presuming its properly planted ... i would think its pretty hard to kill iris ...

yes.. it will take a year or two.. to get acclimated.. and thrive.. keep it properly watered..

and great that you dont expect much this season ... all i would hope for.. was life ... and it might even surprise you with a late bloom ... you dont really say how big the piece you planted was ...

there are a bunch in that color range.. any idea how old the cultivar is???? .. as in.. was it state of the art when you bought it a few years back ... like mail order from a hybridizer?????? ... or was it a bargain ??? ... any info.. might narrow down the name???

i have one that color.. but its under 2 feet of snow... and i cant think of the name with snow on the ground ... lol ..

ken

thanks for the reply, it was a bargain. From Walmart actually..*ducks*...I dug up and seperated the bulbs out, gave some away and planted about 8, with leaves still attached about six inches apart. I did put mulch down over them and reading here I see that was not a good thing to do. I was afraid they'd get too hot after being in the shade so long. So far, there are three sets of leaves that never died back, but all the others have disappeared. I think I might dig around and see what happened to the others, if they rotted or something..can't do anymore harm I suppose.

There are a number of solid blue-purples that look like yours. To id it you would need to supply a lot more information and more photos. Even then it would be educated guesses until you grew a candidate side by side for comparison. The double-socketed buds would rule out some.

Pictures of the branch structure, height from soil to top of terminal bud, bloom time, side photos of bloom, close-up of the haft area, opening sequence of blooms (3 at once, 1 at a time ?), which buds are double-socketed --- info that would help with possible id.

'Dusky Challenger' and 'Titan's Glory' are 2 very popular solids. I've only grown 'Ron'.

Yes, I would poke around in the soil to find the disappearing rhizomes. If you didn't allow the cut areas to callus over before planting that could have been the area rot entered. Are you in central TX?

thank you iris_girl!

no I am in East Texas, I pulled the mulch off the irises that are growing and the most healthy of the leaf sets has the rhizome right at the surface, you can see the side bare to the air now.

I was sooo nervous about losing them that I didn't even think of leaving them out for any length of time, I dug them up in one location and put them in their new one in one day. Made a special trip just to focus on moving them.

They are all double socketed. Started blooming in mid to late April, this was one of the last blooms taken on 5/2/13. You can't see it well but there is a bud under the fall on the side closest to the camera.

I asked where in TX because I've read that in year round hot climates beardeds do not do well. Like the lower part of Florida. Wondered about the gulf area of TX.

I hope yours thrive and you can take lots of different- angled pictures, the hafts and beard area, stalk shots (like this one posted at another site by Lindsey).

It sounds like a superb iris.

Blueberry Bliss and Blur Temptation have blue beards!

arrgh!! I dug around and found nothing but empty rhizome shells! all but three rotted.

Now I am worried about the three remaining...should I move them now, later, leave them and burn chicken feathers to the Iris Gods in hopes they'll survive?

Not to worry. The ones that rotted are done and gone. The 3 that are healthily growing are ok.

If you want you can carefully scrape topsoil away from the sides of the growing rhizomes to feel for any soft tissue. But since you planted separate rhizomes chances are very slim. It's even been know for a mother rhizome to be damaged and bacteria enter that wound but not the babies. These are usually very vigorous growers.

Let the soil dry between deep waterings. In my heavy soil that means the top 4 inches become dry before I soak the area again. If you have automatic sprinklers that hit the bed, relocate the iris.

But if a portion of any rhizome feels soft and spongy it is an indication of rot. In that case the affected rhizome is dug up, the soft area cut away until you come to solid healthy tissue. If you have sulfer you can dust the cut area (or use Comet) and let it rest a day or 2 in the shade, then replant. Most people don't do the sulpher dusting. Just be sure it stays out of soil until it calluses over. After re-planting water deeply once and not again for 3-4 weeks.

thank you thank you Iris girl!! First thing in the morning, I'll check them!