Thank you for this.

I'm very enamored of repeat-blooming irises which in my climate (and now with warmer winters) do bloom in almost every month of the year. It's very refreshing to see an iris blooming when the roses are "resting", and they add lovely spots of color and a different kind of bloom among the roses. They get the same amount of drip water as the roses and in our porous soul they seem to bloom well on that regimen.

Thanks Anne for sharing... I've seen a few irises I would love to have!

Ingrid how often do you water your irises? I think I might be over watering mine.. some of them look rather sad.

Most irises like to be somewhat dry and close to the surface. Unless they are Louisiana irises that like wet feet.

Virginia I cannot get a iris to bloom for me. The like the best soil I believe or just don't like my clay. I have some in beds that I've started putting more compost in and those are finally getting bigger leaves but no blooms in the 10 plus years in the ground. Beautiful leaves though, and right down the road they do awesome! Go figure :) Here is a picture of the only kind I have gotten to bloom, but the leaves look like a wild garlic or onion... Mine are close to the surface, we do get rain though Buford... My brother grows the biggest ones ever, where he lives it was farm land, and my moms grow, that's who gave me most of mine..

Alana, your clay soil may not be to their liking. If you could mix in some gritty material that might help. haku, I don't know what your soil composition is, but mine drains very quickly and for that reason I think they don't mind being watered every day or every other day in the summer heat.

I have them in sandy soil.. I did some researched and learned they dont like mulch so i removed the mulch.. and noticed that I had them planted to deep.. so I removed some of the soil so that the rhizome is showing. I tend to kill most things with over watering : / Thanks Ingrid and Buford.

I got a few irises from the sale:

Edith Wolford, Perfume Counter, Souv. De Mme. Gaudichau, and a No ID one.

I'm glad you found some you like. Where it freezes plant them so there is about 1" of soil over the rhizomes, other places the rhizomes can be even with the soil. They do like well draining soil. I have been mixing a little compost in to help hold water in my silty sand. Not a drop of clay for miles.

neat. i have a few old irises that do very well and need to be divided regularly and then i have a blue wave that hasnt done anything in the four years ive had it.

Alana, I don't know why you would have reluctant irises when your neighbors' irises are doing great. Maybe amending the clay with some sand and or organic matter?

I have sandy loam here; the plants are doing fine, just not blooming. Perhaps they are still settling in (some have been here a few years, some less than that), and a few have bloomed, but not this year. Maybe too much shade, too much heat, too much rain? Maybe they are like 'Cardinal de Richelieu' and on strike?

It's also possible that the sorts we have aren't the best choices for our SC climate. I assume that some irises are more heat-tolerant than others? Swan Lake Iris Gardens in Sumter have a lot of Japanese Irises, so they must be heat-tolerant...

Virginia

Both Japanese and Louisiana Iris need a lot of water, usually by or in water to thrive.