Either word is correct, and fortunately the growth cycle of the iris seems to be one thing has been immune from the politically correct speech police.

If you are talking about tall bearded irises, they usually flower the spring after you plant them. I have had a few that took two years to bloom, but after that if I don't get a real show I give them away to someone with more patience.

I think it depends on how much energy the rhizome has, too.

Mail-order irises have always bloomed for me the following spring, but hand-me-downs sometimes take a long time;
I have one that's been growing in an old compost area for several years now, with nary a bloom in sight.

I think it must have come from a rhizome that was so small, crummy, pitiful, shrivelled, etc that even *I*, the iris pig of the universe, put it in the compost.

I figure, it's quite a survivor;

so I'm hanging on to it.

Sylvia, in your climate, I'm betting that you keep the compost in the shade.

Kevin : )

what shade?

This particular batch was placed in almost the exact center of the back yard, in full sun, because an old boyfriend once helped me out by dismantling an old deck & burning it in the middle of the yard, leaving a big black mess.

Big black mess is now history, as is boyfriend.

(no, he is *not* in that or any subsequent compost heap. I don't care what they all say or when he was last seen!)

Sylvia, no true gardener would believe that of you! We all know never to add meat or meat byproducts to a compost heap!

More on topic, I'm left without any good reason for it not to bloom now, unless it's one of the few varieties which seem to need more winter chilling--like the 'Good Looking' I'm struggling with, now! Maybe double check the feeding: Iris need more nitrogen in the winter in warm climates than most gardeners know, and heavy composting can reduce the nitrogen content of the soil.

May all your flowers be bright!
Kevin : ])

"May all your flowers be bright!"

Now there's a delightful Christmas wish!

& may all your flowers be bright as well, & your foliage happy & green!

I planted my first two bearded Iris last spring, and one flowered mid heat HOT summer. It has not died back, and it is now blooming AGAIN mid January! I guess it likes it here. The other one still has green leaves, but has not flowered. Not sure what kind it is. But it is definitely a huge bearded type. Purple edges and veins on white petals. There are 4 buds on one stem, and 3 are showing color. None fully open yet.

Wow, lucky you! It sounds like you got rebloomers. Don't you just love them?

Sounds like 'Hemstitched' or 'Autumn Circus'. Those two look almost like twins, and they could almost be called "everblooming" in our climate. Go ahead and stick your nose in, too: both are lightly fragrant. "Autumn Circus' has slightly more purple on a slightly purer white ground than 'Hemstitched'. I personally think that rebloomers are the future of Bearded Iris.

Kevin : )