When I think of old beardeds I think of late 1800's to 1930ish. Those seems to withstand neglect and may love your yellow rocky clay?

If 1960 or later hybrid I would remove rocks down to 12 inches and about 3 feet around. Then dig in the pre-fertilized soil. But only for a treasure. Don't know your zone but doubt the fertilized soil would jeopardize their survival.

If they should fail to adapt to the telephone pole you've gained knowledge about your soil. And Share it with us!! Sounds like a perfect opportunity for a test.

Thanks-these are the old purple two-toned iris with small blooms (probably the same kind my mom had in the 1950s out by the road). Someone gave them to me and I will not waste flowers, but I don't like them enough to have them in the iris beds I have sited so I can see them from our patio. I will till some garden soil into the dirt, plant them, and hope they make it.

Good luck.

My dealings with bearded iris have shown me that they are very tough, somehow coping with my appalling behaviour towards them on occasion.

If it were me, I would plant them exactly where I wanted them. That way, I would look after them properly. Whenever I plant something half-heartedly, I always end up neglecting it.

I think that you should not introduce other soil to them when planting. Rather, it would be better to give them something nice in early Spring: a bit of compost that can be made in the mean time, from your kitchen scraps. Obviously you do not want to cover the rhizomes which need to have exposure to the sun.

I dug the dirt up and planted them around a chrysanthmum, then got some of the straw from where they planted grass seed last fall and used that for a mulch. I walk and check all my flowers each day (thats how I found here in October I had a shy re-blooming white iris behind the cleome). I used cypress mulch in my last bed before I knew it was not good for them; I did pull it away from the rhizomes this spring, but mostly all I got this year was great big leaves and lots of root rot. Cleaned them all up as I found them, planted them back not where they came from, and let them grow this summer. This next week, since we are to get a freeze on Sunday, I will cut them back to about 8" and clean up the bed (should I remove all that cypress mulch after its been on the bed 9 months?) and get ready for the winter. Thanks to everyone for the input!