Newly Renewed interest in Iris'

14 years ago

So I moved into this home 5 summers ago and I had a huge stand of iris' in the garden that had been neglected for while. Two falls ago, my husband and I dug them up and made 4 clumps of iris' (and gave away about 100 rhizomes). At the time, I had no idea what colour they were since the overgrown stand was in mostly shade and I only ever had one bloom in the 2 previous years. Last year, my display was gorgeous, but I noticed that the vast majority of the iris' are a very very pale lavender (almost white) with two plants that are a very deep dark purple and one plant that is an apricot colour (and quite tall). This year I added some dwarf early bloomers and two clumps of siberian Iris.

I guess I need some help ID'ing the types I have and then some suggestions on some gotta haves that you folks recommend (I'd like to get away from the purples and into some of the other tones). Also, how often should I be splitting the Iris' (some of the clumps have tripled in size since last year)?

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Comments (3)

Nancy
14 years ago
I'm not good at all at identifying iris, but I'm sure someone will have some ideas.
I wonder if the first one might be Florentina. The pink might be Cherie. But I'm just guessing. Very pretty!
As far as dividing, iris tend to be divided every 3-5 years. It really depends on the variety, some just multiply faster than others & the older varieties can be very prolific. I have a very tall peachy pink that gets overgrown quickly & stops blooming, 3 years is the limit for it.
Welcome to the iris addiction!
hosenemesis
14 years ago
I divide them about every five years, unless they get too crowded and stop blooming. If you plant them about a foot apart, it takes them a while to get crowded.

For your zone, you should stay away from reblooming irises, since so many rebloom in late fall, too late for you. You can grow all of the median irises where you live, I believe. You may also be able to grow Siberians.

Your photos are really beautiful- I'd love to see the rest of your garden! I have attached a link to my friend El's website in Canada- she grows irises that might do well in your climate.

I wish I could ID those for you, but I'm not very good at it. All pink irises look like Beverly Sills to me.

Renee

Here is a link that might be useful: El's Canadian irises
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marricgardens
14 years ago
I'm also in Z5a Ontario Canada. I bought my first rebloomers last year. I had one flower, Forever Violet, an MDB. She rebloomed for me twice, once at the beginning of Sept. and then again at the end of Sept. I have a few tall bearded rebloomers but they didn't flower for me, yet. The lady at Tara Perennials, about 2 hours north of me grows a lot of rebloomers and says they do rebloom for her but the key is watering well. Marg