Yes you do plant them on top of one another but you also put the bulbs that bloom later in the season towards the front of the bed otherwise the dying foliage of the earlier bulbs will ruin the display. Or you can make sure that all the bulbs you plant bloom at the same time - early with early and late with late. It should say on the description of the bulbs. Some online or catalogue sellers give that information for just that reason - so that you have things displaying at the same time. But, if you are going to mix bulbs, say early tulips with late tulips, be sure to plant the late in the front of the early otherwise you'll see that problem I mentioned. For example, I had a large bed against a rock wall, approx 20' long and 4' wide. Near the rocks itself, I planted the large King Alfred type daffs. In front of them I planted Poeticas Daffs, and in front of them I planted Hostas. First to show are the King Alfreds (end of April to about mid May), then the Poeticas (mid May to mid June) then the foliage of the Hostas eventually hides all the browning foliage. Unless someone is right on top of the rock garden, no one would ever see the dying foliage. Hope this helps.

Rosecandy, welcome. I assume you are asking about the Tall Beardeds which are over 27 inches. Schriener's site I believe gives heights of SDB, MTB, IB, etc. 1. Tall beardeds are equal in disease resistance pretty much. What are called cemetary iris are very old varieties and they are the toughest, withstanding neglect. Beardeds don't like babying. They like sun and deep watering when the top 4 inches of soil is dry. Sprinkler systems are not good. 2. Heights listed are from the ground to the top of the terminal flower (first bloom on top). Height is an average of 2 years performance. There can be a difference due to weather, nuitrition, etc. I've only seen down in the foliage bloom occur in rebloomers' rebloom. 3. Definately drought friendly. They do not like moist soil. Sun and drainage! 4. An iris stalk typically has 6 buds. If that cultivar opens 3 flowers at once and they last 5 days & on the 5th day the other 3 open and last 5 days, you have 10 days of bloom for that stalk. Other cultivars may open 1 bud at a time so you may have a couple extra days of open bloom. If temps. are warm (80's - 90's) a bloom will only last 3 days. If you have a large clump, then some stalks will be slower than others to open so you will have a longer show of that cultivar. 2 weeks of bloom of a particular cultivar is common. 3 weeks is wonderful! The majority of tall beardeds are mid-season openers. Early ones begin about 3 weeks before the early mid-season ones open. So those early ones are winding down as the early mid-season ones begin. Peak bloom here occurs at Mother's Day. The early mids may still have bloom, the mid-mids are going great, and the late-mids are opening. As the late-mids are finishing, the lates open. There is overlap. Bearded iris bloom once in the spring unless it is a rebloomer (which will require additional water and food). 5. Beardeds with poor substance (thin petals) do not fare well in rain. They are few and far between. More common in historics in my experience. Lots of pictures of beardeds looking very perky covered with raindrops. A storm is another matter. 6. 'Around Midnight' (Schreiner'95) is considered the blackest by people on this forum. Be very leary of judging color by photos. 'Dusky Challenger' is not as black but has been the top notch purple for several years. 7. A self is all one color. I've read conflicting info on whether that includes the beard.

There are many different types of irises. Some grow from bulbs (rounded, buried several inches below the soil surface), and some grow from rhizomes (potato-looking things that should be at or close to the surface of the soil). When you say you purchased and planted iris bulbs last fall, were these actual, rounded bulbs, or were they rhizomes? I've never grown bulbous irises (Dutch, reticulata, English, etc.), but I believe they all bloom very early in the season. I am guessing that the potted irises you purchased are rhizomatous bearded irises. Do you happen to know for sure what type of irises they are? If they are beardeds, it's possible that it's just too early in your season for them to have developed bloom stalks yet. Where do you live? Are the irises still in their pots, or did you plant them in-ground? If you planted them, how deeply did you plant them? We're going to need more information in order to answer your questions accurately. In the meantime, you might find some useful information in the FAQs (link at top of forum page). Laurie

If they are indeed bearded iris there is a distinct problem with pots. Beardeds come in dwarf (you are probably not cold enuf in the winter for these) , medians (IBs, BBs and MTBs) and tall (TB) sizes. Pot culture is more successful with the dwarfs or medians. The TBs 'travel' (as do all the beards) and quickly outgrow 1-3 gallon containers --- a 1/2 oak barrel is better. When you see an bearded iris blooming in a pot, it probably has only been in that pot ~10 months. If I were attempting to have these on a balcony, I would look for a container at least 12 inches deep and 15 inches wide. I would use bonemeal as well as a time release fertilizer. It's not impossible to have beardeds in containers if you are willing to provide their needs. Division depends upon the vigor of the cultivar. A tall bearded is a large container may benefit from new soil & division every 3 years. The small the container, the more frequent. They still need to have the top few inches of soil dry before the next soaking. Beardeds do not have a dormant period in milder winter zones. In summer the outer leaves do age and the clump looks 'tired'. But growth is happening. The season for bearded bloom is practically over. You can divide yours now.