I guess I'm dumb but my daughter and son-in-law had the same problem being at the bottom of a hill. He dug trenches and laid in drainage pipes with gravel on top. He did this all the way around the house to the street. Didn't touch the flower beds. It worked great and they live in Pa where it normally rains a lot. When he put in new beds though, he built drainage into the edges of the beds. All their flowers beds are raised. You might want to consider raised beds for your flowers since you will be redoing your whole yard. I have included some pictures of how he did the beds when he built new ones. Just a suggestion for an alternate plan. The plastic bag idea sounds good for your plants. Dot here he is installing drainage in the beds this is the back side of the house that gets all the water from the hill, the water runs down the front of the beds to the street, the big drain runs behind the shed and around the other side of the house it is all finished now and planted and looks beautiful

Hi Nancy, Not knowing what size cup the seedlings are planted in - as long as they appear to be growing well, green and increasing, then they are doing well and you don't have to transplant them immediately, IMO. I personally feel that trying to transplant in high heat will set them back more than waiting for a little while longer for cooler weather. I usually get a good growth spurt in the fall as things cool off. This is the ideal planting time I feel. You could probably show your hubby how to water the seedlings. Just stress to use a gentle shower of water and give him a schedule. Most of us guys are trainable! ;0) When you are ready to leave for CA, put a swatch of panty hose, nylon cloth or even cheese cloth over each pod and twist tie them on. The seeds will be contained and waiting when you return. I shell my pods in the evening. Inspect the seeds for any empty or soft seeds and cull those. Let the seeds dry in an open cup overnight. Next day, I write the cross and date collected on a 2x3 ziploc bag and insert the seeds. I store them in the fridge till ready to sprout. I do have some stored for over a year in the fridge and they seem to be fine. I do like to store seeds for 4 weeks before sprouting. They seem to sprout more uniformly when I do. If you add damp anything to the bags, you may have sprouted seeds when you return. I usually don't add anything, preferring to start the sprouting process when I want. When I'm ready to start my seeds, I dump the starting mix in big tub and work it, adding water till its throughly moist, but not wet. Fill the flats, tamping the mix slightly into each pot. I put on average, four seeds into a 3 1/2 square pot about 1/2" deep. Firm the mix over the seeds and then gently water each flat. Down here, with 80% relative humidity+, I don't have a big problem with them drying out. But you might cover them or bag them to keep the moisture in. After a week, un-bag and you should have lots of sprouts! Good luck, Ed

I'm a bit farther south than most of you on this thread, zone 8 in south central AL. I have planted in Dec. here and always plant through Nov. with no problems. Of course we don't have the freeze thaw situations that would cause dl's to heave here. Last year, I won a dl on the LA in Dec. It was one my daughter really wanted. The seller had to ship immediately. I got, it in late Dec. planted it in the ground and had tons of bloom on it last season. That's the latest I've ever planted a dl here. Like Ida, we've just had a much needed week of rainy weather, so I'm behind in my digging, dividing, and lining out, but will continue it as soon as the ground is dry enough to dig, even if I'm still at it in Dec. Jan

Bearded irises can be divided any time after your last frost date in the spring, but many irisarians believe the optimal time to divide them is 6-8 weeks after bloom. Avoid transplanting irises in very hot weather (90+ F degrees), but do get them transplanted back into the ground a couple months before freezing weather to give them time to root in well before winter. Irises sometimes take a year off bloom after transplantation to settle into their new homes, so don't be too disappointed if you don't get bloom the spring after planting. Irises moved before bloom will often lose their bloom that season as well, which is why it's best to wait until after bloom to dig and divide. Use a spade or fork to dig up your iris clumps and wash them off well with a hose until you have removed all dirt and can easily see where the rhizomes (rzs) are attached to one another. With a sharp knife, cut through the attachments (you can break them apart with your hands, but a sharp knife will make a smaller, cleaner wound). Inspect the rzs thoroughly. Discard any rhizomes that are soft or mushy or show any other signs of disease, any that do not have viable roots, and any that are just too tiny to bother with. Many people also discard old "mother" rhizomes that have already bloomed because they will not bloom again. These "mothers" may grow additional rhizomes (increases) however, so they may be worth replanting if you have the extra room for them. Remove any dead, spotted, or unhealthy (brown or yellow) leaves or parts of leaves. Many folks cut the leaf fan back a bit when transplanting so the weight of the leaves won't cause the newly planted iris to tip over, but you should leave as much leaf on the plant as possible to continue to feed the rhizome. Snap or cut spent bloomstalks off at the rhizome. Snip off any dead roots but leave the plump roots intact. If you find soft, mushy spots (bacterial soft rot) in your rzs, either discard those rzs in the trash (do NOT compost), or cut the mushy parts out. If you do decide to keep otherwise valuable but rot-infected rzs, soak them in a solution of 1 part household bleach to 9 parts water for 30 mins, then rinse in clear water. After you have separated, inspected, and cleaned up your rzs, lay all of them out in a shady, dry area for a couple days to allow the cut wounds to scab over before transplanting. You should transplant these irises into an area providing at least 6 hrs of direct sunlight a day. Prepare a new planting area or rejuvenate an existing bed by making sure the soil is well-drained and properly fertilized. Though iris gardeners often dig a bit of superphosphate into the soil to feed the rhizomes and help promote future bloom, it's actually a wiser tactic to fertilize according to the needs of your particular soil. This can be determined through a soil test performed by your county extension agent. Avoid high nitrogen fertilizers. Excessive nitrogen can promote bacterial soft rot in bearded irises. When you plant your irises, make sure the top surface of the rhizome is level with or just slightly below the soil surface. If you bury the rhizome too deeply, the plant may refuse to flower. Do NOT mulch directly over the rhizomes. Mulch will tend to retain too much soil moisture right around the rhizomes and promote bacterial soft rot (unless you live in a hot desert climate). If you have the room, plant your rzs about 2' apart with no other plants nearby to overgrow them and compete for soil nutrients. You can also plant 3 separate rhizomes in a triangle 1' apart with the leaf fans facing outwards to produce an instant clump effect. Water the irises deeply once a week for the first month if there is not adequate rainfall. Avoid frequent, shallow waterings. Overwatering is another common cause of soft rot problems. Just so you understand how the bearded iris life cycle progresses - each individual rhizome will only produce one flower stalk during its lifetime. After (and sometimes before) it flowers, it will turn its energy toward producing "increases" (new rhizomes growing from the sides of the "mother" rhizome). After these new rhizomes grow to blooming size and eventually flower, they will then become "mothers" and grow increases of their own. That is how single rhizomes turn into clumps over the course of a few years and why they need to be divided when the clumps become overcrowded and deplete soil nutrients.