Plant immediately. You don't want them to dry out at all. They're not bulbs. If they're bearded Irises do it shallowly and dont bury the rhizomes.

As to above, agree. Why would you think they would be somehow improved by more time out of the ground? They do grow in the ground after all, so put them in the ground ;)

Trim the foliage before planting.

cut them at about 6 inches.. its called fanning ... then replant ..

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=iris+foliage+cutback&t=ffab&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

the rhizomes stay on the surface.. the roots in the soil ...

look for iris borer while fanning ...

after bloom is the perfect time for this .. and this is when most iris farms used sell divisions .... if the bloom was still attached.. you could be sure you were selling/buying the right plant ...

ken

Water, water, water. The real reason people suggest transplanting in the spring or fall is because that's when there's more rain. It takes a wehile for the plant to re-establish the root system, some of which was destroyed in digging up. Until then, the plant needs plenty of water.

btw ... way..way back in time.. dad used to dig things up.. and store them hanging in onion bags in the garage ...

the usual thing that happened.. was we found them years later ... lol ... dried up husks of their former selves .. lol ..

and in hindsight ... who would have thunk it.. the closed garage was hotter than outside.. so they were baked also ... lol ..

just replant ...

general rule... with most anything the flowers... is move or prune after flowering ... with the exception of huge transplants.. do that in the proper season.. unless some other project doesnt dictate otherwise ... and so what if you lose a bloom cycle ...

ken

Let's start with what kind of iris you are talking about. Beardless iris, Siberians, Japanese, etc. are treated like normal perennials. They should be replanted ASAP, though Siberians are notoriously tough. Bearded iris are completely different creatures, and are treated more like bulbs. They are dug in the heat of summer, usually left to dry out for a few days, then replanted in the heat of summer. Too much water, and they rot.

I did mention if theyre bearded iris. But I see no reason to dry them at all. They'll survive but imo there’s no reason not to replant them immediately.

If it is very hot now where you are located, I would plant now, water well, AND install beach umbrellas or shade cloth over the newly planted irises to give them some shade. Or place a garden chair over the plant. Good luck!

It has been terrible hot and not much rain here in Chicago. Many things that I have planted in the past few weeks have shown some bit of stress. I have tried to shade them while they recover. I was given some bearded iris rhizomes last year in early fall. They laid in a cardboard box for a few weeks in the shade before I got them. When I got them they sat in my gangway area for longer. I finally planted them in fall. This was all wrong!! I did fan them as Ken said to and I cut off all the dead parts with a razor knife. I read that online and learned they should have been given to me after flowering and should they have been planted asap. I was given them at the wrong time of the year and I planted them at the wrong time but.. They were in full sun with good drainage all winter and this spring they were coming up. I did not think I would have any flowers this year due to all that stress they endured but I had two blooms coming and the rest were nice green and strong. Not long into spring, the hood rat block squirrels had everyone of them laying in the area they were planted. I tried to replant but every day it was the same battle. They took some tubers and I would find them in the neighbor's yards but mostly left them to die. My advise is to plant the live parts as the others said, after fanning. Put only the roots under the ground and plant in full sun. Protect them with a shade of some sort until they settle in. They will bounce back next year you may have some beautiful flowers. IF YOU CAN KEEP THE RODENTS OUT! I put the ones with no in a container in my back yard. The silly squirrels don't go back there. They are alive and I hope to get some flowers next year. I hope they do well because I had no choice and had to put them in a container. If they didn't come from my ate sister's home I would have not gone through all this and may have given up and just tossed them all. GOOD LUCK!!

i always presumed you let them dry if they were cut thru the rhizome.. avoid immediate rotting ... callous over if you will ...

but not so much if just broken apart where the plant made them that way... giant old clumps i mean ...

it similar with hosta.. if you dig out an old clump ... if you can break it apart without cutting.. just replant.. but if you go at it with a knife.. of old school with the shovel.. let the wound dry a bit ....

whatever you do.. dont worry about it ... they arent what i would define as foo foo plants ...

ken

Lol, after posting here yesterday? day before yesterday?, my box of irises arrived which *I* am not ready to deal with. Never had them so early in the year, but if I must I will pot them up individually (summer came last week and it's 90 and I don't have the old old plain blue irises out of the bed yet.
However, as stated they're tough, but I am of course going to plant them now (even if in pots).

I strongly disagree about letting hosta divisions "callus over" before replanting. If you can't replant immediately, put the roots and part of the crown in a bucket of water and the cut area will begin to grow roots.

Years ago I bought an iris rhizome in the store in the very early spring, somehow put it in a cupboard and forgot about it. Found it months later, in the fall at the wrong time to plant bearded iris, but I planted it.....and amazingly the next spring it threw a bloom!, a lovely yellow with white falls....sadly I left it when I moved!

iris are very easy to mark with a ballpoint pen .. just put the name on the tallest leaf of the fan ... and it will be there for the rest of the season ... it the ink fades away ... it will be tattooed into the leaf if you pressed hard enough.. lol .. i used to do that will all my plants that needed ongoing ID .... so i had time to make labels ... basically.. the rest of the season ....

so if i got some in the mail ... i would just loosen the soil in one area ... label them .. and just shove them all in one spot.. instead of potting individually ... unless you have a big pot you can shove them all in ... you can plant or move them in fall ...

with hosta.. i meant let the cut dry.. if that is different than callousing ... which with some houseplants goes on for days .. if i wasnt clear ... it was part of the foundation of my system for throwing them on the driveway to teach them who is in charge.. in my garden anyway .. lol ...

ken