Potting Iris and more

Hello all...first post after much lurking :)


My questions are: Can I sucessfully pot some Iris and Lily of the valley? ... I am going to be moving from a house to an apartment in Vancouver this summer, and I would hate to lose some of my most beautiful plants. Will they live if I keep them in pots? How does one deal with the bulbs during winter? Being in Alberta I just let them do their thing and they look great, I would hate to kill these lovely plants.

 

Alice--if you could visit the nurseries growing a lot of the plants for sale in garden centres, you would conclude as I have that most things can be grown in containers very well. Since you probably don't run one of these nurseries tho, it's a bit of a trick duplicating what they do on the small scale. So the answer is, yes these plants will grow in pots in the apartment, or hopefully on the apartment balcony.

I would find some bagged potting soil like promix that already has the calcium/magnesium added in the right amount. Then it's just a matter of adding a bit of control release fertilizer (much easier and foolproof than trying to feed with liquid fertilizers on some kind of schedule) and try to find something with "trace nutrients" in it...maybe the control fertilizer will or you might have to find something separate like a seaweed product, haven't looked specifically myself.

The one other trick is that every year the container will benefit from repotting, where fresh "soil" is added, along with new fertilizer mixed in. The old stuff gradually rots to form a suffocating root zone for your plants, quite different than growing things in natural topsoil...so either tease away any loose soil around the roots and replace with fresh, or pot into a larger container if that seems necessary or desirable. I would maybe do this in early March before things start to grow again each spring.

Perhaps I have over analyzed your question...sorry in advance!

 

1. If it is an Alberta to Vancouver move you have in mind, bringing plants might be a bit like bringing coals to Newcastle. You may find so many more things you can grow here in this zone that you will no longer be as excited about those plants.

2. Will they indeed die if left behind? Next owners/residents may also enjoy them where they are.

3. But yes, they will live in pots. I grow both of these in pots, and while I do it mostly in garden dirt due to laziness, you would be well advised to do at least some of what Growest recommends, ie get container soil. It is lighter, among other things.

Note their growing habits and choose pots accordingly. Lily of the Valley is a runner, so it will ultimately grow around the perimter of any pot you choose. A pot with a narrowing at the top will force the flowerstalks inwards, which won't look that good, so a pot with straight sides would be best. Irises on the other hand grow over the surface of the soil. I have those in a pot that is wide and shallow, to provide ample surface area - and in the dish-like pot I have the soil almost to the rim, so the irises can crawl right out of the pot if they like rather than crashing against the edge.

 

Thanks for the information, I love these plants and they have sentimental value. I am sooooo looking forward to growing plants in Vancouver, I'm originally from Georgia...Alberta weather is the pits.
...And no worries...I've also divided those and some day lilies and placed them throughout the flower beds. I really hope the next owner appreciates them :)