Oops.. looks like my url for the photos to HMF did not come through... the was a hick-up on my end when the post was submitted.

Smiles,
Lyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Lynnie Photos on HMF

Two things come to mind: first of all the iris roots are pretty shallow and shouldn't really be a problem when you yank them up. But, secondly, why not just cut the iris foliage down to a 6" fan when the blooms have stopped. That's what I do to all of mine. They just take up too danged much visual real estate for too many months without flowers, but I do love them for that brief few minutes in the spring.

Susan........

These are not the only irises that grew to be much larger than expected, so I have decided to move them out to deer territory. I know the deer will nibble at them, but for the most part, deer tend to go onto other foods.

Now, my greatest concern is how to bring the rose back to its former glory.

Smiles,
Lyn

And for that I am not the resource you need....
Don't I wish I were.

Susan

I agree with Susan that removing the iris shouldn't do much damage to the root ball at all. I just grab hold of mine at the base of the fan and yank when I want to thin them out and they pop right out of the ground. Your rose is rooted much deeper than that.

After you pull the iris take out all the dead wood in your rose first and see what you have left before you cut it back. You may want to leave as much cane and leaves as possible now so the plant can feed and take in water to regroup. Then in the spring you can do a hard prune to rejuvenate it.

Yes iris roots are really shallow. Use a garden fork and go at them holding the fork nearly horizontal to the ground. You should be able to pop them right out.

Check the rose for crown gall. I can't see that iris would bother a rose that much. They are not heavy feeders.

Thank you all for letting me that my worries about damaging the root system of the rose were unfounded.

*** Susan you did help. I am going to cut the fans of the irises back tonight when the temps drop and open up the lower canes of the rose to the light. I'll be moving them in a couple of weeks, so I think they will be just fine.

*** Seil, I think I am going to hold off cutting anything off of the rose right away. Lynnie is a deciduous rose and I am thinking once light gets to those lower canes, the bud eyes may activate and I'll know for certain what wood the rose wants to keep. It won't defoliate until late October or early November. Thanks for letting me know that the real pruning should be more towards spring.

*** Hoovb, what makes you think I should check for crown gall? Won't that disturb the roots of the rose more ?

Smiles,

just an update...

As of yesterday, nine days after my initial post, my rose, Lynnie, is showing new growth on the branches where the bud eyes were hidden from light by the iris leaves. I cut back the irises, watered the rose very well and fed it with some Miracle Grow that I keep for stressed plants which I had in the garden shed and went on with my normal rose care program.

We have had temps in the high 90s, but when I checked the rose this afternoon, there were actually fully formed leaves coming out on the lower branches AND a new basal.

That is a rose that likes to grow !

Thanks for the advice and support. I know I am going to get my rose back sooner than I thought when I first posted.

Smiles,
Lyn

That she does, Lyn! I had to eventually cut the original seedling back to the nubs to move her. She didn't miss a beat, exploding into growth all over the place, from the crown of the plant up. Lynnie roots easily, grows beautifully own root, flowers on very small cutting grown plants and has always impressed me as just being happy to be alive. I'm glad she's pleasing you! Kim

Great news, Lyn! I have had hips from Lynnie and I can tell you that the seeds germinate like wild fire too!

Seil....

Yes, Lynnie is a great garden rose - thank you Kim - but, this experience taught me to listen to myself when I know I need to do something NOW to keep a rose healthy. I know the budeyes have to be exposed to the light to activate. That bit of knowledge often informs my pruning cuts. I knew I had to cut those leaves back, but every time I thought of it, I was in the midst of something else I needed to get done and my pruners/shears were not handy, so I would make a mental note to do it the next time I worked on that level of the garden.

What I didn't know was how quickly the lack of light would impact the plant or how quickly it would recover. From now on, instead of a mental note to myself, I am going to stop what I am doing and take care of whatever may inhibit the plant from growing well.

Lesson learned the hard way.

Smiles,
Lyn