Irises didn't come back :(

14 years ago

Irises are my Mom's favorite flowers. Two years ago, I planted some irises at my Mom's house. She lives in zone 4. They were planted in a nice sunny spot in a new flower bed I created. This flower bed also has tiger lilies and black eyed susans in it. The irises bloomed last year and looked quite healthy. This year the irises didn't come back. The lilies and black eyed susans look fine.

I don't know if it makes a difference, but here's a few other facts. The flower bed is next to the garage. We did have a quirky spring with late frost and late snow. My Mom had problems with iris borers a long time ago, but that was 20 + years ago since she last had irises. She does have clay soil, but I amended the bed before planting (garden soil and compost). She has no problems growing other perennials such as tiger lilies, peonies, Asiatic lilies, black eyed susans, and cone flowers.

I was really hoping to expand her irises, but I don't want to do this if they aren't going to last. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, Becky

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Comments (10)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
how deep did you plant them???

ken
newyorkrita
14 years ago
That is the first thing I wondered also. For none to come back is awefully odd. You do know that the tops of the rhizomes need to be above ground?
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Nancy
14 years ago
Very odd. If you didn't plant them too deep, I was wondering if they might have been in standing water or something, but then you wouldn't be able to grow Asiatics either. It is a puzzler, unless you did plant them too deep. Or maybe someone helped themselves to your iris?
booberry85
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks so much. I've also planted a number of irises around my own home (zone 5, about80 miles west of my Mom's house). I've had good luck with the ones I've planted at my house.

Is there a creature (mice? moles? voles?)that may have eaten them during the winter or early in spring? Somehow I thought most critters left irises alone.
hosenemesis
14 years ago
Yes, there are creatures that will eat irises, but I think deer don't care for them. I know pocket gophers will eat the roots off of them, then they die.

I'd suspect rot. Have you dug around to see if the rhizomes are still there?

Renee
booberry85
Original Author
14 years ago
I'll be at my Mom's this weekend to plant her flower beds. I'm going to do a little digging in the spot where I had planted the irises to see what's up. I was there last weekend too and noticed they hadn't come back.
booberry85
Original Author
14 years ago
Found!!! My mother had smothered the irises with kindness. We had been getting late frosts so she left the flower beds covered with oak leaves. The lilies and peonies just blasted out of the oak leaves but not the irises. One of the two had green growth. The one that didn't have green growth did have roots coming out of the rhizome. I moved them both to a sunnier spot. I hope they make it.
hosenemesis
14 years ago
Good news, Booberry. I hope they make it.
Renee
sc_gardener
14 years ago
Once I thought I destroyed some iris. Heirloom ones from a relatives garden, all I had left was one little piece that was about the size of a pinkie finger. (I think the dirt I planted it in was too much clay and shade) I moved it and planted it, and after a couple years I now have a nice sized clump again. So all is not lost.
Nancy
14 years ago
They may take some time to recover. I've usually had good results if a rhizome is alive, but patience may be needed. I got a new iris once that was not happy. The green disappeared, but still a firm rhizome. I kept thinking it would do something, one way or another. After 3 years of absolutely nothing-no green but not rotting, I tried moving the rhizome. It promptly rotted, but at least it did something :)