Bearded Iris are gorgeous! To me they have a nostalgic grandma feeling that I love.  I got my iris from my mother who got them from my grandmother, and as soon as they have a bit of ground, I give starts to my children. Memorial Day wouldn’t be complete without iris from our garden to put on the graves of our ancestors.

Iris are tough flowers that are easy to grow.  They come in a delightful rainbow of colors and are easily transplanted for sharing.  I don’t buy many flowers.  Most of the time I can get starts from someone else who is happy to share.  If you don’t know anyone who can share with you there are many seed companies online that carry any color you can think of.

Thoughts to Consider When Planting Iris

Bearded Iris aren’t fussy plants, but there are some conditions where they won’t do well.

• They won’t bloom well in shade.  They will need at least 6 hours of sun.
• They will need well drained soil.  In very moist conditions they may develop root rot.  I find that they are quite drought tolerant and can do well in  pretty hot dry conditions.

I don’t usually fertilize much other than compost, but if you would like to you will want to use a low nitrogen fertilizer (6-10-10)  or bone meal.

Iris grow from a rhizome.  It looks like a tuber with roots sticking out the bottom.  It should be planted near the surface with the top of the rhizome exposed.  If they are planted too deep they won’t do well and might rot.

Iris multiply quickly.  You will need to divide them every couple of years.  If left too long they will become root bound and the blooms will become few and small or they may stop blooming altogether.  Sometimes if they become over crowded they may die out in the center and you will have a funny doughnut shaped group of plants.  I usually divide and transplant them in the early spring or the end of June after they have bloomed and had some recovery time.

Bearded Iris usually bloom in late spring.  Were I live they are usually in bloom for memorial day.  After they have bloomed you will want to cut the off spent stalk completely.

Because iris have such big leaves you may want to partially trim them to make it look neater.  If you choose to do this I would give the plant a few weeks to recover from blooming before trimming them, and don’t remove more than a third of the leaf.

How to Divide Iris

I will show you how I divide  and trim iris in the following video.

I hope this is helpful and Happy Gardening!