You better watch out, adding roses is very addictive but the results are so beautiful when they are in bloom LOL! We will both have to post roses blooming this summer. I really don't have hardly any Austins. I used to have more than I do now but moved them outta here and replaced them with other roses as they just wanted to grow too big for me. Big and sprawly doesn't work in my garden. I just seem to remember the Dutch Iris being closer together with more of them last year. Maybe it was just the angle of the picture that was taken. My Dutch Iris are planted much closer together than yours are. But then you know I smush things together around here. Mihne are growing nicely out in the backyard but no bloom scapes coming up yet. Must be too early here for then to even bud up yet.

I've planted Dutch iris, but the only ones that have lingered & bloom are yellow. I have Eye of the Tiger, but they have not bloomed for 2 years. I'm going to divide them when the foliage dies back & see if that is the problem. They have certainly multiplied since I planted them. Yours look just great. They have them growing occasionally at the nursery here, but usually I just see them as bulbs. I'll have to remember to pick up some more next year after seeing yours. You are such a bad influence Rita!

I'm in NY too. Mine are really slow to bloom this year. First we had the warm (hot) weather that hurried them along, and now the cool weather is slowing them down. I'm up on a hill, that stays cooler, so my neighbors have some blooming and I don't of the same established variety. I suspect it's just the cold keeping yours back. Also newly divided ones do tend to take longer to bloom. But when the neighbors iris are gone, yours won't be!

Dutch Iris should be planted in Autumn/Fall, not Spring. They are not as difficult as some other Spring-flowering bulbs and I feel that as long as you plant them in the correct season, you will have no problems. Plant about 4"/10cm deep.