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Problem needs a solution

16 years ago

Around the corner from me is house that was previously owned by a "mega-gardener". Most every inch of her yard was covered with flowers of some sort. She was particularly fond of iris. The new owners just mowed everything down.

Still, every spring, the iris come up along the sidewalk. They get about 6 or 7 inches tall before they mow them down. The owners will let you take whatever you want. The ones I've taken in the past are really pretty. The problem is moving them in April. They're not visible in the fall, which is when I thought you were supposed to move them.

How do you keep them alive and healthy when moving them in the spring?

bkay

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Comments (2)

newyorkrita
16 years ago
If the only time you can dig them is in the spring then dig them in the spring. Just replant and the iris will do just fine. The reason people wait is so the rhizomes will be larger by mid summer.
oregonwoodsmoke
16 years ago
You move them when you can get them.

The owners very obviously don't want them and if they don't care if you take them, I'd be over there digging up every iris I could find.

Go get them as soon as they peek up and you can identify them.

Take them all, and if you don't like some of them when they bloom, give them to someone who will take care of them.

It just kills me to watch a pretty garden destroyed by new owners-- or in this economy when people can't sell, their gardens get destroyed by renters. It's so sad.
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