If all you see is paper husks, it sounds like they died a while ago. Like any 'dead body', the longer it is dead, the harder it is to determine the cause of death. Do you know if they were alive last October? Did they look healthy and normal? If it were borer, you may not have seen them in the late spring, early summer. There may have been holes in the iris, and devastating damage that could not withstand the winter. if you are sure they were healthy in the Fall, there are other causes of winter death. An animal may have eaten the roots, or it could be winter fungal rot. They may have heaved in the freeze/thaw cycles. I always have a little winter mortality, but only a small percentage die because of the harsh conditions. Maybe 1%. The best thing you can do now, is make sure you apply some Merit in the early spring, and observe carefully. By Fall, before the rhizomes bunk in for the winter, make sure they are firm and free of holes, or mush. Then you know its not borer. Examine a few times during the winter to see if you can detect something abnormal. A healthy 'hybrinating' rhizome is hard and anchored securely in the soil. Good luck, Laetitia

I would plant the rhizome horizontal to the ground with the roots down and let the leaves naturally straighten up. May look funny at first, but they should start growing upward. The reason they grew like this is because the clump was thick and crowded and the increase on the sides had no other way to grow, so they just grew outwards from the sides of the clump.

If they are all dried out then they probably won't have any life in them. But if they are still firm..try it and see. You really don't have anything to lose by planting them now, but a little bit of time. Let us know what you do and if they make it! littlebit

If they're firm, not mushy or spongy or rotten, I'd plant them. the way I gauge mushiness, sponginess, & rottenness: If I can bend the rhizome really easily, that's mushy. If I can squeeze the rhizome easily, that's spongy. If my thumb or finger goes through the rhizome & gets squishy stuff all over it...that's rotten. If the end is shriveled, I break it off & plant the firm part. I've found that those small holes are sometimes the relics of old roots that have died & disappeared, not harmful at all, but the rhizome has a better chance if there are at least some roots or some green showing.. You might dip them in a 10% bleach solution & let them dry before you re-plant, just as an extra precaution. Bottom line is, if you don't plant them, you know you won't have irises; if you do plant them, you might have irises. I wish you the best luck, & have fun!