If I were you, I'd dig the bed as soon as any danger of a late frost is passed, disentangle the iris rhizomes from the grass, dig all the grass out of the bed, amend the bed, and replant the irises (or move them to another location altogether, if you prefer). Ordinarily, digging an iris bed in early spring will interrupt the bloom cycle, resulting in a lack or significant decrease in bloom for the current year. However, if your iris bed is that old and the irises are overrun with grass, it's unlikely that you'll be seeing much bloom, anyway. Your irises will be better off if you rescue them now and give them all season to settle back in and grow for next year's bloom. Bearded irises (assuming that's the type of irises we're talking about here), grow from rhizomes, not bulbs, and would not be treated the same as bulbous irises. You can find instructions for digging, dividing, and replanting bearded irises in the FAQs (link at top of forum page). Your irises are salvageable. That's the good news. Now get to work! :-) Laurie

Hmmm...lucky you, having dirt! And welcome to the very addictive hobby of gardening. And lucky your mother knows a thing or two about gardening. She can probably teach you lots of this. My mother gardens too and is crazy good at it without reading anything. All plants get energy through a process called photosynthesis, which in part converts energy from the sun and most plants need their leaves to do it. So the leaves feed the growth of the plant and the rhizome (what an iris has) or roots (like trees) or bulb (like tulips) to be able to survive and eventually multiply. (Very simplified version but you can google it for more specifics. You don't necessarily need to understand more than that to be a good gardener but a little basic knowledge helps to reason things out.) Before you move your iris (YOUR heirlooms from your mother), get a plan for what you really want in the space. Otherwise, you are simply disrupting next year's real show for no reason. Perennials = first year sleep, second year creep, third year LEAP! And you might decide you like them afterall. You didn't mention if they bloomed for you this season. If not, you may have had very small divisions from your mother? You planted them too deeply? Or maybe too shady? I like to think of them as enjoying having their big toe (rhizome) sticking out of their "sand"-al to get some sun. Get it? Their roots go down. Their leaves go up. Pretty basic, huh? As for storing them, you CAN store them over the winter (in a cool place) but you do not need to and you might risk losing a few. They'd be happier to be planted into their new location as soon as possible and get the most time to establish themselves (stored in their location in the dirt) so they can show off for you next year. If you dig them now and store them, you are depriving them of photosynthesis (and creeping, and multiplying) for the remainder of the summer and I'd suspect they could cook or "spoil" in a hot garage. Now if you know where you are going to replant them and they did flower (probably at the correct depth then), I'd move clumps of dirt in the moving process and wiggle the weeds out with the least disruption otherwise you have replanted them twice in a very short time...which probably won't kill them but might diminish their ability to give you a show next year. When folks divide and share or purchase iris, they usually cut the fans (the sets of leaves) back so they don't topple over in the wind before they set their new roots. You can do this if you don't like the look of the fans but I pretty much would NOT mow them because then they will look messy in their new homes (even though they could probably withstand it). And the fans will help point the way to where they are located now to be dug up. Depending on the size of the bed, it could be a big job but just do a little at a time (no blisters that way). Dig them up and give em some love - that's the nice thing about plants, if you reliably give them what they need, they will reward you. Best relationship EVER. The leaves to me look spike-y and dramatic and can be mixed in with other perennials with softer lines and different bloom times. Easy options to start with would be daylily, cone flower, black-eyed susan, bee balm. If your garden is not blooming right now, I'd take a bicycle ride around town and see what is blooming. If you are lucky enough to catch a gardener in the midst of her flowers...she may offer you a division. Good luck! And I'll be looking forward to seeing photos!

That's the first I've heard about the Comet powder. I'm definitely going to take note of that. It's a shame the rotting one has to be thrown out. I'm guessing there is no way to save the "toes" or any rhizomes connected to the rotted parent? I'm really hoping it isn't voles or moles attacking my iris. I'm almost tempted to put out a couple of traps and see what happens... I just don't want to catch a stray cat or squirrel. I've read something somewhere about hardware cloth to keep animal pests out of pots and whatnot. Could that be wrapped loosely around the rhizomes to deter them? I'm sorry to hear about your loss, cecily. We have heavy clay soil too and it's been a constant fight to grow anything like bulbs, rhizomes, or tubers. Ours is a pain to work with. It gets so... cakey and dense when moist. The recent week of rain only made things worse (and right after I started a new lawn in the backyard!). I've definitely learned the importance of raised beds this year. I didn't think about relocating away from bushes. They're planted near azaleas, and I have noticed odd tunneling in the soil around those. I'm going to take your suggestion and move them away from anyting that might act as a haven for the pests. Thanks! A friend has one of those devices that gives off a high pitched buzz and it seemed to work until he stopped (and the moles came back with a vengeance). I got one a couple days ago and will give it a try, and should it not work, I'll definitely give the Mole & Vole Stopper a try. Thank you for the advice! I've decided to give the iris another shot, so fingers crossed. Jeff

HI Leila: Welcome to the iris forum. I'll try to help with some of your questions. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but this is not the time of year to replant iris in NJ. Should be done before 9/15. However, I know people in NJ who plant this time of year and still get the plants to live. If you have tough older cultivars they may still make it. You can do one of two things: Replant after preparing a bed for the iris ASAP, or place in pots and put in the garage for the winter. You should divide the iris into sections where there are one or several 'eyes' where the fans are starting to emerge. A 'Y' is OK . A large network of 4 or more 'eyes' should be broken up. Just pull apart. Smaller pieces just replant as is, but they will have a hard time surviving since they have not had a chance to develop a root system. If you can, plant some in the ground - shallow so the roots are buried but the rhizome is partially submerged in the soil, and plant some in pots to put in the garage (or other cool dry area) You can then plant in the ground in the Spring. I don't know what the whitish soft lumps in the roots are, sounds like some kind of fungus. A rhizome should be firm like a potato, and the rhizome and some string like roots should be all that an iris plant should posess underground. I would remove any soft lumps like you describe before planting. You may suffer heaving in the winter, so you will have to check them and put a rock on top of them to help prevent it. You could also mulch heavily with straw, evergreen boughs, or Remay horticultural cloth to give them more protection since they hav enot had a chance to establish themselves before the frosts come. If they survive, do not expect bloom in the Spring, or minimal bloom at best, since you missed the optimal replanting season. Good luck, Laetitia