Are you saying the rhizomes are segmented? If that is the case, you are dealing with a beardless iris. These sound like either pseudacorus or Louisiana rhizomes.

Walter Moores

You say that this iris looks like a regular iris except for the rhizomes and roots. Does that mean that the blooms have beards? If so, the growth pattern you describe is fairly typical of a badly overgrown clump of bearded irises. When I rescued the old beardeds that were on my farm when I bought it, they were non-blooming and struggling to survive in a mass of quackgrass. The rhizomes were thin and elongated, and the roots were very skinny. The rhizomes were also growing in layers on top of each other just as you have described.

If you have a photo of the flower, post it here. Then we'll be able to tell you if it's a bearded or beardless type.

Laurie

In fact, the thin rhizomes resemble Louisiana iris a lot. But they are lighter color, they are shorter, also the roots are much thinner. The leaves are broader and for the flower I linked to a watercolor painting which resembles it most.

I do not have my own photo of the flower and cannot find an adequate one googling. It has no frills, the flower is not particularly big or yellow, to the contrary, the general impression is of subtlety and paleness (which I like).

I think it is an overgrown bearded iris? Perhaps one of the smaller varieties? On the whole, the plant has always been considerably smaller and more delicate, a bit more leafy than some others, which grew nearly 5' tall, bearing huge flowerheads on really thick stalks. But it is not a miniature.

Now, do you think I should stick those unplanted rhizomes into a hole, cover with soil, mulch after frost and plant them out in the spring? Or perhaps plant them now? I have quite a lot of them and would rather not nurse them in pots on the windowsill throughout the winter.. (I do not have an unheated connected garage)

Also, how long do you think this iris may take to "come back to normal"? Should I add aged manure to the soil to help it along? Did you manage to rescue your irises that you found in such a bad condition?

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1040587}}

That sure is a bearded iris you have there! Perhaps a diploid like Flavescens. Its creamy colored and more delicate than the more modern tetraploids.
As to what to do with them now, I guess I would just plant them, mulch well and hope for the best. Do not put manure in with them.
AS to when they may recover and bloom, it will not be this Spring.
But you should feed well in the Spring and the ones that survive will respond to good food and care, and you should get bloom in 2008.
Laetitia

Thank you :-) I do not remember the brown markings but the flavescens does look familiar. I read it's an old iris widespread in central Europe so it may be just what I have. I will plant those rhizomes this week. They have a better chance of surviving the winter in the garden than on my windowsill, anyway. I once tried to overwinter some really pretty bicolor irises (pink with blue) and they looked dead by spring - I threw them away. Perhaps I should have tried planting them out but I did not think of it at the time.

I am afraid I am already experimenting with manure around iris. I planted some bearded irises this fall including manure into the soil because I read (on the internet) this could be done to promote growth of such greedy feeders as tall irises.. I've never put manure around irises before. It was well rotted and probably not very strong - I bought it in bags at a garden center. I hope it does not harm them too much.

I'll study the topic in greater detail later as I have just gotten sick and must jump into bed to recover before the weekend of planting.

Thank you again,
Anna