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Bearded Iris


© Gary Buckley
Page 3

Jan 18, 2000


When I lived in Lower Barrington, Tasmania; with heavy frosts freezing the ground for days then deciding to have a thaw, the rhizomes would shift upwards as a results so I used sea weed as a mulch mainly because it was available and did not compact down.

Within the first year of planting, one should not need to fertilise given that you prepared the site in advance. The only other thing to bear in mind is cutting off the spent flower spikes once they have flowered. A lot of folk snap them off, but I found cutting them en masse; a lot easier. Even though one knew this could lead to potential disease.

Bearded iris apart from the initial establishing are trouble free perennial plants which will reward you with their propagation and blooms over the years. On the down side, they only seem to flower for up to a month.

Old Husband's tale comes last: please do not cut off the foliage after flowering, this only weakens your plants. Old foliage can be cut back when your plants are looking really awful. Before then, there is no need to give nature a helping hand.

Cheers and Happy Gardening - Gary.
 

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Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: View all related messages
57.   Nov 11, 2003 2:04 AM
In response to message posted by Rose99:

Hi Rosemary,

you might be thinking of Iris ensata (previously known as I.kaempfe ...

-- posted by Gary
56.   Nov 8, 2003 3:20 AM
In response to message posted by Rose99:

Hi Rosemary,

No they really demand good drainage. ...

-- posted by RobertHamilton
55.   Nov 7, 2003 3:45 PM
In response to message posted by Gary:

forgive my ignorance but are the Californian iris the ones which like damp feet? ...

-- posted by Rose99
54.   Nov 6, 2003 2:01 AM
Hi Gary and Rene et al,

We have some nice Californian Iris hybrids in flower at present. I managed to find some which are not too wind damaged.

<img SRC="http://www.suite101.com/fil ...

-- posted by Gary
53.   Nov 29, 2002 11:21 PM
In response to message posted by wendysargeant:

all great Wendy, how long have you been growing these for? Do you find they C ...

-- posted by robertquest



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