Moving Iris's

[ccheek]

Yay! I'm so glad I found this thread.... I just transplanted some of my Granny's irises and I was worried that I did it at the wrong time of the year, but God just laid it really heavily on my heart two weekends ago so I went with it. My granny practically raised me as her own, because we (including my mom) lived with her since I was a baby. When we bought our house, eight years ago, she wanted me to come get some and transplant them at our house. They were always her favorite and she wanted to share, but I always made excuses that I didn't have time. She passed away in January this year and she never got to see her irises take root at my home. Hopefully she can watch them take root and multiply in my front bed now. @thistlebloom how short do you usually cut them? I wasn't sure how to do it so I just bagged them up with as much root as my shovel could get and planted them in groups just how they came up. She pretty much has a field full of them, so if it takes a couple of tries I don't think it'll hurt her feelings.

 

[Smart Red]

I cut mine down to about 2 1/2 to 3 inches. . . or I mow the whole bed with the garden tractor on high which is about the same thing.

 

[thistlebloom]

@ccheek about 4"- 6" is good. When you plant them make sure you don't bury the rhizome, they need to be peeking up a bit or they won't bloom for you.
I assume we're talking about bearded iris?

 

[ccheek]

Thank you, ladies! Hopefully with your help I will have some pretty blooming irises next spring. Now I just have to have patience (which is not my strong point)!

 

[ducks4you]

I have accidentally dug some up and moved them and all have thrived. You can accidently kill them, too. Just be patient and wait until they have bloomed and the greens have started to yellow. Then, study up on replanting. People have been know to cut in between the corms with a sharp knife with no problems.
They like to be planted shallow. It's really healthy to divide them to prevent the borer that can get inside the corms and kills a lot of them and that is when they get really crowded. You will know you have this problem bc the corms get mushy.
Honestly, I DON'T know HOW my huge two clumps of about 40 of them has stayed healthy. I keep meaning to dig them out and divide and replant some back in the same bed, but everything else seems to come before this. Today I weeded, tilled and tilled in compost in the bed right east to them. Later this summer I plan to clean up their half of the bed.
MY problem is that I picked just for color--I have "black" iris and striated purple and I never remember which is which until they bloom. I think the purple ones are those Disney grape iris that smell like grape Kool Aid, so they're really smelly.
Anyway, don't worry too much about them. They are pretty hardy and they are available for purchase the whole season, in case you need to replace any.

 

[Carol Dee]

Thank you, ladies! Hopefully with your help I will have some pretty blooming irises next spring. Now I just have to have patience (which is not my strong point)!

Patience ?!?! I do not know a gardener that has any!

 

[ducks4you]

Maybe you have some IMpatiens!

 

[ccheek]

I have always heard Irises are hardy, which is probably why Granny asked me to take some... she knew I would have a hard time killing them, and they multiplied like rabbits around her place.