Eastautumn, is it safe to divide iris now? I planned to divide mine this fall but when I did some reading realized I'd left it too late, that they need a good 4-6 weeks to recover before freezing weather. What is your experience? Anyone else? I should've divided them back in Sept but who knew this weather would hold out?

I haven't scored any bargains but keep buying peony roots online, still have 14 roots to plant this weekend and 1 that hasn't shipped yet. Also have a bunch of foxtail lilies, double blooming lilies and tulips that haven't shipped yet, either. Hope that company is prepared to replace them when they don't have enough time to establish before bad weather....or maybe we won't have a winter this year. Nah...

Nice, treebarb!! I absolutely love Korean Spice Viburnum and want 2 more of them, but I suppose I'll have to restrain myself for this year. And 2 gallon pots are so nice and manageable :) I don't have any Mohicans, but plan to plant one along our back fence whenever the kids are done with the 8-foot trampoline that's back there now. And I love that you fit all your bargains into your car without even having to adjust the seats :-D

My rule of thumb for planting is usually, "If I can dig in the ground I can plant/move/divide it," but that's probably not the best rule of thumb for a lot of things ;) I think I'll defer to lisbest and my husband on the iris and leave them be for now, even though I'm bummed because I really, really wanted to get those divided and moved to various other locations in the backyard this year. It's my own fault for being such a procrastinator though :( The ones I want to divide are the lavender iris in my little icon picture and they're from my parents' garden back in Maryland. We started with a few bubs my mom brought out and they've taken off like crazy in the past couple of years. I did divide a white iris (Immortality) a few weeks ago, so hopefully that one will be okay. It really wasn't big enough to warrant dividing, but I wanted more in another area (and the bulbs were sold out before I could get any) so I just broke off a bit and am hoping for the best in the spring. Has anyone ever tried moving iris bulbs in the spring before they bloom, or is that destined for failure?

lisbest, I don't know much about peonies, but I'll bet your garden is beautiful with so many. The only kind I have now is one called "Primevere" but I'd love to plant more someday. Good luck getting all your peony roots and new bulbs in the ground! Glad I'm not the only one out there busily trying to plant while this amazing weather holds :)

I was bummed when I read that as well, eastautumn. I really wanted to get mine divided, too; hate to put it off to next year. I have a fairly large overgrown bed of white bearded iris, fairly boring, that I planned to thin and interplant with allium, a fairly short, bright purple one, to liven the bed. Was hoping you'd say it was perfectly okay to divide them now!

I'm not worried at all about the peonies or spring bulbs, they seem to make it through even if it's really bad immediately after planting. I would've liked to get the summer bloomers in earlier in the fall. All of the summer bloomers are coming from a company that guarantees unconditionally so I'll certainly get replacements if they don't survive. Foxtail lilies increase so slowly for me that I'd like to give them the best chance now, though, rather than waste time planting something that isn't going to survive.

Your "rule of thumb" is right for most things, EastAutumn! Fall is a really excellent time for planting most perennials.

With Iris, tho--and I assume you're talking about German bearded Iris--I think if you do it this late you may not get any, or many, flowers next year. I'd recommend waiting until a couple weeks after they finish blooming next year and divide them then if it's not too hot--or, probably better yet, in late summer when the nights are cooling down some, which should make it easier for them to recover. But if you're willing to forego many/most of the flowers (and I'm not positive I'm right about that!), I'm pretty sure you'd still be ok to do it now.

A couple other things! German Iris are "rhizomes" rather than "bulbs." That might not sound like much of a difference, but it is! Bulbs (Dutch Iris are bulbs--like tulips and daffodils) get planted deep! Rhizomes need to be planted shallowly with the top of the rhizome actually slightly exposed on top of the soil. If rhizomes are planted too deeply they will very probably not bloom for you. When you're digging and dividing rhizomes you need to break or cut them into smaller pieces since they grow as long, continuous "pieces." When dividing them it's best to keep an "eye" (or "fan" if the foliage is developed) on the rhizome pieces you're going to replant, but a few years ago I experimented with a fairly small piece of rhizome I had left over that had no eye on it! I stuck it in a pot to see what would happen, and it did, after a couple months, produce new growth and develop into a new plant--so even if you wind up with rhizome pieces that have no eyes, if you have the patience to wait, plant them and even they "should" develop into new plants! When digging/dividing your German Iris, cut the "fans" (foliage) down to about 3 or 4" above the rhizomes. Reducing the "size" of the foliage makes it easier for them to reestablish since they have less foliage to "support."

One other thing I've discovered that I'll mention here! The rhizomes only bloom in "each place" one time, so after they finish blooming you can cut the stem and foliage around that "blooming stem" all the way down to the rhizome. If you leave it on, the foliage will just keep looking worse and worse until it completely browns. The following years' flowers will come from different places on newer growth/parts of the rhizomes. Because of this (and like a lot of other perennials) the plants will tend to "move" on you, growing toward the "outside" of the plant, eventually leaving an "empty" place "in the middle" where the plant and rhizomes "started." So when you're digging up rhizomes to divide to plant elsewhere or give away, pay attention to what the overall plant looks like--and if "it's still where you want it." If it looks like it could use some "updating," possibly dig the whole thing, divide off the parts you want, and just replant the rest of it "back to its original place!" Other times, depending on where they're planted (between a building and a sidewalk, etc.) they can become "too crowded" and will stop blooming because of this and need to be dug and replanted, spaced further apart. Just some things to think about!

Dutch Iris really ARE bulbs, and they're very pretty too! Consider trying a few!

And Siberian Iris are "just plain old perennials" with "normal" roots! Also very pretty so I recommend checking them out too! Siberian Iris love water--great for near a downspout!

While I like them all, I do consider German Iris to be the most "luxurious" looking ones!

Skybird

Some of the iris I got from the swap have great growth already. The weather truly amazes me, and I think the plants are getting pretty confused about what to do. I hope it will be ok to plant them now. I also ordered some more peony roots from Easy To Grow Bulbs. They were all three to five eyed roots but didn't seem fresh. They were pretty small and seemed to have been dugged up for a while before they were shipped to me. I hope they will make it ok.

I love your idea of planting some alliums around the white iris bed. I am sharing a picture of my yellow iris with purple allium. They brought really nice colors to my front yard this spring. I think yours will turn out great. Let us know how your iris bed turns out.

That is a pretty combo, GardenChloe! I like the mix of flower forms. I've never ordered peonies from Easy To Grow Bulbs, there are several sites that I'd definitely recommend but I think all have stopped shipping for the year. The great thing about peonies is that the roots are so tough, I'm sure they'll make it through just fine. If they look shriveled I'd soak them before planting but that should be the only special treatment they'd need.