Soft On Iris

Let's be honest. While tall bearded iris are renowned for being tough old timey flowers, and every plant list seems to recommend them and most beginning gardeners recognize them, I think they are among the most consistently pest ridden and problematic things you can try to grow.

Oftentimes I have no patience for fussy plants, but iris time is not one of them. Iris ... goddess of the rainbow! Messenger of the gods!

They are too breathtaking, flamboyant, extravagant and just plain pretty to leave out altogether. Turn me loose at an iris farm in full bloom and I'll want one of each to take home. Happens every time. Over the years I have come to terms with it: I like them.

But since I am a lazy gardener or, let's be kind, a busy gardener, I am always looking for ways to streamline the process, keep things humming with minimal attention and still have the place look good for when I do have time to take a look at it.

So there are a few tips I can share for keeping your iris looking halfway decent. First, never bring one home if it looks "iffy", meaning a hint of leaf spot or discoloration, a hint of holes riddling the rhizome, a hint of anything soft or mushy on either the rhizome or the leaves. All these things are nasty and contagious, so don't introduce them if you can help it.

Next, plant new iris promptly and give them a decent start, and do provide them a minimum of ongoing attention. In other words, take care of them a little bit! Although these can be easy plants, they are not "plant it and forget it" plants.

A little care helps keep them vigorous. Divide them when they get crowded. (This is perfect plant swap fodder -- just keep 'em labeled and make a back-up diagram of their locations. Many folks will swap for a badly labeled rhizome with you only once.) Keep in mind that some of the newer hybrids are a bit more demanding in terms of fertilizer, mainly because they bloom so heavily. I do draw the line at staking them, however. If an iris consistently flops (and some just do) then it's a goner.

Finally, and this is the hard part, groom them. If there is a problem, clean it up and dispose of the affected plant pieces immediately to prevent reinfection. In the fall, and this is the most important of all, clean up the plants. Inspect and remove tattered foliage and remove litter from around the rhizomes - and get it OUT of the garden!

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