Lol! As soon as Aliska sent me the link in responding to my post, I did the same thing! I watched all the videos and now I need my husband to start digging a new bed that will be dedicated to Iris'. Now the only problem is how to break the news to him... a big steak on the BBQ perhaps?

and now I need my husband to start digging a new bed that will be dedicated to Iris.
Not being bossy, but be sure and have him make it big enough. I suspect you are either now a 'collector' or soon will be one. If you want to keep them separated (as in not get them all mixed together) they need to be planted a good distance apart from one another. It is surprising how one little rhizome will grow and spread so quickly. I still haven't decided what is the best 'comfortable' distance to plant them here to assure them not needing dividing too soon to avoid running together. Some of course are a lot more prolific than others it seems.

It is suggested that they be planted 2' apart if one has the room, but have found that in 2-3 years some have outgrown their allotted space already, which is great, if I had the 'spare'(?) time to divide them as soon or before they needed it...sigh.

Thanks Iris_gal, for all the cool links. I'll have to check them all out, in time.

Sue

Hi Sue,
You are not being bossy at all. In fact it is excellent, welcomed advice. I only have 3 Iris' growing for their first season. They are mixed in among my perennial garden. I had to dig one up that didn't last the winter due to bulb rot, but surprisingly the root system was very large. Large enough to cause me to be concerned for the others that have hugh rhizomes and almost 3ft stalks full of blooms.
All this to say, I agree with alotting significant space for each rhizome. I saw a clip on you tube that talked about planting them in a triangle shape. I'm going to try that. Finding spare time is not a problem, but if I keep going at the rate I am, space may be!
Thanks for the tips!
Tammy

What hath that enabling Aliska wrought here lol? Look at all those vids I missed! Good job finding them and posting the links, will try to watch as many as possible.

I'm rather new to iris, and last year got an insert in my gilberthwild catalog for Cooley's and wanted to order some but things got away from me and just got two from Am Meadows instead. I don't know how I managed to remember the name and think to look on youtube.

Some crazed poster (no offense intended) alerted me to the joy of Siberians. Ha ha. Now I'm getting an order ready after just ordering a few more bearded iris from Wild's. I know they don't have the best rating, but I've had pretty good luck with them so far.

P.S. (ducking). I don't plant mine 2' apart, planting spots are at a premium in my small yard. So my punishment is that I have a huge clump that are too big for where I put them and will have to divide them. I think I'll put them all where it doesn't matter so much and move something a little less robust but colorful there.

Nobody told me when I started all this craziness that I'd not only be planting things, but digging half of them up and moving them around.

Thank you very much for compiling this great list!!
Such eye candy ~ balm to my Iris obsession...
Gratefully, Marea

Thanks Iris Gal! Looking forward to seeing these.

Shadow