Need help - Remortant Irises

20 years ago

I hadn't ever had any iris until last fall, received and planted 6 remortant irises in September 2005. 3 of them bloomed this spring and at least 3 are blooming now. I have discovered that I did not give them enough room and have to move them. I have no idea how to care for them. My gardener helper wanted to cut them back last spring, but I said no. Any suggestions will be welcomed. Thanks.

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Comments (4)

rebel44
20 years ago
I think you did the right thing not cutting them back. A lot of people in my area do but I think you will get more and better bloom and maybe more increase if you leave the the leaves on to make food all the growing season. It maybe too late in the year to move them in your zone plus the other 3 may still bloom if you leave them be for this season. I would wait until they are done blooming next spring and more them then.
phillers
19 years ago
I would not ever cut back remontant (reblooming) iris, as is
the case with normal iris. You need to do everything you can to keep your rebloomers from ever going "dormant" after they bloom in the spring. Remove the spent bloom stalks, but do not cut them back. Keep up the water, and even do a mid-summer feeding, if needed.
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mike_g_
19 years ago
"I would not ever cut back remontant (reblooming) iris, as is
the case with normal iris."

NORMAL IRIS??? No iris normal or weird should be cut back unless it was dug to be replanted. As this practice would reduce bloom in rebloomers so it also would do the same for spring bloomers.

As in all plants leaves of some sort are needed.

"One of the most widely recognized and important characteristics of plants is their ability to conduct photosynthesis, in effect, to make their own food by converting light energy into chemical energy. This process occurs in almost all plant species and is carried out in specialized organelles known as chloroplasts. All of the green structures in plants, including stems and unripened fruit, contain chloroplasts, but the majority of photosynthesis activity in most plants occurs in the leaves. On the average, the chloroplast density on the surface of a leaf is about one-half million per square millimeter."

Mike G
phillers
19 years ago
I would agree with that, Mike, in general, although I don't think trimming the foliage tips back some late in the fall with non-rebloomers is apt to hurt the spring bloom. By then, the biggest part of the rhizome growth has already
taken place. Certainly, if trimmed back rhizomes can be
dug up, moved around and replanted without hurting the
spring bloom, I don't see how a little late season "tidying
up" is likely to.