trouble this year w some of my iris in their waiting pots (I wanted to ascertain colors) not making bloom stems and I suppose they need food. I do not know which one (n/p/k #s) I like the subtle scent of iris bloom. One photo is Okanagan garden leftovers in hot dry spot ( mainly gravel ) at end of May 2020 - large ponderosa and vineyards in background Thé others are coast garden around same time May 2020.
Dear Georgia Strait, Thank you so much for your time and sharing your knowledge and ideas! Much appreciated. The photos are gorgeous and will give me something to aspire to! ~T
