No no no. Don't dig it up. When you have a massive clump overrunning the garden, then dig up to divide and trade :-) If the top of the rhizome is showing above the soil, they are the correct depth. Deep irrigation, allowing the soil to dry out between, is what will suit best. They do not like moist soil. You're in a great zone for iris. The only ones in bloom now are called rebloomers. Height of bloom is around Mother's Day here. Early ones in April. Rhizomes from the big box stores are usually not in primo condition. It would not surprise me if they took two years to bloom. There are a few Californians over at the Iris Forum. Things are pokey right now but come bloom time the posts are fast or furious.

Yeah, I'm not surprised! This was a surprise to me from my husband (he's not the gardener) that he bought it from Sam's Club. lol He still did good as I looove this one noid or not. Any guesses on its identity? Here's a close-up of the beard. I had my suspicions that it wouldn't be 'true to form' so last year I ordered Cloud Ballet from Blue J's for a comparison. Thank you Ann! Everyone of my gardens is being worked on/in. I'm sorta ADD like that I get bored working in one spot for to long so I move around my gardens a lot. Working some here some there...

Hi, ldj, I live near Dallas, "just up the road"! I never cut anything back until it has withered & turned brown & given up the ghost, & I *never* cut iris foliage; that foliage is drinking up sunlight to store energy for next year's flowers. If you're going to transplant, just count 6 months past the bloom time. If your irises flowered in April, the best time to move them is October. I almost never manage to get the transplants done exactly when I'm supposed to, but iris are very forgiving, & they transplant fine. If you move them too near to their next bloom season, say, in March, they don't have time to recover, & you'll lose a season of flowers. don't know of an iris nursery or seller in the Austin area, but you might check out Argyle Acres, a mail-order iris farm north of the Dallas area; their plants are well-acclimated to our weather & conditions. I always try to go to the Ft Worth Iris Society's sale at the Botanic Garden in September or October; a lot of iris breeders/growers/hobbyists have good healthy rhizomes for sale there. & of course you can get excellent advice & help & maybe some shared plants by joining a local garden club or iris society. Best luck, & enjoy your irises!

Sorry, I left out a word. Maybe this picture will show the space (marked with a red line) between the standards (upright petals) for clarification. When the picture of your MDB was taken the standards are practically touching one another. Some beardeds open their standards more and more as the bloom matures. Others, not so much.