gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) Thanks! Do the blooms stick around for a while? I have perennials that I have allowed to dry to in place and I wanted to cut them all back once the irises are about to bloom. I have them planted in bunches of 5 and 7 and want to have a period where everything else is cut back and iris are the main feature. This is an attempt to allow me to cut back my other year round perennials to the ground (grasses/echinacea) and fill in the gap between cutting back and new group with another flower. So if the blooms are short lived, then maybe I should cut the perennials back before the iris flower but if the blooms stick around then I'll wait for the first bloom, then cut.

Also do they come back year after year for you?

For me, DI blooms last a few days each. Flowering period for a single bulb perhaps a week?

It may be longer in a 'softer' climate, but by the time DI bloom here, it's hot.

I agree. Here, each flower is in bloom for only a couple of days at most. And we are not affected by heat :-) As much as I love irises, a short bloom cycle seems to be a common characteristic of the genus.

They do come back but flowering in subsequent years is usually very half hearted. I tend to treat them as annuals, similar to hybrd tulips.

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) Do you think they return half heartedly because of rain? On the package, it says they naturalize so I'm wondering what climate they would naturalize in bettter... and if its the rain or the cold that prevents that from happening.

We can't grow tulips here because we dont get enough chill hours.

Curious what month they bloom for you and how hot it gets when they do? dbarron(z7_Arkansas)

Looking at my photos taken last year late May (like 31st), and it could have been between 85 and 95 at that time of year.

The reason generally given for them not to naturalize or perennialize well is wet summer soils. These prefer quite dry conditions during their dormant period. So winter cold or wet is not a factor (they should be hardy to zone 3 or 4) as long as drainage is good.

However, I do live in a very summer dry area and that doesn't seem to have much an effect. I do irrigate the bed where they are planted from time to time but not regularly and it is never what anyone would call 'wet' :-) And those planted at a relative's nearby receive no irrigation in summer and while they routinely produce foliage each fall (that persists through the winter), they have never naturalized nor do they flower much, if at all.

Yeah, I've seen locations where they do well near here, but I don't know my luck yet.