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Siberian Iris - Pretty...Stubborn!

© Emily Levitt

I use an old hand saw in ways it's maker never intended.

It cuts up clumps of Siberian Iris which have defied every conventional method of plant division, but I've learned to love both the plant and the tool.

This beautiful, hardy iris suckered me into bringing it home when it was in a pot, in full bloom. It was elegant and understated, with beautiful deep purple blooms, my favorite accent color.
('Caesar's Brother' is shown here.) It wasn't until the following spring, when I tried to split the clump, that I realized this plant is almost impossible to divide.

First, I tried using two pitch forks back to back " to pry the plants gently apart, hahaha"
a technique shown in all the books. The irises broke off two tines on the pricey pitchforks. This picture of the described technique comes from Fine Gardening Online, which has a great list of perennials and how to divide them.

Then, I tried soaking the clumps in water, followed by the vigorous use of a sharp shovel to hack them in half.

No dice.

They lay in a tight clump the ground, mocking me. This was getting personal.

The old hand saw hanging in the back of my potting shed seemed like the last option. I used it to cut stakes into various sizes, but desperation is the mother of....desperate acts. I had reached the point of no return, and I didn't care if I killed the plants, I'd separate them...or else. Thankfully, few perennials are this tough to work with. (If they were, I'd have a naked garden.)

The old saw worked like a charm.

Siberian irises likes wet feet, as they are not tuberous. It forms extremely dense root clumps, which soak up lots of water. Like astilbe, this plant is a heavy feeder. Organic fertilizer applied in the fall or early spring encourages prolific blooms. A dash of liquid 10-60-10 fertilizer, like SuperBloom, helps too.

Let the foliage die back naturally after flowering. I leave the browned out fronds in place over the winter, as mulch and cold protection. If there is an abundance of matted foliage in autumn, thin it out by about a third before adding fertilizer.

Part of the original clump I brought home is just behind some pink gumpo azaleas, and they bloom about the same time. They work beautifully together, with the purple iris shooting up through the bright pink azalea blossoms. When--and if--I can get my #!*# scanner to work (!) I'll put the photos on line.

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