On a happier note, here is a Concertina reblooming iris that I planted at the same time as the others. Incredibly it is blooming in just 3 months. I didn't know that was possible!

You can see the troubled ones sticking up in this bed in the background, though, with just 1-2 leaves each.

Yipla;

As long as the rhizomes are still solid there is hope. Covering with an 1" or so of soil is a good move in your zone. A little soaking may encourage growth. If they push up some green is a good sign that roots are developing. Don't over water, but soak around the root area as you want the roots to go down. I do this till the green starts and then back off. They do love some super phosphate as that encourages root and bloom development.

The one that bloomed had the bloom already set in the mother rhizome. Some iris are a little slow getting started, so hang in there and good luck.

Thanks!!

Concertina is known for being an extremely vigorous grower!! Very pretty bloom stalks.

If these iris came from an online vendor they should give you a refund on those that failed. If they were from a big box store . . . . . . . ? ? ? I make it a practice now to save garden receipts from Home Depot, etc.

I love superphosphate too but it can burn fresh roots. I dig it into the lower soil area before planting. Then put 3-4 inches of soil over that. As a rule new plant roots do not like fresh fertilizer. Not talking about diluted liquid type.

I got them at the local Iris society annual sale so they must have been ok. I must have done something wrong to them? One note is that all the ones struggling are not rebloomers. I really hope they can still manage to root :( I had high hopes and spent more money on flowers than I ever have before! And dug up that bed which had been full of grass! Plus hand removed all the buffalo grass and nut sedge that grew back in the grasses place! Sigh

Oh golly, I hope your nut sedge, if it's like nut grass, is eradicated. That appeared one year when I lived in socal and what a nightmare!

I downloaded and enlarged your pic. and I think the ones with one leaf are fine. One looks to have a tiny fan of new growth. Tall beardeds take awhile to settle in and some may take 2 years to bloom. Water deeply and infrequently. Advice is different for rebloomers (more food and water). Good luck.

Ok, thanks! Nut sedge is nut grass. I've been digging out the whole weed, nuts roots and all. Still a bit left at the far end of the bed.

Oh no! I didn't know back in the day that one plant will produce a new nut at the end of each root. That stuff is a nightmare. I think I got it from a bag of nitrohumus.

It hasn't been tooooo bad to remove so far since te bed is mostly empty but I am hoping there are not too many remaining nuts that grow back after the bed is planted. I will have trouble weeding then!

Amen!

This weekend, checking on my irises again I can declare my first definite loss: Lights, Camera, Action had no more leaves and had an oozy rhizome =(

Hoping the rest pull through. I am trying to amend the soil, which is pretty crappy here. Lots of clay that solidifies the top of the bed after rain. I've been getting some compost from the city's compost program to replace some of the clay, but it's slow going.

Yipla

Check to see if there is any solid left. You can scoop out the oozy smelly part and expose what is left. douse it with a 10% bleach to 90% water solution and then sprinkle a liberal coat of comet on the rhizome. This is probably a bacterial soft rot and some times will respond to treatment. The combination with air drying works sometimes. Good Luck

Ok, I will try. I did think the leaf growing point was still hard when I checked. I will try to pot it up after treatment, since in the ground has not worked.