Pot some of your favorites up and put them in a sunny window for safe keeping. Pot the rest up and put them in the root cellar. As long as the root cellar hangs just above freezing they probably will be ok. Just won't guarantee it because all root cellars aren't created equal. Iris will need nearly no water while dormant. Might have to water once or twice over winter and that's all. The iris in the window don't get much either. I pretty much treat my house iris like cactus.

We are moving from Arizona to tn in about 2 months, i have dug up the irises and fanned the tops, and plan on drying them out for the move, is this the correct way to do it, sure hope so. All help would be welcome.

Iris are a very tough so long ast they are dry. I guarantee that if you store them bare root in the root cellar they are fine for the month time, especially if the temperature is very cold or even freezing. Growth slows down in the cold temperature. If you bring them inside after they have been down around freezing, they are going to think it is spring and start growing, which can put them into shock. Just leave them dry in the cellar or a garage. Keep an eye on them to make sure they aren't dessicating, otherwise they should be fine for the winter. I am sorry to say, but if you move them now, they will not bloom in the spring and will take longer to re-establish than if they were planted in August. If you want to know how to store them, see if Wal-Mart still has some on the shelves. They store them for months on end on shelves and so long as the rhizomes don't dry out they are fine. I would store them a bit cleaner than Wal-Mart does, just to keep disease down. If you must re-plant them during the winter, place a brick on top of the rhizome to inhibit heaving. I have planted irises in every month of the year, and have never had one die from anything other than rot or borer.

Thanks all for the advice. Dug as large a rootball as possible and am storing in the root cellar in 18 gallon containers covered in mulch until early spring. Less than 10 degree lows all week so will leave until early spring to plant. Really appreciate the advice given.