I've never supported them. The plants around them seem to do it.

do they flop after they bloom??.. or during.. or what???

are they taller than expected... wonder if your soil is too good for them ... too much manure over the years????'

ken

I have quite a few and for the most part they stay upright because like callirhoe they are supported by other plants. There are some very tall ones like Caesars Brother that flop later in the season but I leave them be. When I do support plants (mostly Peonies) I use page wire.

They flop well after blooming, usually come around August. All of mine are "Caesars Brother".

Here's what they look like in the spring:

Here is what they look like now:

What is page wire?

Yes CB is so tall and lovely. I thought it easier to show what page wire is. The gaps are roughly the size of a sheet of paper and would be available at a farm supply. I make the hoops larger than I need hooking it in place to the size I need at the time then I have room to expand it as the plant grows. It may be called something different for you.

This is an old pic from 2017 when the Peony was quite young.

Again an old pic because it is virtually invisible as the plant fills out.

I’ve never used supports and I’m tired of the mess now. Mine have spread quite large and with them having such a short bloom time, I think it’s time for them to go….RIP

"... I think it’s time for them to go….RIP"

Oh, I would never let them go -- they are a joy during bloom and I like the grassy foliage effect very much. They're a PITA to cut down, this is true, and they get floppy later on, but I'll figure out a way to deal with it, the pleasure is worse than the irritation.

GardenHo I admire your toughness and resolve but I am firmly with mxk. I could never part with them because I am so fond of them. The Eastern Tiger Swallowtails love them as much as I do. That is a big part of their allure for me too.

They are pretty that’s for sure, but this bed needs to be thinned out bad and it’s these I choose to say goodbye to. They are smothering their companions that are much longer blooming which I much prefer to keep….

"The Eastern Tiger Swallowtails love them as much as I do."

I've never seen a swallowtail, or any butterfly for that matter, on the S.I. Then again, I'm not out there all day actively looking...

"They are pretty that’s for sure, but this bed needs to be thinned out bad and it’s these I choose to say goodbye to."

This I completely understand and relate to -- I'm going through the same thing right now. Some things I've had to say goodbye to, they have served me well but it's time to go because the other stuff needs more room and I have to make choices.

What I'm getting rid of -- and I ended up surprising myself -- is established Zebra grass. They're taking over. I hemmed and hawed over one particular area and decided I gotta do it. It looks so much better -- filled in but as not as visually hemmed in by a wall of very large grass. So yea...I get it...

They are my sole iris (apart from the little reticulatas I plant every autumn). Fleeting, but lovely, and largely hidden in the hurly-burly undergrowth by my little pond. I ignore the flopping unless they fall in the water, in which case, it's out with the choppers.

O, the amount of editing,hacking and removing is doing my head in...but must be done if the garden is to remain usable.

GardenHo & rp yes I get it for sure. We all do what we need to do.

mxk I get a lot of swallowtails because I am rural and have some host plants/trees. We are losing ash trees but I have prickly ash which seems unaffected. Cherry which I also have. Some that I do not have like Tuliptree & sweet bay are also hosts.

I get a decent amount of swallowtails but they usually don't show up in numbers until mid-summer, so maybe that's why.

Update: I ended up ordering the grow-thru plant supports from Gardener's Supply; I ordered the 18". I needed 17 total for the iris and a couple other things, so it wasn't cheap, but I already have some of the extra-large 24" and know they're sturdy and worth the money.