Wow! This my first post, so please excuse anything untoward. I over wintered dinner plate dahlias and glads, though I didn't separate by color. Are you interested? What color are your tb irises? Roni

True, don't have to divide the Siberian iris often, but dividing bearded iris is pretty much a given necessity (at least it's a very easy task, since the rhizomes are right at the surface). I know Siberian are supposed to be divided every five years or so but cr*p that is going to be work!! Those clumps get really well-rooted and big - that is the sort of job I remind my husband is the reason I need a man around LOL!! But after almost 18 years of marriage and about 10 with the iris, I have not once had my Siberian divided, and they still flower :0)

Beverly, I can't answer your specific question because I have no experience with the iris you have mentioned. However, my experience with Siberian Iris leads me to believe that there is a great deal of difference between an old standby like Caesar's Brother and the newer cultivars I have planted. CB grows vigorously and provides beautiful foliage that can used in the landscape like an ornamental grass. The foliage on the newer SI just doesn't measure up. I'm hoping that as they mature the foliage might improve.

I'm in zone 7 Maryland, for me Siberians start blooming the middle of May, a week to two weeks earlier than the Japanese Iris. The foliage of Japanese iris is overall more subtantial than that of Siberians. The leaf is wider and thicker, and has a fat, rigid mid-rib that keeps it from being floppy. It also stays a nice medium green the whole season (not as dark a green as Siberians). If your Siberian foliage held up well for you, there should be no problem with the Japanese. I have actually left the foliage on the whole winter some years and it was a quite attractive gray-brown, standing tall until I cut it down in February or March. They (at least my Japanese iris) set a lot of seed, and the pods are also attractive. Letting them go to seed hasn't seemed to affect the amount of bloom I get year to year. Sometimes I deadhead, sometimes I don't. But, unless you are particularly interested in seeing the results of genetic recombination, make sure to remove the seed pods before they start to split open - three or four years ago I didn't and I'm still getting seedlings all over the place. One of the seedlings was actually quite lovely (I somehow missed it weeding, and it got to blooming size), having gotten a deep purple color and flat, round form from one parent and a stripe/stippling pattern from another, so I kept it; the rest have gone to the compost pile... - Steve